The
most recent of the three 1999
films by Johnnie To in the
Forum, The Mission
is an all-male thriller in
which the mise-en-scene is
paramount. Targeted in a failed
assassination attempt, triad
gang-boss Lung (guest star
Ko Hung) recruits five assorted
hard men to guard him until
his enemy is nailed.
Each
of the five is played by a
star of the genre (Francis
Ng, Anthony Wong, Roy Cheung
et al) and To relies on their
star power to flesh out what
are otherwise sketchy characterisations.
As
the plot puts them through
one emergency after another,
To comes up with ever more
surreal and startling action
set-pieces, climaxing with
a shoot-out in an after-hours
shopping mall.
