Hidden Strike review by Bobby Blakey
Years ago it was announced that Jackie Chan and Sylvestor Stallone were teaming up for a new action flick called SNAFU Sadly due to his commitments to Creed 2 Stallone had to back out and John Cena replaced him. It seemed like this film was never getting released, but then suddenly it dropped on Netflix with the new title Hidden Strike co-starring Pilou Asbaek, Chunrui Ma, and Rima Zeidan from Act of Valor and upcoming Expend4bles director Scott Waugh.
Hidden Strike follows two ex-special forces soldiers who must escort a group of civilians along Baghdad's "Highway of Death" to the safety of the Green Zone. When things don’t go as planned, they team up to stop the greatest oil heist in history.
I have been eager to see this movie in both its forms since it was first announced, but had figured it just wasn’t happening at this point. Needless to say I was excited to see it not only pop up on Netflix, but to see it was the number one film on the streaming service. Going into any Chan film fans have expectations, especially if you are one that takes it back to Drunken Master and The Big Brawl days. His last few films have been fine, but none have had the magic of old and rely too much on CGI for the back drops and some of the bigger action. Sadly that is the case here on that front as well.
Throughout the film there is a lot of CGI used to create the environments and even the bigger action pieces which is a far cry from classic Chan. I know things evolve, but it just never looks the same. It isn’t horrible or anything just very noticeable and sometimes takes away from the action on screen. Thankfully we have two guys who have proven themselves in both action and humor in Chan and Cena. I love these two guys together. They are so opposite in physical stature and personality, but also both have that silly humor that fuse well together.
The story and execution is pretty standard by the numbers of every old school action flick which is fine by me since it also brings some elements of the same action. It takes a little big to get there, but there is plenty of action and even more so vintage Jackie Chan fight sequences using everything around him in fun ways. Sure he is older and it might not all be as fast paced, but it is still impressive and a total blast to watch. Cena gets in plenty of the action as well and to no surprise holds his own even when having to fight Chan himself.
This isn’t a film that is standing out and breaking down any new walls in the action genre, but is still a lot of fun to watch. It is over the top at times and silly, but counter-balanced with some fun action, humor and a chance to see Chan and Cena together which is worth it alone for me. It seems to be doing great on Netflix and the ending clearly hopes for more adventures for these two so lets hope it happens sooner than later.
Decide for yourself and check out Hidden Strike streaming now on Netflix.