Striking Rescue

Story: Bai An (Tony Jaa) had to watch his wife and daughter being murdered. Since then, he has been looking for the person responsible for the contract killing. He finds out that businessman and millionaire He Yinghao (Philip Keung) appears to be behind the murder. His company secretly smuggles drugs and somehow Bai An's wife seems to have found out about him. While He is currently having problems with the fact that the police have seized drugs worth 20 million dollars and the sender is anything but happy about it, the millionaire also has to deal with his daughter He Ting (Chen Duoyi). She has come to the age where she no longer simply accepts her broken family and instead speaks her mind to her father. In the meantime, Bai An put a tracking device on the girl when he bumped into her in front of her school. He tries to get to He through her. When He picks up his daughter from school one day, Bai An wants to strike, but a gang of criminals beats him to it. He Ting is kidnapped, and the girl is also supposed to be captured. However, Bai An somehow happens to save her. He wants to send the girl away again, but she cannot trust anyone anymore and therefore asks the man to help her find her father - not knowing that Bai An wants to see the man dead ...

Review: It's been ages since I've seen Tony Jaa in a movie. Last, probably in the awesome "SPL 2". Beyond that, you could, of course, also see him from time to time in smaller roles in Hollywood such as in "The Expendables 4". Once again, it's a streaming production that finally shows us more of an action star who sadly gets overlooked far too much. And here he gets a role which is basically tailor-made for him, while he is also allowed to try out something a little more different on the acting side. "Striking Rescue" is very well produced too, so that even though you clearly get a B-movie, it is put together with a high level of standard in mind. Tony Jaa is now forty-eight, and so you obviously can't expect him to still run away walking on people's shoulders or to show other parkour tricks. But he demonstrates his unique Muay Thai fighting style and in doing so shows the same power as he did back in the days. Every punch just hits right, and for many action fans, this will be exactly what you were looking for.

The story seems very familiar and it is essentially the classic revenge story, perhaps with the small difference that the hero helps the daughter of his mortal enemy. In addition, there are several parties involved in the events unfolding, and at some point, you also get the feeling that maybe not everything is as it seems. Ultimately, there is also a mole/traitor that has to be found. Even though all of this may not be particularly innovative or ingenious, it makes the story a lot more exciting, and you rarely get the feeling of just waiting for the next action scene. Surprisingly, even the drama is not that bad. It might not manage to score points with everyone, because it is not that deep, and because even though Tony Jaa is surprisingly involved in his role (and manages to convince most of the time too), he is not an A-level actor. Nevertheless, he deserves some praise for his performance. But the most disillusioning thing is probably the language, because for some reason it was decided that the characters speak English when they don't speak Chinese.

The language leads to the problem that you can't really take things seriously. Tony Jaa speaks English in a way that sometimes makes it a bit hard to understand him, as the grammar also suffers quite a bit, but he does it with such self-confidence that he is still able to stay in his role and doesn't get lost in what words he has to get out. However, the same cannot be said about the other actors. Especially the news anchor that keeps popping up in the background seem so robotic that an AI-generated speaker would actually have been a million times better. This has to be mentioned as it stands out so negatively, even though the movie is otherwise very neatly produced and delivers good cinematography as well. The locations and sets are also well chosen and often look dirty and gloomy, so that they offer the perfect backdrop for Tony Jaa's action. In addition, we get an original motorcycle escape. All in all, you can only congratulate director Cheng Siyi on his accomplishment. Chinese streaming movies generally don't look as cheap anymore as they did a few years ago.

With the girl, there is also a nice drama factor in the story. I was surprised that the director even managed to create a certain chemistry between Bai An and He Ting. The two slowly start to trust each other and give each other support. Because almost the entire gangster world is after the girl, as she has a bounty on her head, Bai An has an additional motivation besides finding the murderer of his family. There is also the father-daughter issue, which fades into the background far too quickly, but Philip Keung ("Robbery") is veteran enough to get the most out of these scenes. He seems so nuanced as a character that you soon ask yourself whether he could really be the murderer of Bai An's family. Story-wise, it's no surprise that a few twists are interspersed here and there, but genre connoisseurs can see them coming well in advance. Nevertheless, they spice up the movie, and so do the somewhat quieter moments in which the hero thinks about his family or talks to the girl. Still, it has to be mentioned that it can sometimes get a bit too melodramatic here too.

But "Striking Rescue" is not supposed to be an award-worthy drama anyway, instead viewers are supposed to get a good deal of action here. And that's what the flick undoubtedly offers. Sure, you can't help but be a little disappointed that we don't get any spectacular acrobatics, and that Tony Jaa actually only shows his "signature moves", but that way Jaa seems a lot more natural in his role too. It doesn't just look like he's showing off his physics-defying martial arts tricks scene after scene. Instead, he fights doggedly with clearly visible emotions, thus the action is also a lot more captivating. In addition, you will hardly find another action flick in which the punches and kicks feel as powerful as they do here. And that's exactly what you were hoping for. The finale against Xing Yu ("Master Z") could perhaps have been a little longer, but it is absolutely satisfactory in the same respect. Tony Jaa returns to his old form with "Striking Rescue". Despite the rather unoriginal story and some plot holes, this action flick can be quite fun. It's strange: Many movies these days are so tailored to a broad audience that B-movies like "Striking Rescue" suddenly seem refreshing and take you back to a time when you were able to simply get some good genre food, even if it comes with its flaws. So, if you are longing for something in this respect, this flick will give you exactly that.

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