Hidden Strike review

When I first read the name, I casually dismissed this as a mediocre straight-to-DVD action movie. Then I realised it starred Jackie Chan and John Cena. Still, the trailer did not look particularly interesting. The poster's kinda crap too.

But John Cena can be funny and Jackie Chan is the greatest action star of all time, so I made the effort to catch this in the cinema. I think locally it was on it's third week, so I was expecting the theater to be mostly empty, but to my surprise there was a fair number of people there.

I was also a little surprised by how good it was. Not like "Citizen Kane" good: this isn't a movie that wants to explore the human condition or inspire thought-provoking debate. It only wants to entertain. And I was entertained, pretty much from start to finish.

Jackie and John play well off each other, with Chan playing something of a straight man to Cena's more comedic character. Perhaps because of this I felt Cena stole the show a bit, outside of the action scenes at least.

Speaking of the action scenes, they're pretty good... for an American movie. Which is weird because I didn't think this was an American movie. Yes, there's a fair bit of martial arts on display, but it's not really the main focus and to me it felt like American Jackie Chan martial arts, rather than Hong Kong Jackie Chan martial arts.

Nevertheless, the martial arts scenes are stylish and creative, with clear differences between the agility and skill Chan's character displays and the brute power Cena's character specialises in, with the two complementing each other well when the fists start flying.

The creativity and humour we've come to expect from Jackie is present in the action, and works well enough with John Cena's own style of comedy. Worthy of special mention is one of the strangest fights I've ever seen, perhaps one of the craziest in Jackie Chan's career; if you're a fan of his work you'll probably find the film worth watching for this fight alone!

I didn't personally feel too invested in the story, but it does a good enough job of establishing a sense of danger, and more importantly perhaps of giving both characters a bit of backstory; enough to care about them anyway. And of course provides an excuse for some interesting locations and action sequences. The acting is fine, though most of the supporting characters don't get much development. I did think the villain's performance was entertainingly evil, but he wasn't really very threatening - and the plot-twist concerning his true identity was a little pointless.


I'd say it's a solid 7/10. It's a pretty good action flick, and overall an easy and enjoyable watch.