Very much like America, the Chinese VOD/DTV market is a hodgepodge of quality. For every sub par thriller or actioner there is another that raises the bar, one that could easily stand side by side with anything released in a cinema.
Huo Suiqiang’s Hunt the Wicked is one such film, filled to the brim with fantastic action scenes and bolstered by two excellent lead performances from the perpetually underrated Tse Miu and Andy On.
It isn’t just the leads that should get you excited over this one, as director Huo Suiqiang was also behind the excellent Blind War (2022) and The Comeback (2023), both of which seriously eschewed their budgets, with them easily being cinema worthy. Hunt the Wicked more than matches his previous efforts, even surpassing them in some respects.
Tse Miu plays dogged Narcotics Officer Huang Mingjin who finds himself facing off against the criminal mastermind Wei Yunzhou. As Yunzhou has begun to take over the criminal underworld, Mingjin makes it his mission to stop him. However, there is more to the mysterious Yunzhou than expected, with Mingjin uncovering a criminal conspiracy in his investigation that could put him at odds with those highest in power. Could it be that the cop and criminal have more in common than anticipated. In his fight to stop the city descending into chaos, Mingjin faces off against an army of deadly killers in his pursuit of justice.
Hunt the Wicked more than exceeded my expectations. Like Blind War and The Comeback, Suiqiang once again brings an old school Hong Kong movie feel to proceedings, with this being more in line with classics such as Royal Warriors (1986) or Tiger Cage (1988) than more recent Chinese produced actioners. Sure Ma Lao’s screenplay does make proceedings overly convoluted, with more twists and reveals than necessary, but it does it’s job in setting up the action.
Speaking of action, Suiqiang doesn’t waste any time getting to it, with Andy On swiftly taking down a security team to get to an insane professor who has been selling drugs on the black market. That is when he isn’t operating as a serial killer. This is quickly followed with a dockside shootout, with this being the kind of set piece that you would expect to end a film in how explosive it is. During the ballistic action, Suiqiang transitions to a finely choreographed fight scene between On and Miu, with the two facing off against each other in an ice factory. Using all manner of tools against each other, both performers get a chance to shine here, with their ensuing face offs raising Hunt the Wicked way above similar fare.
It would have been easy for Suiqiang to slow things down after such an exhilarating opening, but from here he keeps ratcheting up the pace, with it never being too long until we are treated to another awesome shootout, fight scene or car chase. There is a slight lull in the third act, but this doesn’t last too long before we are propelled into the action packed finale. Importantly, Suiqiang still makes sure to make the audience care about the protagonists during it all. Quality action is great, but it can be for nothing if you don’t care about the characters involved.
Interestingly for a mainland production, there is quite a blurring of the lines between good and evil, so much so that you will probably find yourself siding with On’s criminal mastermind as much as Miu’s hero cop. In most productions, On would be your clear cut villain, but that isn’t always the case with Hunt the Wicked, with those he’s facing off against being much worse than he could ever be. The high point of the film is when he and Miu come to an understanding and combine their forces to go against an even greater evil. Whilst still wary of each other, the two make quite a team, leading to one of the film’s best action scenes.
Obviously, being a mainland production, there are certain tropes they just can’t get past. Criminals will always have to pay for their crimes, and if our heroes have gone beyond the law in their duty to apprehend said criminals, you can bet your arse they will be paying for it as well. This is to be expected these days, and while it does slightly hamper the film (and most Chinese productions), the film manages to overcome such limitations through how great the rest of the production is.
Both Miu and On knock it out the park in their consecutive roles, with each of them being so good it would be hard to pick a favorite. It is almost as if the filmmakers understood this themselves, with the initially antagonistic relationship between the two developing as the film progressed, with the two of them finally finding themselves going up against the same enemy. This reduces any conflict amongst the audience in who they would like to see win when the finale comes.
Tse Miu has been consistently appearing in above par VOD releases that it makes you wonder why he isn’t appearing in more mainstream fare. With films like this and his Eye for an Eye series he really should be a bigger star. Similarly to his fellow action star Ashton Chen, he has been knocking it out the park in terms of action output, with his fight scenes in Hunt the Wicked being some of the best you will see this year. Thankfully, it looks like Miu is starting to get more recognition, with him appearing this year in the eagerly awaited Furious (2025), which comes courtesy of action extraordinaire Kenji Tanigaki.
It does help that amongst the fighting that Miu makes you care about his character. His character may not be as memorable as that in Eye for an Eye (2022), but Miu still makes his part memorable. However, he is in danger in the film by being overshadowed by Andy On, at least in terms of character. On’s Wei Yunzhou is certainly the more interesting of the two characters, with him teetering the line between hero and villain. His motives are morally great, which On has great fun playing on. Similarly to Miu, On gets multiple opportunities to show off his martial arts skills, with his work only being overshadowed by his performance in the awesome 100 Yards (2023) the year prior.
My only real complaint is that the film’s proper villain comes across as somewhat weak. It would have been great for Miu and On to face off against an even deadlier opponent than them, one that was more than a physical match for the both of them. This is a minor nitpick, and one that doesn’t necessarily affect the plot.
Hunt the Wicked is a definite recommendation. What it loses in plot it more than makes up for in excellent fight choreography and blistering action scenes. It’s another in a winning lineup of quality actioners to come from Well Go USA and one that any martial arts/action fan should want in their collection.
Plot: 3.5/5
Acting: 4/5
Action: 4/5
Overall: 3.8/5