It seems like every branch of the Malaysian armed forces has been getting a movie dedicated to them as of late, perhaps part of a campaign to boost recruitment rates through patriotic chest-thumping films.

Just last year, Malaysians were treated to “Air Force: The Movie”, where local flyboys demonstrated their combat skills in the air and on the ground. And in 2018, there was “Paskal”, a film about elite special operatives serving the Royal Malaysian Navy.

Now that 2023 has rolled around, it’s the coast guard’s turn to get their time in the sun, with the new release “Coast Guard Malaysia: Ops Helang”.

Quite the mouthful, isn’t it? It might not roll off the tongue easily, but “Saving Lieutenant Hafiz” or “Top Boat” would, perhaps, have been too on the nose.

Jokes aside, this is the first and only film directed by Pitt Hanif, who died aged 42 in a boating accident in 2019.

So, is “Coast Guard Malaysia” any good?

The movie opens with a crime-busting operation led by Lieutenant Hafiz (Saharul Ridzwan). Fast forward a year or two and Hafiz is off-duty, enjoying an engagement party on an island resort with his fiancée Nurul (Jaja Ilyes).

All seems well… until it’s not. Pirates show up to kidnap Hafiz, Nurul and a few others, before executing the rest of the guests.

Hafiz gets away, but to paraphrase a certain Arnold Schwarzenegger character: “He’ll be back” – with a squad of operatives to boot.

The hostages are saved and the bad guys apprehended. All’s well, ends well, no? Not quite. Surprisingly, “Coast Guard Malaysia” is only at its halfway point!

This is perhaps its biggest strength: you come in expecting an action flick that culminates with the rescue of the hostages and the baddies being beaten… but what you get instead is a twist!

The trouble is far from over, and there’s an even bigger baddie than the one seen so far. It’s a plot turn that, unless you were keeping track of the runtime, you might not have seen coming.

As for its other plus points, the movie does a solid enough job of offering recruits a glimpse into what service at sea could look like.

While it’s unlikely that the Malaysian coast guard has to deal with massive gunfights and raids on the regular, naval service is no joke and a commendable career choice.

That said, the film has shortcomings that could have been addressed to make it significantly more cinematic, in line with the aforementioned “Air Force: The Movie”.

For one, the characters – even major ones – are rather one-dimensional, while the bad guys can come across as moustache-twirling villains.

To be fair, the romance arc between Hafiz and Nurul could have weighed the movie down, but thankfully the audience is spared that. Still, with more characterisation, the main players would have been a lot more relatable.

In the first quarter, for example, when Hafiz’s colleagues are taken hostage and shot dead by the pirates, it would’ve been a prime opportunity for the strong leading man to be given a tender moment of weakness and humanity.

But alas, this isn’t realised to its full potential.

One could argue that a film of this genre isn’t meant to focus on characters, but rather on firefights and explosions. And it would be a fair defence, given that explosions in “Coast Guard Malaysia” are plenty.

In fact, it seems like everything in this film universe is prone to detonating, not unlike red barrels in video games.

The action sequences are passable, although the special effects leave something to be desired at times. Case in point: there are several scenes where bullet holes are missing in props that only briefly ago were shown to be eating bullets for breakfast.

But the most glaring and chuckle-worthy flaw is the number of product placements, which will have you thinking you’re watching another Michael Bay “Transformers” film.

Yes, movies need to be financed one way or another, but some subtlety would have made certain moments less jarring than they had to be!

All in all, “Coast Guard Malaysia: Ops Helang” is an entertaining, albeit imperfect, effort by a talented young director gone far too soon.

‘Coast Guard Malaysia: Ops Helang’ is screening in cinemas nationwide.