''The Mission'' (, jyutping: Coeng1 Fo2, lit. ''The Gunfire'') is a 1999 Hong Kong

action film Action film is a film genre in which the protagonist is thrust into a series of events that typically involve violence and physical feats. The genre tends to feature a mostly resourceful hero struggling against incredible odds, which include life ...

produced and directed

Johnnie To Johnnie To Kei-fung (born 22 April 1955) is a Hong Kong film director, screenwriter and film producer. Popular in his native Hong Kong, To has also found acclaim overseas. Intensely prolific, To has made films in a variety of genres, though in ...

, and starring Anthony Wong,

Francis Ng Francis Ng Chun-yu (; born 21 December 1961) is a Hong Kong actor and director. He is known for his roles in the TVB series ''Triumph in the Skies'' and in films such as ''Young and Dangerous'', '' Once Upon a Time in Triad Society'', ''A Ma ...

, Jackie Lui,

Lam Suet Lam Suet (; born 1964), or Lin Xue, is a Hong Kong film actor. Life and career Lam was born in Tianjin, and came to Hong Kong as a youth in 1979 to receive inheritance money left by his grandfather. Soon after, all the money had been squander ...

, and

Simon Yam Simon Yam Tat-wah (; born 19 March 1955) is a Hong Kong actor and film producer. He received international acclaim for his performances in international film festival and box office hits such as ''Naked Killer'', '' SPL: Sha Po Lang'', ''Election' ...

Plot

Triad boss Lung survives an

assassination Assassination is the murder of a prominent or important person, such as a head of state, head of government, politician, world leader, member of a royal family or CEO. The murder of a celebrity, activist, or artist, though they may not have ...

attempt in a restaurant, with one of his men being killed during the hit. The restaurant is owned by "Fat Cheung", an

underboss Underboss ( it, sottocapo) is a position within the leadership structure of certain organized crime groups, particularly in Sicilian, Greek, and Italian-American Mafia crime families. The underboss is second in command to the boss. The underbo ...

of Lung's triad. To ensure his safety, Lung's right hand man and brother, Frank has hired five bodyguards to stay close to their boss 24/7; Curtis normally works as a hairdresser and is the considered to be a veteran of the group, the loner James, night club owner Roy and his younger gang colleague Shin and Mike, a former

pimp Procuring or pandering is the facilitation or provision of a prostitute or other sex worker in the arrangement of a sex act with a customer. A procurer, colloquially called a pimp (if male) or a madam (if female, though the term pimp has still ...

. An initial assassination attempt on Lung fails when a

sniper A sniper is a military/paramilitary marksman who engages targets from positions of concealment or at distances exceeding the target's detection capabilities. Snipers generally have specialized training and are equipped with high-precision r ...

attacks the cars with Lung and his bodyguards from the rooftop of a high-rise. Lung gets shot, but a bullet-proof vest prevents further damage. The men manage to fight off the attack and Curtis decides to leave in the cars with Lung, James, Mike and Shin even though Roy hasn't returned (he left the scene to pursue a second attacker). Roy returns angrily in a taxi to Lung's house and beats up Curtis (who doesn't oppose). The next day Curtis makes amends by killing a criminal who harassed Roy's night club. The five bodyguards are fighting off two additional assassination attempts and trail a surviving hitman to the hideout of the attackers. After a gunfight they manage to capture one of the assassins alive. It becomes evident that the hits were contracted by Fat Cheung and Lung sends his henchmen Frank to kill him. The bodyguards kill the captured hitman and the five men celebrate the end of their mission in a restaurant. Frank hands out five envelopes with the pay to Curtis and tells him that he learnt about an affair between Shin and the wife of Lung. He requests that Shin executed and Curtis tells him that he'll handle it. Curtis drives to James, asks him for a gun and arranges a meeting with Shin in the evening. James warns Roy and since he's responsible for Shin as his boss, he confronts him with the allegation. Shin confesses having been seduced by Mrs. Lung. Roy tells Curtis that he can't allow for Shin to be killed. They form the plan to have Shin escape in a boat to

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

but eventually discard the plan since Frank would then pursue Roy and the rest of them for failing instead. In the evening the five men meet in an otherwise empty restaurant to sort out the situation. James leaves to ask Lung for clemency and to spare Shin's life. When he arrives at Lung's house he witnesses a henchmen of Lung killing the unfaithful Mrs. Lung. James realises the hopelessness of his attempt and returns to the restaurant where it comes to a Mexican standoff between the men. Curtis shoots Shin, while Roy empties his magazine without aiming at Curtis. When the men leave the restaurant, Curtis throws a blank towards James, thus revealing that the death of Shin (who escapes through the backdoor) was staged for Lung.

Production

According to To, they shot the film in 18 days.

Reception

''The Mission'' was well received. The

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

reported that 60% of critics have given the film a positive review based on 5 reviews, with an average rating of 5.56/10. In a 2004 interview with director

for the website GreenCine, Sean Axmaker states that ''The Mission'' is "the best crime film to come from Hong Kong in years. It's austere and still, beautifully composed and tense, and the characters are professional and efficient, positioning themselves for efficiency and communicating and interacting silently while on the job." Similarly, an overview of To's body of work that precedes an interview for the magazine '' Cineaste'' refers to the film as "To's masterpiece," "a brilliantly conceived, shot, and edited gangster film." In 2014, '' Time Out'' polled several film critics, directors, actors and stunt actors to list their top action films. ''The Mission'' was listed at 86th place on this list.

Awards and nominations

References

External links

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''The Mission''
a
LoveHKFilm.com
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The Mission
' at

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mission, The 1999 films 1990s Cantonese-language films 1999 crime thriller films Hong Kong action films Hong Kong New Wave films Hong Kong crime films Films directed by Johnnie To Milkyway Image films Films whose director won the Best Director Golden Horse Award Films set in Hong Kong Films shot in Hong Kong Films with screenplays by Yau Nai-hoi Triad films 1990s Hong Kong films