WIND BLAST is an action thriller from mainland China, complete with all the problems that location entails. It's cheap and grubby looking production, very digital in tone and feel, somehow glossy and unrealistic at the same time. The plot offers a heady mix of martial arts fights, shoot-outs, stunts and chase sequences, all involving a contract killer who goes on the run in the Gobi desert with his pregnant girlfriend. He finds himself pursued by both a unit of police and his former associates who now want his head for themselves. The film benefits from a fast pace and some solid performances from the likes of Wu Jing, Francis Ng and Yu Nan, but there's a shallowness when it comes to the characters and it does feel confused and confusing at times. The action is acceptable but hardly as breathtaking as I'd heard. The Gobi desert makes for a nice change of setting and adds a certain freshness to this one.
Review of Wind Blast
