Film Review: Fox Hunt 獵狐行動 (2025) - China
Reviewed by Andrew Chan (Film Critic Circle of Australia)
I rated it 7/10
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A Superb Game Played on a Slightly Worn Board - After years languishing in the shadows of anticipation,”Fox Hunt" finally springs onto the screen, a sleek, international thriller showcasing two of contemporary cinema’s most formidable actors locked in a continental game of cat and mouse. Directed with glossy efficiency by Zhang Lijia, it delivers precisely the high-stakes chase and heavyweight acting duel promised by its premise and pedigree. It is expertly crafted, often thrilling, and yet... it carries the faint but persistent scent of a formula we’ve breathed before. It executes its mission with precision, but rarely dares to transcend it.
The undeniable engine of the film, the reason it crackles even when the plot sputters, is the electric interplay between Tony Leung Chiu-wai and Duan Yihong. Leung, as the "Red Notice" fugitive financier Dai Yichen, is a revelation in a rare antagonistic turn. Forget cartoon villainy; Leung crafts Dai into a creature of chilling elegance. He glides through the European haut monde not as a thug, but as a velvet-gloved predator, his wealth a fortress and his charm a lethal weapon. That legendary ability to convey oceans of calculation and menace with the faintest upturn of his lips is used to masterful effect. He is mesmerizingly untouchable, until...
Until he meets the immovable object that is Duan Yihong's Captain Ye Hongwu. Duan provides the perfect, gritty counterpoint to Leung's silken villainy. Ye is relentless, grounded in a weary determination that feels etched into Duan’s very features. He’s not chasing a paycheck; he’s pursuing a principle. Their confrontations, often verbal chess matches played across interrogation tables or opulent dinner settings, generate more genuine tension than any of the film’s admittedly well-staged shootouts or chases. Watching these titans parry and thrust is the film’s purest, most sophisticated pleasure.
Zhang Lijia exploits the film’s globetrotting scope with undeniable flair. From the rain-slicked streets of Paris to the windswept coasts of Normandy and the bustling chaos of Southeast Asia, the cinematography is expansive and sleek. It feels expensive, a big-screen spectacle designed for IMAX immersion. The action sequences are crisply choreographed and executed, capturing the cold, high-stakes aura of global financial crime where billions move at keystrokes and lives are ruined off-screen.
Yet, for all this surface polish and the central performances that dig deeper, “Fox Hunt" finds itself constrained by the very genre it inhabits and the specific mandate of its "based on true events" foundation. The narrative, particularly in its final act, suffers from a fatal case of predetermined destiny. Knowing the underlying message about the long arm of justice (specifically Chinese law enforcement in this context) drains the climax of genuine suspense. The outcome feels less like a product of the intricate chase we've witnessed and more like an inevitable foregone conclusion dictated by the script's origins. This robs the otherwise polished procedural elements of their bite.
Furthermore, the fascinating, murky world of "Economic Crimes" – ripe for complex exploration – is largely glossed over in favor of standard action-thriller tropes. The intricate financial machinations that presumably fueled the real-life case become mere background noise. Supporting characters, especially the various international agents and bureaucrats caught in the crossfire, are reduced to functional archetypes, lacking the depth or shading that might have enriched the procedural tapestry. A noticeable lull also settles in during the mid-section, as the film navigates the necessary but dramatically inert bureaucratic hurdles of cross-border extradition, testing the viewer's patience before the final sprint.
“Fox Hunt" is, without question, a significant step forward in production ambition for the mainland Chinese action-thriller. It is handsomely mounted, superbly acted (particularly by the magnetic Leung and the rock-solid Duan), and delivers solid, often gripping entertainment. Yet, it remains ultimately earthbound. It plays a sophisticated game between its leads, but does so on a board whose squares feel a little too familiar, its final moves telegraphed too far in advance. It is a very good example of its type, polished to a high sheen and powered by two extraordinary performances. I admired it, I was engaged by it, but I found myself wishing it had dared to be as cunning and unpredictable as the fox it pursues. It settles for being a highly competent hunter, when it could have been legendary. (Neo, 2025)