Director: Le Van Kiet
Year: 2018
Country: Vietnam
Alternate Titles: Hai Phuong
Genre: Action
Plot:
Working as a low-level debt collector, a woman tries to balance the ethical qualms of her work by trying to be a proud role model for her daughter. Following an incident at a public market, she notices that her daughter has been kidnapped by a group of strangers and takes off after them, eventually losing them but manages to discover they were heading towards Saigon which brings her to the city. Setting out to recapture her, she comes across the leader of a cruel child kidnapping ring operating out of the city has captured her daughter along with other children to continue their black market smuggling ring and sets out to take down the organization and take back her daughter.
Review:
This one was quite a lot of fun. Among it’s most notable aspects is the handling of the central relationship between the two, which is a major focus in the film. This is a fine part here where we see the dichotomy of her performance, forced to be a ruthless and cold-hearted gangster for her job yet trying to teach her daughter how to be better than she is, which is a facet that triggers an emotional response for any parent who is trying to accomplish the same thing with their own children. The scenes of her early on in their home or the tell-tale scolding at the market where she denies shoplifting despite accusations saying she did only to be proven right in spite of her mother’s proclamations of her guilt show that her intentions may be right but her execution is slightly missing. That makes the ensuing mission to retrieve her so heartwarming and enjoyable as this quest captures her desire and intensity to get her back as the occasional flashbacks to the struggles she has in trying to raise her keeps that a prominent part of the film.
Likewise, the action quotient of the film is really strong. The early part in the village is quite minor, kept to a few brief skirmishes with henchmen trying to prevent access to her daughter during the kidnapping as well as a really intense boat chase along the river with the henchmen in the boat and her on a dirt chasing after them on dry land that really has a lot to like and getting this one started. The rural attitude is then nicely contrasted by the bright neon and business that occurs when moving to Saigon offers up a more traditional set of action setpieces in a more urban environment. The hand-to-hand fighting has some brutal, hard-hitting moves featured in the brawls that forsake showy unrealistic martial arts in favor of a more simplistic style that would be pertinent in the situation. She is not about displaying the most impressive form in battle with her opponents, as instead, she’s looking to recapture her daughter and knock those out preventing her from doing so meaning she goes about knocking out those people quickly. That she is still capable of engaging in extended fights throughout here including the massive series of brawls with the henchmen on the train which is full of outstanding action and plenty of hard-hitting moves that are quite enjoyable.
There isn’t much in the film that holds it back. Among it’s biggest drawbacks is the outright lack of information given here about the child-abduction ring until it’s way too late in the film. While there’s a great sense of realism to be had in her not knowing who’s stolen her daughter but rather that she has been taken, the fact that we don’t know anything about the operation or what’s going to happen to her keeps things on a confusing note regarding her mission. That the investigating detective supposedly on this case has nothing on them this entire time and only stumble across their operation and its personnel through her involvement in the situation leaves this entire section of the film to drag itself out to give us this little bit of info on the kidnapping ring. Whether this aspect of the film is a reality of Vietnam can’t be confirmed but it’s still a curious aspect of the film that something this important is such a complete mystery as it’s the main flaw to be found here.
Overview: ****/5
Ably supported by plenty of action and graced with strong emotional resonance at the heart of the film, this is a truly enjoyable action-packed effort that has plenty to recommend about it. Give this a shot if you’re curious about the film, intrigued by the creative forces behind the scenes on the film or interested in the genre, while those not willing to look at this kind of effort should heed caution.
This review was originally published on Asian Movie Pulse and is gratefully reprinted with their cooperation.
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