Johnnie To is someone whose movies I’ve wanted to dig into more, with him and his company Milky Way having an international reputation for Hong Kong action cinema. Though To has a prolific and diverse output of genres, people tend to talk most about his crime movies, usually about cops and triads. I’ve seen a few – Election is on Netflix to watch, and Throw Down was one of my favourites – and I recently stumbled across a choppy SD quality copy of The Mission (1999) on YouTube. What I love about To’s approach to action is that it’s not about frenetic gunplay or elaborate stuntwork; it’s more controlled, about how figures are assembled in a frame and how things unfold precisely. Stillness and repetition, until the tension is broken with escalation. In The Mission, it’s about five disparate criminals (Anthony Wong, Francis Ng, Jackie Liu Chung-Yin, Roy Cheung, Lam Suet) who are hired to work as bodyguards for a targeted triad boss (Eddy Koo). The five men don’t give much away, and even as they vary in age and temperament, their relationship is frosty at first. As they proceed to hang around the boss’s compound and find themselves working together to shadow the boss when he visits the city, fraternity and brotherhood set in. It’s charming watching these guys start to click without much in the way of dialogue, often just a shared cigarette. That, and seeing To and his cinematographer figure out ways to keep the five guys in a single frame for maximum impact, particularly during action sequences. Apparently improvised on a script-level and shot on a tight schedule, The Mission feels both loose and restrained. The more you watch To’s movies and see his recurring actors, you enjoy them all the more such as: Anthony Wong exuding reserved cool while wearing a black baseball cap and t-shirt; Lam Suet stuffing his face with food as a character choice; Francis Ng making his forehead throb with a twitchy eye; and Simon Yam playing a fast-talking superior. The upbeat score might not be for everyone’s tastes, but it fits into a certain vibe. A very cool, stylish action thriller with an emphasis on the hang out. Recommended.
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