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Do you like your missions possible or impossible? Try Mission: Cross (now streaming on Netflix) for something in between. Spy games are one thing, but in this Korean action comedy, these might pale in comparison to the games couples play.
MISSION: CROSS: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?
The Gist: Mi-seon (Yum Jung-ah) works as a highly competent detective who’s focused on taking down drug rings. The “Hunter of Major Crimes,” she’s called. If only she felt her home life had the same thrill. Her goofy, supportive husband Kang-mu (Hwang Jung-min) gets the most action in his day from doing donuts in a parking lot for kids.
But seeing a woman in distress from a past life, Hee-ju, reactivates something inside of Kang-mu �� a set of professional skills that get misinterpreted as being a player by Mi-seon’s colleagues. They begin staking out the suspected unfaithful beau and find his infidelity is less to his wife and more to himself. Flashbacks reveal him botching a job and leaving the profession of espionage seemingly in shame. But now, he cannot say no when he discovers a secret project meant to provide mental combat readiness for troops but ends up getting deployed more for eliciting illicit confessions. Kang-mu might save the day and his marriage if he can convince Mi-seon to come along for the ride.
What Movies Will It Remind You Of?: Mr. And Mrs. Smith with a dash of the Bourne series … just way goofier.
Performance Worth Watching: Jeong Man-sik, who plays one of Mi-seon’s detective partners, is the real MVP of the movie. While others play their parts in a way that tries to straddle silliness and seriousness, he understands the assignment. He’s providing comic relief with real gusto.
Memorable Dialogue: Mi-seon asks, “Is marriage about legitimizing each other’s felonies?” at the start of the Mission: Cross. It’s a good introduction to the flippant, fun tone this light action-comedy will have throughout.
Sex and Skin: There’s a slight bit of butt crack shown after a prison escape gag where Kang-mu plays crazy by defecating out in the open. But for the majority of the bit, his rear end gets blurred.
Our Take: From the opening moments of Mission: Cross, the musical score’s levity provides permission for viewers not to take any of this too seriously. Lee Myung Hoon can somewhat get away with this jocular tone because it’s clear from the start that his film is just scrapping together parts of plots we already know and like better. The stakes are nil; the endgame is a MacGuffin. Turning Mr. Mom into James Bond is an amusing concept rendered boring by its lack of any unique creative spark.
Our Call: SKIP IT. Mission: Cross is a reminder of what we’ve lost in the last decade-plus of superhero domination in cinema. The action comedy isn’t a two-for-one combo deal; it’s a watered-down version of both. This is a mission alright, and you should choose not to accept it.
Marshall Shaffer is a New York-based freelance film journalist. In addition to Decider, his work has also appeared on Slashfilm, Slant, The Playlist and many other outlets. Some day soon, everyone will realize how right he is about Spring Breakers.
