Another user here called this flick 'heroic bloodshed'. I find that qualification a bit misleading. I'm of the opinion (not shared by everyone) that 'heroic bloodshed' should be reserved for a particular wave of Hong Kong action flicks of the late eighties and early nineties. For my taste, EXTRAORDINARY MISSION is too far removed from the meticulously choreographed, highly stylized gun violence that was so typical of those flicks. (The same user review that equates this flick with heroic bloodshed also mentions Bay as a reference point, which is more on the nose, I think.)
If we have to stick with Eastern action flicks for references I would call this a cross between INFERNAL AFFAIRS (written by the same guy) and last year's OPERATION MEKONG. Sadly, this flick borrows the convoluted plot from the first flick and the overall ridiculousness (and not to mention nationalistic attitude) from the second.
I have nothing against ridiculous action flicks, far from it, but EXTRAORDINARY MISSION tries to be a serious undercover cop drama while serving up nothing but clichés. It fails to be believable. Neither was MEKONG, but what that flick at least delivered was a barrage of hard violence and insane action sequences (with the shoot out in a mall half way through as the real high light). To see anything similar in EXTRAORDINARY MISSION you will have to wait until the last 20 minutes or so. The action is spectacular, but for me, it wasn't worth plowing through ninety minutes of unconvincing, uninteresting undercover blues.
If you're an action fan and haven't already seen OPERATION MEKONG I suggest you put this flick aside and watch that one instead.
