Sumith Prasad
Alternatively titled ‘Project X-Traction,’ Scott Waugh’s action thriller film ‘Hidden Strike’ revolves around Dragon Luo, a special operative who sets out to extract around five hundred Chinese employees working in the Yutime Chinese oil refinery, which is under the attack of a group of rebels. Luo ends up teaming up with Chris Van Horne, who deals with an immense personal loss. Starring Jackie Chan as Luo and John Cena as Chris, the film progresses through the duo’s efforts to stop the rebels from fulfilling a vicious plan. The engrossing movie ends with an astounding climax, making us dive deep into the same. If you are intrigued by it, you are at the right place! SPOILERS AHEAD.
Hidden Strike Plot Synopsis
‘Hidden Strike’ begins with Dragon Luo and his team of operatives arriving at the Yutime Chinese oil refinery to extract nearly five hundred Chinese employees from the plant, which is under the attack of a group of rebels. Luo and his team have to take them to the Green Zone, a safe place, upon passing through the “Highway of Death,” one of the most dangerous regions in Baghdad. The group includes Professor Cheng, who carries the passcode and access to the oil reserve of the refinery. Meanwhile, an ex-special force soldier named Chris says yes to a mission proposed by his brother Henry: kidnapping a Chinese criminal who is being extracted to the Green Zone.
While Luo and his team transport the Chinese people to the Green Zone through the Highway of Death, Chris, Henry, and their team attack the Chinese buses and kidnap Professor Cheng and a few others. Henry leads them to Owen Paddock, the head of the rebels. Owen asks Chris to join them for reaping money but Chris isn’t interested in the same, only for him to part ways with the group. Owen kills Henry because the latter is “young” and “desperate,” which makes him not trustworthy enough for the former. Luo asks his team to take others to the Green Zone and tries to find Cheng with his daughter Mei.
After killing Henry, Owen involves French officials in the predicament, hoping that they will kill Chris and settle the headache. The same officials confront Chris right after Luo confronts the American about the kidnapped Chinese people. They team up to scare off the French. Luo learns that Owen and his group are behind the kidnapping while Chris realizes that the leader of the rebels killed his brother. Meanwhile, Owen takes Cheng and the others to the oil refinery. He wants Cheng to give him access to the reserve so that he can steal the oil from the plant.
Cheng’s son tells Owen that the USB drive that’s required to gain access to the reserve is in the professor’s bag, which is with Mei. He sends his men to locate and bring the same to him, only for them to arrive in the village Chris has been safeguarding. After a tense fight, Chris passes the bag to the men, only for Owen to gain access to the reserve in no time.
Hidden Strike Ending: Does Luo Save Professor Cheng?
After getting the USB drive and passcode from Professor Cheng’s bag, Owen uses the same to gain access to the oil reserve and starts to transport oil from the refinery to huge ships through international channels. He also transports the same through trucks. After gaining what he wants from Cheng, he orders one of his men to kill her and other Chinese hostages. Meanwhile, Luo and Chris arrive at the refinery to save the professor. Chris gives the professor’s bag to Owen without any protest not because he doesn’t want to fight him or he is scared of him. He wants to avoid a confrontation in the village he protects, which may have jeopardized the lives of the villagers and traumatized the kids in his house.
Luo and Chris team up to fight Owen’s men, who guard the refinery. They help each other during the fight to ensure that the rebels will not succeed in outnumbering them. Once they get into the control room of the refinery. the duo confronts Knox, who is asked to kill Cheng and other hostages. Luo and Chris make Knox exhaust his ammunition by firing a gun at him. Once they realize Knox is out of bullets, Luo fights him upon asking Chris to stop Owen. Luo uses his fighting skills to overpower the strong man. At the end of the fight, Luo seemingly kills Knox to save Cheng and his son.
Luo succeeds in saving Cheng because Owen really doesn’t care about ensuring that the professor gets killed. He only asks one of the rebels to keep an eye on the professor and her son and eventually kill them. Since he destroys the USB drive, making it impossible for even Cheng to stop the oil flow, Owen doesn’t really care whether Cheng ends up dead or not, which allows Luo to save her and her son without really risking his life.
Does Chris Stop the Oil Heist? Does He Kill Owen?
After leaving Luo to stop Owen from escaping, Chris encounters Mei, who arrives at the refinery with the American’s vehicle. They chase Owen with the same but the latter succeeds in escaping from the duo with his high-end vehicle. Meanwhile, after securing the lives of Cheng and her son, Luo arrives in the desert with the jet truck. Chris and Mei get into the same and crash the truck into the vehicles that have been transporting oil from the refinery for Owen. Upon the crash, the oil trucks explode and Owen loses the oil he has been planning to trade on land.
After destroying the oil trucks, Luo targets Owen next. His truck crashes Owen’s vehicle and pushes the same to a cliff. To save himself and his daughter Mei, Luo ties a rope to the latter and jumps from the truck with her to a landing. Since the rope’s other end is tied to Owen’s vehicle, they get saved. Owen realizes that he could kill at least the daughter by moving his vehicle. However, by doing so, he loses control of the vehicle which is on the edge of the cliff. The vehicle, along with Owen, falls to the ground and kills him before Chris can kill him on his own to exact his vengeance for killing Henry.
When Owen’s vehicle becomes immobile at the edge of the cliff, he has a chance to save himself. He could have left the vehicle and sought refuge in the desert while Lou, Mei, and Chris got stuck at a landing below the cliff. Owen, rather than saving himself, chooses to punish his adversaries, only to get killed due to the fall. His own viciousness rewrites his fate and ensures his death. Even after realizing that he will be dead, Owen tries to seek satisfaction in potentially causing Mei’s death. Lou saves his daughter by untying the rope, which is nothing but the final nail in Owen’s coffin.
After getting rescued from the landing, Lou directs his men to the ships that have been storing oil from the refinery. Through Chris and Lou’s intervention, the Chinese manage to secure the oil, putting an unsuccessful end to the heist.
Will Luo and Chris Team Up Again?
After saving Cheng and ensuring Owen’s death, Luo and Chris make sure that the latter’s village has water for their daily needs. Meanwhile, Luo gets told that there is another mission for him. He asks Chris to join him, only for the latter to nod yes. Chris must be joining Luo since he doesn’t have any ties left with the village where he has been staying for years. His life at the place is filled with painful memories, caused by the death of his father and brother Henry. He must be seeking a fresh start to his life and joining Luo can be his way of opening a new chapter of the same.
Since the rebels are either dead or powerless, Chris may not need to worry about his village anymore. He will be leaving the same after ensuring that the villagers are safe and that they have adequate resources to live. Chris may have an eye on Mei, which must have also motivated him to join Lou in this new mission. Lou and Mei’s reconciliation must have taught him that he deserves a chance to start things over rather than immersing himself in the past and pain.
Read More: Where Was Hidden Strike Filmed?
