In 2015, a series of powerful explosions rocked the Chinese city of Tianjin. Some of you might remember how people were glued to their screens, watching news and video clips of the disaster and its aftermath.
That incident was a reminder of just how destructive industrial accidents can be, as well as how a normal day at work can turn deadly for many brave firefighters.
This brings us to a new arrival in local cinemas, “Flashover”, a disaster film helmed by Oxide Pang, one of the two Pang brothers behind the 2002 horror flick “The Eye”.
This time around, instead of supernatural sightings, Pang grips audiences with a depiction of a large-scale industrial accident and the frantic battle to contain the damage afterwards.
Produced and filmed in China, “Flashover” follows a firefighting crew led by Zhao Yingqi (Wang Qian Yuan), a no-nonsense but dedicated fire captain.
He’s so dedicated, in fact, that his fiancée, Zhang Hong (Han Xue), is having doubts as to whether to go on with their planned wedding.
But before marital issues derail the entire plot, an earthquake shakes the region and a fire in an industrial park breaks out. Cover your ears, people!
Sure enough, the ensuing explosion, surely reminiscent of the Tianjin blast, causes widespread destruction, and Zhao and his crew are called to action.
They have to fight against flames and time, as the flammable and toxic chemicals from the plant threaten to destroy the entire county if ignited.
Two-dimensional team
This is not the movie to catch if you are interested in well-written characters: even though it follows the firefighting crew for most of its two-hour runtime, the audience is barely given any information as to who each member of the team is.
In fact, aside from Zhao, there are only two named members of the crew worth remembering, Han Kai (Du Jiang) and Wang Wenbin (Ge Wang) – by which point, it’s clear one (or more) of the trio will be meeting their untimely end.
For this reason, “Flashover” comes off as shallow, with the characters seemingly nothing more than plot devices.
And as though Pang were ticking off boxes on a checklist, there is the completely unnecessary and underdeveloped romance arc between Han and safety inspector Ye Xin (Tong Liya).
It’s hard to even call it a romance as the chemistry between the two characters is lacking, to put it lightly. Meeting once at a cafeteria isn’t much of a romantic spark, after all!
Funnily enough, there is a rather noticeable amount of fan service early on. If you like seeing sweaty, shirtless firefighters, you won’t be disappointed.
This all said, it’s still possible to be entertained if you ignore the characters altogether and focus on the calamity at hand instead.
When the first blast goes off, the film correctly depicts it is not just the flames that people should be worried about – it’s also the shockwave.
Windows shatter, entire buildings crumble, cars are thrown about like paper in the wind. It’s no nuclear attack but it sure can feel like one!
Yet, it feels as if Pang holds back on showing the human cost of such a disaster, with few depictions or mentions of the death toll.
Nevertheless, in terms of effects and sets, the movie recreates a convincing disaster site, where anything and everything can prove to be a danger to both civilians and firefighters.
All in all, though, “Flashover” doesn’t bring anything particularly new to the genre. In fact, it’s overloaded with so many melodramatic moments that you may end up thinking you walked into a soap opera instead of a disaster flick.
This reviewer’s eyes started rolling every time a triumphant theme or sad violin started playing, because the story would inevitably grind to a halt.
As such, “Flashover” is really only worth watching if you enjoy so-called disaster porn, or simply wish to see the aforementioned scene of sweaty, shirtless firefighters. Enjoy the eye candy!
As of press time, ‘Flashover’ is screening in cinemas nationwide.