On the revenge trail Director Cao Baoping tried to create an action movie based on a classic plot - the revenge of a father who lost his daughter and is hunting for her alleged killer. It would seem that such a story is a win-win option for an action/thriller, but it was not possible to sustain it in one vein.
The first half is very exciting. The film begins abruptly and frighteningly - a dying girl draws some symbols on the wall with her blood. Just a minute later, the frame changes to the seascape, and we see a middle-aged man, the captain of a sea fishing vessel. We are presented with the image of a brutal, harsh person who is not afraid of anything. But he has a weakness - a crazy love for his only daughter Nana, whom he sent to study in Japan.
A sudden call that his daughter is missing forces him to return to the land. From relatives, he learns that the daughter last contacted about a week ago and missing not only she, but also her boyfriend Miaomiao.
An alarmed father arrives in Japan and learns that his daughter Nana has died after receiving 17 stab wounds. And the only witness or killer is Miaomiao, who escaped to China. The father, mad with grief, returns to China and looks for a guy to commit a ruthless massacre.
Chasing, fighting, stalking - that's in the movie over and over. And also incredibly chaotic ragged montage, which perfectly conveys the gloomy atmosphere. The nonlinearity of the narrative is also plus the paintings. The viewer is shown the events of the past, the events of the present, and the story is told first by the father, and in parallel by the daughter herself - and of course, these are different points of view and a shift in focus.
The first half of the film is solid, where we learn more about the father, about his daughter's hobby - and she was fond of cosplay, which is an important detail in this story and also about Li Miaomiao's boyfriend and his influential family. I must admit, the characters liked everyone - the actors gave their best and believe them.
Now for the bad. And this is the second half of the film, the starting point of which is the scene with the typhoon. After it, the creators decide to turn in another direction, and the set high bar of the first half quickly flies down. There are already self-repeats and stupid behavior of the characters, the feeling that the characters themselves have forgotten about their goals. Or the script was written by different people who could not agree with each other. The finale is especially disappointing and negates the whole story, which is very disappointing.
So the impressions are extremely unambiguous. An exciting start, great acting, atmospheric picture, good dynamic scenes - and the script is weak. Oh, but with such a background could be an exemplary representative of the genre of action movie. .