HUNT THE WICKED – Review

HUNT THE WICKED is a Chinese action flick in a contemporary crime setting that packs considerable punch in its considerable amount of punches, knifings, shootings and ‘splosions. The premise is rather standard, with more complications and twists than usual in the plot.

Miao Xie stars as Huang, a super-tough supercop pitted against huge drug manufacturing and importing ring that has long defied the efforts of the authorities. That’s partly due to the corruption among certain cops and politicians obscuring their activities and derailing most of the legit efforts. The film opens with Huang making the biggest bust to date of the meth-like pills the gang is making called Spider. It can be fatal for those who use it, and even more so for those who get hooked. In the course of Huang’s pursuit of the syndicate’s upper echelons, he must fend off major efforts by the cartel to recover their confiscated product from the secret place Huang stored it. Those efforts are either helped or hindered by a rogue ex-cop (Andy On), creating quite a bit of suspense about who should trust whom, since the latter had become known to the authorities as a major criminal.

The big draw here lies in the fight sequences, ranging from gritty one-on-ones, to heavily-populated clashes yielding high body counts. Their intensity is partly due to the fact that Miao Xie has won a number of Wushu tournaments, and On studied multiple disciplines, ranging from time at a Shaolin temple to working with Jackie Chan’s crew of trainers.  The real starring credit arguably is to be shared between director Suiqiang Huo and stunt coordinator Long Zhao, with a high-five to Jun Li’s cinematography. I’d also give a nod to the location scout(s) for finding several excellent settings for the proceedings to unfold.

Despite what may strike one as protracted story arcs – including our knowing who the main villains are too long before our hero gets there – the lead performances and scale of action make this one worth watching.

HUNT THE WICKED, in Mandarin Chinese with English subtitles, debuts on digital platforms from WellGoUSA on Tuesday, May 20, 2025.

RATING: 2.5 out of 4 stars