An early (world premiere) screening at the Close-Up Cinema. The venue was a nice change from the usual cinema experience and not far from Shoreditch High Street/Old Street which are always lively.

Dante Lam's first film of 2020, all the expected big budget action pieces must be seen at the cinema for the best results! I'm told a 25th January release (Panton st shows the 24th), check for your nearest cinema screening.

Ben left and Ron Right enjoying a drink (I mean Venue)

A Lam film generally rocks the action but I have felt in between the action at times the story is not quite as solid as the action choreography. My last Dante Lam big screen film was a Chinese Visual Festival screening of That Demon Within which received mixed reviews. Before that I had been pleasantly surprised with Unbeatable at the Terracotta Far East Film Festival. Everyone who watched it with me enjoyed it and thought it was well done, Unbeatable won the audience vote for favorite film of the festival. The last Dante Lam film I was actually looking forward to was Operation Mekong which sounded/looked promising.

The Rescue is rated somewhere between these for me. Great attention to action but a little more work on the characters/drama would have helped. "The $90 million action-adventure picture has already claimed a coveted Chinese New Year release slot in 2020. The film has a high-profile crew to give the picture the international appeal and elements that Lam is seeking. The production design is headed by Hollywood-based Martin Laing, a Brit whose stellar credits include “Titanic,” “Pearl Harbor” and “Clash of the Titans". Cinematography is handled by Peter Pau, whose “Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon” and “Forbidden Kingdom” remain two of the most internationally successful Chinese films of all time." Variety February 2019

I believe this could crossover to the international market, action fans can be very stuck in a genre and some may stay away from a Dante Lam film without guns. 3/5 the extra •5 for production values.

I feel Lam has made an effort to appeal to an international market considering past efforts but not enough to make this a must see.

Thanks to Ron Ivey for coming to The Rescue 😉

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