Adapted from a series of novels by Wang Jianxing, and originally set to be Vincent Zhao’s directing debut – he would have played the lead as well – with Yu Nan as the female co-lead and Sammo Hung in charge of the action, Fox Hunting was then somewhat downgraded, amid rumors of shady practices by its financiers: TV veteran Sun Shupei (of Zhao Wei’s immensely popular nineties TV series Princess Pearl) stepped in as both director and action director, Huang Shengyi replaced Yu Nan (who retreated to a small cameo), and TV mainstay Xu Jia took the lead. Much ado about nothing: Fox Hunting is a mediocre little actioner; shot in Thailand and unfolding mostly in an embassy office, a police station, a warehouse, and some nondescript patches of countryside and industrial zones, it is the equivalent of a lower-tier Philip Ko film of the early nineties, with a bit more budget but much less reckless action.

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