Having learned that a Russian voice-over had appeared for this film, I did not put the matter on the back burner, as they say, and started watching. By the time this picture appeared on the Internet, I was completely unfamiliar with the cinema of such an exotic country as Malaysia. Now the situation has changed a little. I have already sang well-deserved, as it seems to me, praises for the hand-to-hand action movie Wira two years ago. That means they can, that means there are capable and intelligent people there. Unfortunately, this film will not receive the same degree of praise from me. Also, I’m not going to pour tons of brown stuff on her, because she doesn’t deserve that either.
While creating "Special Forces", the writers most likely took cues from and were inspired by old Hong Kong urban action films. Which should definitely be a plus for fans of them. It would seem that this is the time to jump for joy, like Sivka-Burka, but let’s not rush. We are all spectators who have seen everything and each of us has our own pile of disappointments. Experience (as well as the deplorable situation in the genre in our time in general) suggests that you should not rejoice ahead of time and place any hopes. When creating something new, being inspired by something old and good is wonderful and not prohibited, but this is not enough. Poor or mediocre implementation can ruin everything. In this particular case, the action scenes are spoiled by the technical execution. All my complaints come down to this aspect. The scourge of modern cinema is the dominance of computer graphics, which kills cinema, turning it into cartoons. If you make a movie in the spirit of old Hong Kong, then follow that in everything. I'm talking now about how the film depicts bullet wounds, bullet hits, for example, on the body of a car, blood and explosions. This is where hack work slips in with enviable regularity. Everything is drawn. And poorly drawn. In some shots it is even noticeable (thanks to the frequent slow-mo) that the bullet wound was superimposed on top of the picture at the editing stage already in the studio. The color chosen for the blood was strange and unnatural. Either diluted beet juice or potassium permanganate. It is unlikely that Malaysians' natural blood color is exactly as shown. In some scenes there is less blood spilled than there should be, and vice versa.
If we talk about staging the action in those cases where there was no graphics, then not everything is good here either. All characters suffer from Imperial Stormtrooper Syndrome. Moreover, such a lot of ammunition is consumed, and the target stands motionless in an open space several meters away, that even according to the theory of probability, a couple of bullets should have at least hit the target. In some scenes, especially, again, in slow motion, it is noticeable how much the barrel moves while conducting aimed fire in the hands of the shooters, which causes a condescending smile. It feels like complete laymen are shooting, who have practiced very little in this matter, although it seems that, according to the plot, this is not at all the case.
The camera work is quite sane in places, there are some cool shots, but periodic zooming, shaking and some other techniques designed to give the action scenes more dynamics and tension were simply annoying. It’s good that it wasn’t on a permanent basis. The installation was a big let down. His problem, as is often the case, is being too harsh. There are no long takes, very, very few medium ones. In all the action scenes, of which there are many (and this is a plus), in all the shootouts, from the opening to the final. In the finale, the fleeting hand-to-hand fight also suffers from this. I would also include the too bright color scheme as a disadvantage. And here, it seems, the influence of Indian cinema has already affected. It would be much better perceived if they slightly dimmed the bright colors. For comparison, in the same "Retribution" or "Cowboys" There are no problems with this.
The plot is not as simple as it might seem, but it is not complicated either. That is, its description easily fits in one sentence. What our KinoPoisk has successfully dealt with. And it cannot be said that what is written is not true. But this is only very, very brief.
The creators tried to complicate the plot, apparently not wanting to slip into completely primitivism. Here, it turns out, it’s like in some "Double castling": mole on mole, driving with a mole. It turns out to be some kind of wormhole. And these are not spoilers, the intrigue is not built around the “sent Cossacks”, on the contrary, this is stated directly at the beginning. In general, a normal plot for a police thriller.
I can’t say anything about the actors, I’m seeing each of them for the first time, and their track records are not very rich. For some, this film is actually their debut in a big movie. The same applies to the director; he may not be called a debutant, but he has very little experience. All the shortcomings can be attributed precisely to the inexperience of the actors and creators, without irony here. They look good in their roles, no one spoils the picture. What definitely wouldn’t hurt, and considering the genre affiliation, would even serve well, is the presence of external and/or internal charisma. At least the main villain, if not the hero. After all, a cool, charismatic villain is a real find. Unfortunately, this is a little difficult here. No one can boast of anything bright and memorable.
I continue to believe in Malaysian action cinema and will continue to learn more about their creations. I hope that they will continue to develop, in particular, this direction further. If only it reached us properly. This film is watchable, but as they say, you have been warned.
Sergey Volkolak
Especially for Fight-Films.info
Let's hope for some decent hand-to-hand and bloody action.
The game is cool. I hope the series will be no worse.
Thanks for posting. Hopefully more comments soon.
I don't know about everyone else, but I'm crazy about Xiao Man (I hope I didn't misspell his name...