The Mongolian Connection

The Mongolian Connection (2019)

Runtime: 90 minutes

Directed by: Drew Thomas

Starring: Amarsaikhan Baljinnyam, Kaiwi Lyman, Sanjar Madi, Zhandos Aibassov, Tsetsegee Byamba

From: A few companies... in Mongolia and Kazakhstan

Not bad for a movie I only discovered a few hours before watching it on Friday night. For much of Saturday I was tied up with an activity that I'll mention in a review later this month of a movie related to the activity in question. But back to this motion picture: it had a title that was amusing, was done by a director named Drew Thomas who I will presume is an American, and had a plot that reminded me of the Ridley Scott Black Rain, of all things. It is a production of studios in Mongolia and Kazakhstan with most of the movie being set & filmed in the former. While not actually the first movie I've seen that was filmed in the country (that honor goes to a 2015 movie called The Doll which I am sure is a better riff on The Monkey's Paw than Wish Upon even if I've never seen Wish Upon myself and The Doll is only OK) and it features plenty of English dialogue, it's not a motion picture I regret giving a shot to.

Like with Black Rain, a troubled member of law enforcement (in this case, the FBI) has to transport a criminal across the Pacific Ocean back to his home country but things go awry. After that it does differ quite a bit from the Scott movie; this involves a criminal who is targeted and features two elements which will make most on Letterboxd go, “Uh, huh...” in a sassy tone: not only are there corrupt police officers, the lead villain is... a Russian. Insert your own pithy comments if you wish. There's some humor and yep it is hit or miss; one running gag is that for reasons unknown to me, Mongolia has both left hand drive and right hand drive vehicles.

It was a movie obviously designed for the West (there's even a mid-credits AND after credits scene) and nothing makes this a must-see. However, it was a fine watch and the same goes for the action scenes, whether they be brawls or shootouts. The story has various twists & turns and as there is a LOT of crap in all genres on Amazon thank heavens it had more to offer than just a look at a country I don't know that much about, let alone seen photos or video of. Besides, this movie has an amazing moment involving the FBI agent, who is named Wade Dalton and he's no John Dalton from Road House... or Rick Dalton for that manner. He's addicted to pills, which is a common problem-at least in the United States. That apparently isn't his only issue... you see, he takes pills for anxiety... as in his DOG'S anxiety pills! WTF?