Operation Red Sea

When a coup breaks out in a fictional North African country, the Chinese navy's Jiaolong special unit is sent to evacuate citizens. The mission expands: an engineer taken hostage, stolen nuclear material and fighting across the city. An eight-person team works against a vastly larger force. The film is not interested in politics. It is interested in the mechanics of combat: it consists almost entirely of fighting, and sections like the sniper duel, the street clearance and the use of drones are worked out in detail. There is next to no character development and the production does not hide it. The form is large-scale action: real naval vessels, street scenes shot in Morocco, explosions and graphic violence. Wounds are shown far more openly than in comparable films. Dante Lam directed. It was made with the support of the Chinese navy and drew on the 2015 evacuation from Yemen. It performed extraordinarily at the Chinese box office and entered the ranks of the country's highest-earning productions to that point. Zhang Yi plays the team commander. Who it is for: viewers who like military action and unbroken combat tempo. Who it is not for: anyone after narrative depth, or anyone who cannot set aside the state backing. The production is plainly built as a display of power.