I bought the DVD for this film years ago and set it aside. It was such a bland generic meaningless title that it didn't grab me and sounded too much like all the terrible dumb re-titling's of Hong Kong films by American DVD distributors. I have no idea what Jet Li films people are talking about anymore because of the American titles. They all sound the same. Clearly, geniuses at work with the imagination of a toothpick. I literally forgot I had this. But thanks to a review of a film from a friend in which he goes into detail about the career of Wu Jing, I checked to see what I had with him in it and came up with a few of them. The funny thing is that I had seen him in Tai Chi 2 years ago and never connected that young man Jackie Wu to the now super star Wu Jing. He has grown up and bulked up!


Even after watching the film, I have no idea what Invisible Target means or refers to.  It would have been closer to the mark if they had simply named this film "Holy Shit, Did They Really Do That'. I did a lot of Holy Shit's in this film. The action is massive and amazing and the stunts are insane. During the end credits they show you how a few of the stunts were done and they are less terrifying than they appear - but in the film you go holy cow. A parkour scene will knock your knees together and a wild bus chase with a crash at the end is hyper kinetic. This is directed by Bennie Chan so you know it will be an action bonanza with a slight plot giving it room to breathe. But he stretches it past the two-hour mark in order to give it some emotional resonance - from both the good and the bad guys. I admit at times I was thinking get back to the chase and the action, but it probably was a good thing though there is a drag in there - perhaps to give us a chance to catch our breath. By the end you are invested in all the characters. If you came for the action, you likely went home happy.


The film begins with a huge blast that kills nearly everyone around it - but not before Chan sets it up as tragedy. A young woman is in a jewelry store trying to decide which rings to buy for her soon to be husband and herself and is talking to him on the phone. Should I get this one with a discount or the expensive one. Get the expensive one. This only happens once. You immediately get why whoever is on the other end of the phone loves this woman. Then boom. A group of robbers headed by Wu Jing with Andy On plant bombs on an armored car and explode them. Everything goes poof including the woman. Inside the truck the guards are killed except one played by Sam Lee who is badly hurt. The film comes back to him later. The gang escapes after mowing down more cops. And suddenly it is six months later. We are five minutes into the film. A lot of glass has already been broken; a whole lot more to come. I don't know if I have seen a film where so many people get thrown, kicked or punched through glass panes. Benny must have had stock in the company.


The man who was on the other end of the phone is policeman Chan Chun played by Nicholas Tse in a terrifically physical performance. He wants only one thing in life - to kill the robbers. Another tough cop Wei is introduced to us by arresting a triad (Lam Suet in a lovely though small role) and beating the crap out of his bodyguards. Wei is played by Shawn Yue, also in a great physical performance. He is established. The third cop is the opposite of the other two. Just starting out, handing out parking tickets. Wai King Ho is played by Jaycee Chan, son of you know who, and he is fine in this. Not at all irritating as he has been in other films.


Circumstances bring all three of these cops together determined to get the gang. And what a ride it is. One fine set-piece after another. A favorite is when they go into a restaurant to have a drink and talk - trouble pops up among some tough kids and Wai King Ho goes to break it up. Turns out to be a teenage triad hang out and everyone in there is carrying a machete and they have to fight for their lives to escape. So next time in Hong Kong, check first to see if the people sitting are carrying before you sit down.


A very good film - a little stupid at times - I never quite understood why the bad guys just didn't kill the three of them when they had multiple chances. It would have saved them a lot of trouble, but this wasn't their movie. Of course, I came for Wu Jing and he does not disappoint. His fights are great, he is nearly indestructible and his moves are fast, hard and acrobatic. It is a bravura action performance. Not a lot of expressions from him but who cares. He is kind of The Terminator. And I was so impressed by the willingness of Shawn and Nicholas to be punching bags and do those stunts. I need to go back and watch more of their work.