***
The problem with The Adventurers is that it had no story reason to exist. It's as if some producer said, Let's make an action movie with Andy Lau and Shu Qi. And the writers just filled up the run time with Mission Impossible cliches and tropes.
There's no overall organizing principle behind the story, just random bits of action, unconvincing character backstory, fake camaraderie, and characters double-crossing each other for the sake of cheap plot twists. This has been a problem with Hong Kong and mainland China movies, for decades.
The romance between Zhang Dan and Amber is not convincing (no matter how prettily and pensively Zhang Jing Chu pouts). This is made worse by how Shu Qi, cast in the role of comedic sidekick (together with Tony Yang), totally steals the show away from Zhang Jing Chu. Red Ye's role was custom written to fit Shu Qi's perky personality, making her more the female lead than Zhang Jing Chu, which unbalances the characters' dynamic.
Poor Director of Photography Shane Hurlbut (Terminator Salvation, Crazy/Beautiful, Act of Valor, Need for Speed), was even pulled down to director Stephen Fung's level - I'm guessing forced by Stephen Fung to move his camera for no reason. A jib move when the characters are just sitting around and talking? Maybe 8 different camera angles when Pierre is talking to Zhang Dan in the police interrogation room - for what? It's a really bad performance for someone of Hurlbut's caliber. I don't think he will be putting The Adventurers in his showreel.
At least Jean Reno emerges with his dignity intact, but barely.
What else is wrong? Let me count the ways:
- Pierre desperately wants to catch Zhang Dan because, of all things, Zhang Dan saved Pierre's life.
- Pierre unilaterally releases Zhang Dan from police custody, near the end, and suffers no penalty for doing so. Especially when Zhang Dan doesn't come back after tracking down the other bad guys.
- Bomb complication at the end is copied from Magnum Force.
- French cops speak English to each other. That might be ok if the whole movie was in English, but the Chinese speak Mandarin to each other.
- Pierre is confident of not killing Zhang Dan, only wounding him, while shooting at a motorcycle-borne Zhang Dan from a speeding car. Nobody is that good.
- Rich Chinese guy in the Czech Republic, has a force of paramilitary guards with submachine guns.
