Europe Raiders (2018) Review

“Europe Raiders” Chinese Theatrical Poster

Director: Jingle Ma
Cast: Tony Leung Chiu-wai, Kris Wu, Tiffany Tang, Du Juan, George Lam, Jija Yanin, Cung Le
Running Time: 100 min. 

By Paul Bramhall

It’s fair to say that perhaps the biggest fan of cinematographer turned director Jingle Ma’s …….. Raiders series, is Ma himself. The first (and I’m sure many considered last) entry in the series was 2000’s Tokyo Raiders, which was a fun but slight slice of action adventure, with lead actor Tony Leung’s private detective ably backed up by the likes of Ekin Cheng and Kelly Chan. It was a surprise to everyone when, in 2005, a sequel randomly arrived in the form of Seoul Raiders, which was even more throwaway than the original. While Ma’s overly polished cinematography criminally made the Korean capital look like it could have been anywhere, new co-stars Shu Qi and Richie Ren at least made it a pleasant enough diversion. Now, a whopping 13 years since Seoul Raiders, the series becomes a trilogy with 2018’s Europe Raiders.

Ma’s latest was first announced in 2015, with the working title of Paris Raiders (there was even a promotional poster featuring the Eiffel Tower), and was reported to feature Korean actress Jeon Ji-hyeon as Leung’s new co-star. Somewhere along the way though, Ji-hyeon dropped out, and perhaps hinting that a bigger budget had been secured than expected, the title was changed to Europe Raiders, upgrading from a city to a whole continent. The first disappointment of Europe Raiders then, is that it features very little of Europe. In fact the whole thing takes place in Italy (with the exception of a handful of Shanghai set scenes), so if anything the change of title was possibly a move to distance itself from Wong Jing’s similarly themed 2016 production, Mission Milano.

Sure that’s speculation on my part, but the similarities are many. One features a popular Hong Kong actor protecting a new technology called the Seed of God and its creator from the forces of evil, who are trying to use it for their own ill ended intentions. The other features a popular Hong Kong actor protecting a new technology called the Hand of God and its creator from the forces of evil, who are trying to use it for their own ill ended intentions. Europe Raiders is the latter. Unfortunately for Ma, all of the issues with Mission Milano also exist with Europe Raiders, in some cases even more so.

Proceedings open in 2006 with Leung handing over a genius hacker (George Lam, Shanghai, Shanghai) to the CIA. Lam’s really a good guy though, whose only crime is to steal from criminals bank accounts, and funnel it to those in need. Leaving 2 kids behind, he sets upon creating the Hand of God, a mass-surveillance system intended to bring world peace (seriously). Skip forward to 2018, Lam has passed away, and the CIA are using his creation to target terrorists, but at the cost of killing thousands of innocent lives with their indiscriminate bombing campaigns (not so subtle swipe at America – check!). When an ex-CIA agent (Du Juan, Wine War), who turns out to be Lam’s daughter, steals the Hand of God and threatens to reveal its code to the world, it’s up to Leung to team up with his love interest (Tiffany Tang, Bounty Hunters), and Lam’s son (Kris Wu, Journey to the West: The Demons Strike Back) to stop her.

If the plot sounds convoluted, it’s for good reason, however Ma confounds things even further by filling Europe Raiders to the brim with characters, some of whom don’t get a single line of dialogue. Leung works with a trio of bounty hunters who are played by old-school kung-fu stars – we get Lo Meng sending up his Toad character from The Five Venoms, Yuen Qiu again riffing on her tough landlady character from Kung Fu Hustle, and Lau Kar Leung’s nephew Lau Ga Yung, who’s perhaps best known for directing New Kids in Town. What’s their role in the plot? Grating comedy and to throw an occasional kung fu shape.

Tiffany Tang, playing a bounty hunter again after her abysmal turn in 2016’s Bounty Hunters, is followed around by a pair of bodyguards played by Zhou Xiao Fei and Jennifer Tse (who hasn’t done a whole lot since headlining 2012’s Naked Soldier), and their biggest contribution is to hold the door of a cake shop open for an old lady. You would think Tse would be given at least a few lines of dialogue, but she doesn’t get to say a word. Then we have a pair of assassins called Black and White Mantis, played by Jija Yanin and Cung Le, making his first return to Hong Kong film since The Grandmaster. Yanin continues to be the modern action era’s greatest tragedy, after such an amazing debut exactly 10 years ago with Chocolate. Here, much like her barely there role in Hard Target 2, she plays a character that could literally have been played by anyone. Here’s hoping some redemption is on the way with Triple Threat.

Perhaps the reason for Ma’s decision to make Europe Raiders such a smorgasbord of characters, is that there isn’t really anyone up to the task of sparring with Leung like he had in previous instalments. Despite both Tokyo Raiders and Seoul Raiders shortcomings, Leung played well off the likes of Shu Qi and Ekin Cheng. Here you can almost feel the weight of the movies success burdened on his shoulders. Tiffany Tang has an incredible talent for generating zero chemistry as a romantic lead, and here there’s a certain forced feeling during her scenes with Leung. Kris Wu, after serviceable performances in the likes of The Mermaid and xXx: Return of Xander Cage, is particularly insufferable, and seems to spend most of the time posing as if he never left EXO, the Korean boyband he was once a member of.

Speaking of the modern era, it’s not one that’s been kind to a director like Jingle Ma. He may have started off as a cinematographer, but Europe Raiders is an ugly movie to look at. Ma seems to have subscribed to the theory that quick fire editing is the best way to generate excitement, and the constant application of colour filters, grain, and static only serve to make Europe Raiders look like it was lensed by a poor man’s Tony Scott. There’s also a significant amount of green-screen work that’s an abomination to look at, none more so than when Leung replicates the final scene of Alien 3, only with his heart instead of an alien. Trust me, you’ll know it when you see it.

Like so many recent productions, action choreography duties have been handed over to a relative newcomer. Gone is Alien Sit, who choreographed both Tokyo Raiders and Seoul Raiders, and in his place is Jackie Chan Stunt Team member Han Kwan Hua. While Kwan Hua’s choreography has clearly had some effort put into it, there’s an inescapable feeling that it’s nothing we haven’t seen before, and done much better. The editing also doesn’t help, with shots rarely lasting more than a second or two. The grand finale, that has an overload of characters convene in an abandoned (mostly garish CGI) factory to duke it out, is agonisingly bland. As the main villainess, Du Juan’s supposedly icy cold performance is more bored model than vengeance seeking sibling.

Europe Raiders saves the best for last though, with an ending that throws it so far off the rails, it veers into the murky realms of almost being so bad its good. After 90 minutes of silliness, Ma has the audacity to attempt a gloriously overwrought melodramatic ending, which is so drenched in unearned histrionics, it feels more surreal than a Dali painting. But as they say on the home shopping channels – but wait, there’s more! He then doubles down on himself, and hits us with a twist that’s so unbelievably stupid and insulting to the audience, you’ll question if a pre-condition of watching Europe Raiders was that you must have recently had a lobotomy.

While a movie such as this is not completely unsurprising from a director like Jingle Ma, how he convinced an actor of Tony Leung’s calibre to return to the series is beyond me. To its credit, Europe Raiders at least keeps the audience on its toes – Klingon is used as a legitimate language, and frequently. At one point Tiffany Tang reveals that she’s telepathic, but that her powers have diminished since she had her heart broken some years ago. Ok. There’s a car chase that starts at night and then suddenly turns to day, because in Europe continuity doesn’t matter. My personal favorite moment though, has Leung and Wu having a heart to heart while walking down a quiet street at night, when out of nowhere a group of (completely silent) protestors holding banners for Love and Peace stroll past them. What’s the point of their appearance? There isn’t one, an answer that could well be applied to Europe Raiders as a whole.

Paul Bramhall’s Rating: 3/10