"The Mission" is a prime example of a director using his craft to tell a simple story well. I liken this Johnnie To film in many ways to Akira Kurosawa's "Sanjuro." The story is deceptively simple and the action is part and parcel to the plot. The narrative is straightforward and the action is well executed. Five individuals (former Triad members) are recruited to bodyguard a Traid leader. No hyper-realized slo-motion or excessive squib work. The tone of the film is the same as the demeanor of the bodyguards depicted in the film, professional and capable. To appears to be "in the groove" when it comes to being a storyteller, letting the viewer decide the moral outcome, leaving the good vs bad up to us. After all, the bodyguards in this movie are protecting a Traid leader; they are obligated to do things that fall in the gray areas of society; and they are killers. Do we like these characters, or are they all evil? Eddie Ko as the Triad leader is portrayed in a sympathetic light. You'd think he was a corporate executive instead of a criminal, with Simon Yam as his right-hand man.

The choreography and the acting are solid throughout. The gunfights propel the story and actually help to define the characters, and its good to see Anthony Wong in a restrained performance.

Johnnie To is one of the more accomplished Hong Kong directors working today. His style is unfolding as a storyteller not bound by the traps of contemporary convention to quick-cut edit or to use special f/X in place of a story. His films are character-driven, which gives the viewer incentive to become emotionally involved. A method also used by directors like Ringo Lam, but To is more romantic as opposed to Lam's grittiness. Besides that, Johnnie To's one of the more productive directors today, and most of all, consistently solid.