It's a bit of a surprise, director Jonnie TO getting three films released this year. Following the Milkyway Image productions strategy review, they released Jonnie TO's 'Where a Good Man Goes' in May and 'Running Out of Tme' in September. Now we have 'The Mission', casting Anthony WONG Chau-sang and Francis NG Chun-yu, who are generally seen as good actors.

'The Mission' is about a group of bodyguards, namely Curtis (Anthony WONG Chau-sang), Shin (LUI Chung-yin), Roy (Francis NG Chun-yu), Mike (Roy CHEUNG Yiu-yeung) and Joe (LAM Suet). The five men come from different generations in the triads. They are hired by Frank (Simon YAM Tak-wah) to protect his brother Mr. HUNG (KO Hung), the triad head.

The bodyguards come under sniper fire from their first night on duty. They all take their jobs seriously, but one day Curtis is given a new mission to kill Shin, who has been in love with the triad head's wife. But Roy is determined to shield his buddy Shin ....

As the release gap between 'Running Out of Time' and 'The Mission' is less than 2 months, the comparison is inevitable. The plot of 'The Mission' is simple in comparison, even a bit straightforward. All you see is the group doing their jobs, working for Frank to protect Mr. HUNG, with no attention paid to their backgrounds. The job itself is also very simple.

However, the movie is a fantastic achievement by the director, scriptwriter and cinematographer. All of them are sharp and slick. They have lots of chances to 'show off' their skills.

The most interesting thing of the movie is the use of cinematography to present the gun fighting. In one scene where they battle another group of killers, there's a wide angle shot showing all five spread around a shopping arcade in different firing positions. That scene is really remarkable. In addition, the using of long zoom shots from far away to very close works extremely well on screen.

Milkyway Image productions always imply some underlying meaning or mood in their movies. This time they give a feeling of crisis. It starts when Curtis gets the mission to kill Shin and Roy decides to shield his buddy.

However, the ending is much more upbeat than before so the audience will feel happy about it.

Looking at the actors, both Anthony WONG Chau-sang and Francis NG Chun-yu are sharp. But what surprised me most is the performance of LAM Suet. LAM Suet was introduced in previous Mikyway Image previous productions like 'The Longest Nite'. This time he plays a good guy and gets a bigger role than he's had before.

In summary, 'The Mission' is a movie based on how five men work together as bodyguards to for a triad head. The plot is straightforward, but the direction and cinematography are fantastic. This is one of the quality productions of the year.