Film Name:93国际列车大劫案：莫斯科行动/Moscow Mission,Operation Moscow
This movie is adapted from the shocking “China-Russia train robbery”, about the early 1990s, with Miao Qingshan as the leader of the bandit group in the K3 train robbery, led by Cui Zhenhai’s team of people’s police disguised as businessmen, in-depth arrest operations in Moscow, through layers of challenges, and ultimately bring the criminals to justice. The story of the criminals is a fascinating one.
The beginning of the movie is quite appealing, with the robbery scene on the international train and the later scene where the police beat off the robbers on the train. However, the standard of the movie slips once we enter Moscow. The writer and director seem to have lost their inspiration and are unable to come up with a good plot and characters. With such a “bad plot”, does anyone still think this movie is good?
As a cop movie, the police investigation is the key part. A normal movie would show how the police fight to find clues and catch the criminals, thus advancing the plot. 《Moscow Missio》 falsely shows some police investigating the case, but it’s basically just a wasted scene of holding a photo all over the market and asking people if they recognize it. The police actions don’t advance the plot, and the key clues are almost always delivered to the door by the bandit leader, Miao Qingshan, himself.
The characterization in this film is also poor. Huang Xuan as the leader of the bandits, Miao Qingshan, has no villainous charisma at all and is unconvincing. The fact that his henchmen are willing to change their last name to “Miao” after him is also ridiculous. Huang Xuan’s acting is not convincing, especially in the scene where he rapes Zhen Zhen, played by Wen Yongshan. His strange laugh and imitation of a failed version of “The Joker” is embarrassing. In addition, 《Moscow Missio》is plot of Miu Qingshan blackmailing Vasily with his daughter is also unbelievable. Miao Qingshan didn’t kidnap Vasily’s daughter, he just knew where she was, yet he was able to blackmail Vasily. This makes no sense at all.
Overall, 《Moscow Missio》, while appealing in its backstory and framework, seems rather flat and underwhelming when it gets into the substantive performances and plot. Ineffective characterization, stiff plot advancement and bland action scenes prevent the movie from living up to its expectations. Despite the presence of big names such as Andy Lau, the movie as a whole does not manage to transform this attractive story into a memorable piece of cinema.
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