Ming ri zhan ji

Hong Kong is trying to make a breakthrough entry into the Big Budget CGI sci-fi genre and so far unfortunately it hasn't got it (Hollywood and South Korea are on another level), but as Louis Koo's dream project this turned out OK to say the least. We have the year 2055 where the planet is hit by a natural disaster (what I have to praise is the quite original concept of the apocalypse). A meteorite hits the futuristic Hong Kong now known as the B-16 district, where a giant alien plant called Pandora also emerges causing devastation all around. A group of soldiers are sent on a mission to save the world. The cast includes Louis Koo, Sean Lau and Nick Cheung, all Hong Kong acting veterans, and they do a good job. The budget in US dollars was around 56 million, so it would need at least triple that to make the CGI look neat. As it is, it's a bit of a CGI mess, and it doesn't look entirely pretty at times, but there are some fine action sequences. The best one for me was in the hospital with some interesting alien creatures, and it had a bit of a darker atmosphere as well. There's quite a diverse selection of adversaries: plants, aliens, robots and various mechanical machines, and they look surprisingly good. There's plenty of action, it has more of a video game feel than a movie. It's one long action mission (and the Bay-like slow motion action looked cool). It's kind of an action flick with hints of Terminator and Tomorrow War with effects that balance between terrible, passable and decent. I prefer more down-to-earth action with people, knives and axes, I've probably grown out of robots and machines, but it will find its fans. 5.5/10. (02.12.2022)