The Fatal Raid - Blu-ray Review

[Michael Scott]

The Fatal Raid



Movie:
Video:
Audio:
Extras: :
Final Score:


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Movie
Ahhh, an action movie describing itself as “In your face action!” and “a bloody cops vs. gangster thriller that you’ll never see coming!”. Usually when you see tag lines like that you know you’re in for a horribly cheesy 80s/90s action movie, or a complete train wreck. Unfortunately this one is the latter as The Fatal Raid is something I would rather forget about then watch again. I’ve made no small fact over the years that I’m a huge Well Go USA fan, and an even bigger fan of Asian action cinema in general. I grew up watching Jackie Chan, Jet Li, Donnie Yen, and much much more, so I’ve garnered a bit of a taste for films like this. However, one thing that Chinese action films have always struggled with is melodrama. They tend to go overboard when it comes to giving dramatic elements to their movies, and tend to stumble more often then not in their action/drama hybrids. I’m always happy to be proven wrong when that trope is circumvented, but as is the case here, Too much just ruins the soup.

The Fatal Raid is one of those movies that isn’t content with just being mindless action. Instead it tries to develop characters and give human emotion to the gun slingers throughout the movie. While it can work in theory, the handling of this particular foray is nothing short of fitful in its execution. The plot of the film revolves around the good old “girls with guns” trope that has been making a comeback in recent years, as a cadre of special forces police women are sent to hunt down various career criminals and baddies, with usually fantastic result. However a botched raid went down a few years back that scarred some of these brave super femme soldiers and it looks like it’s going to happen again as a brand new raid is ramping up, with some foretold disastrous results.

There’s a bit too much going on with the plot here, as characters are fleshed out, rolled around in a pile of sappy, and then crammed down our throats while the audience is saying to itself “get out of the way, let us see the action!”. While there’s certainly a lot of action, it really feels more like a set piece for the melodrama, as there’s not much on the line for the most part, and the action sequences feel extremely staged. I grew up watching Michelle Yeoh go toe to toe with villains along with Francois Yip and a variety of other incredible female asian action stars, but all of the people involved feel more like dolls than lifelike action stars.

I’m not even sure WHY The Fatal Raid doesn’t work very well. It’s got a lot of action, a lot of drama, and plenty of slow motion bullets, but I felt completely disassociated with the experience and I guess it goes back to my statement of “too much of a good thing”. There’s too much mindless action, too much missing, and too much sobbing and emotional roller coasters going on on-screen to really be effective. Some bits were competently done (the shootout at the end was rather impressive), but too much of it just felt like Jacky Lee couldn’t come up with a proper balance between the action and the soap operaesque melodrama.




Rating:

Not Rated by the MPAA




Video:

Given a typical 2K master, The Fatal Raid looks solid on Blu-ray, with a 2.39:1 AVC encode that is given your typical blue/teal color grading alternating with some golden highlights in bulb lit scenes. It’s a good looking disc for sure, with plenty of fine detail apparent from the get go (facial hair stubble, stitching on clothing), but it’s also just a tad soft too. Black can crush in the darker shots, and there’s always the traditional Well Go USA banding that goes on. It’s not bad by any stretch of the imagination, but it keeps the encode from looking truly great. Outdoor shots are VERY bright and shiny (sometimes it looked a bit TOO bright), and those moments are the ones that really shine, while the darker scenes get the majority of any before mentioned issues.






Audio:

Probably the best part of the entire disc is the action oriented brace of 5.1 DTS-HD MA tracks (one in Cantonese, and one in English). Both discs sound sonically great, with tons of action, a boisterous amount of surround usage and bass, but one small caveat. If you’re listening to the Cantonese mix then be aware that the subtitles are pretty painful at times. Very much a slightly better “Engrish” translation which has obvious sentence structure issues, and whole phrases not being translated even remotely correctly. That being said, either track is a toss up for how they sound. Lots of gunfire, lots of action, and TONS of bass fill out the mix quite nicely during the copious action scenes. Dialog is great for the most part, but sometimes sounds a bit harsh on the top end. Great mix with a few tiny flaws.









Extras:

• Trailer
• Well Go USA Previews

Final Score: ​

The Fatal Raid had a few fun moments, but it’s a less than noteworthy release from Well Go USA, with a weak plot, mind numbing action (I know, that sounds weird saying it considering I like that type of thing usually) and a greatly looking/sounding Blu-ray that once again is devoid of any real extras. Personally, I would just skip this one and wait for the next.

Technical Specifications:


Starring: Aaron Bogs, Sin-Hang Chiu, Jeana Ho, Min Chen Lin, Jade Leung, Patrick Tam, Michael Tom, Kristy Yeung
Directed by: Jacky Lee
Written by: Men Wa Choi, Jacky Lee, Lam Siu Fu
Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1 AVC
Audio: Cantonese: DTS-HD MA 5.1, English DTS-HD MA 5.1, Cantonese, English DD 2.0
Subtitles: English, English Full
Studio: Well Go USA
Rated: NR
Runtime: 91 Minutes
Blu-ray Release Date: August 24th 2021

Recommendation: Skip It