Home Coming

Wan Li Gui Tu, internationally known as Home Coming, is a Chinese military drama set in a non-specified country during the Arab Spring. It tells the story of two unarmed Chinese diplomats who attempt to save one hundred twenty-five isolated Chinese citizens from a region controlled by hostile rebel forces and bring them back home. The diplomats need to use courage, diplomacy and strategy to face different challenges and dangers.

On the positive side, the portrayal of the Arab Spring is quite realistic in this movie. The fact that no country, group or leader is specifically pointed out goes along with the film's promotion of compromises and intellect. The locations have been chosen with care, the costumes look quite realistic and the tense atmosphere is genuine as well. This survival drama has excellent pace from start to finish but also takes its time to develop its most important characters. The viewers will be rooting for their survival. The acting performances are decent to great throughout. The explosive special effects also stand out because they are employed realistically and avoid turning this film into a senseless action spectacle.

On the negative side, this film is obviously a propaganda movie like so many other contemporary Chinese films. After a period of intellectual freedom throughout the nineties and early years of the millennium, most movies from the past decade and counting try to portray Chinese people as particularly heroic citizens and their government as caring, reliable and strong. The message of this movie is very clear: no matter where a Chinese citizen lives, the government will protect said citizen from any foreign danger and bring this citizen back home by any means necessary. While this promise might sound almost romantic at first sight, such constant surveillance also has a justifiably creepy undertone for non-Chinese viewers like myself.

At the end of the day, Home Coming is a gripping military drama with profound characters, excellent locations and realistic special effects. On the other side, this movie has a strong propagandistic touch, attempting to praise the Chinese government as heroic, powerful and revolutionary. If you are willing to forgive those little hints at brainwashing, you are going to explore a very good genre movie that entertains from start to finish.

Set amidst a coup in the north African nation of "Numia" this story follows the activities of "Zong" (Yi Zhang) and "Cheng Lang" (Karry Wang). These two work in the Chinese embassy in the capital of this war-torn country when they find out that a group of civilians have been stranded at a remote desert location. They are tasked with trying to rescue them and lead them to safety in neighbouring "Tulisia". The elder man has previous with rescue missions, having carried out a similar operation in Lebanon. The younger is more enthusiastic but green. Together they must learn to trust each other whilst avoiding the perils that endanger the lives of themselves and their party as they seek safety. This film is simply too long - at over 2¼ hours long - and the story, though quite busy and exciting at times, has more than it's fair share of serendipity that robs it of much actual jeopardy. The young man turns in a decent performance as he wrestles with his desire to tell the truth about the extent of their predicament versus his boss who is far more pragmatic, but somehow the rest of the characterisations are straight from a central casting manual - brave, stoic, dedicated - yes, but somehow lacking in soul or personality. They are in the middle of a death trap with bombs and bullets everywhere (these effects are pretty authentic looking, too), yet the film itself comes across as sterile and rather procedural. Conspiracy theorists may love the big brother/satellite surveillance aspect towards the end but otherwise it might as well be an outing for Bruce Willis. There also appears to be a pretty interminable supply of coaches and bottled water here, too... Worth a watch, just about, and it is no worst than some similar Hollywood efforts but it's instantly forgettable fayre.

The twists and turns in this saga are completely unexpected. Won't give away spoilers - there are many thrilling, shocking, gruesome and difficult moments, it almost seems like a made-up exaggerated Bruce Willis type action movies, but they turned out to be mostly true depictions of events.

In reality, the Chinese company involved lost billions and had to declare bankruptcy. 900 employees were trapped and engaged in firefights and crossed the Sahara desert to try to reach Benghazi.

The tension in the movie doesn't let up until the very end.

The backdrop is the brutal civil war in Libya, where rebel armies, with the help of NATO, overthrew Gaddafi. The scenes of chaos by ISIS like militia can be difficult to watch, so parents beware.

Highly recommended as it is based on real life accounts.