Out of Inferno

Disaster movies are something I haven’t really touched yet here, and it’s a genre that seems a bit sparsely done compared to most others. We get what, maybe two or three of them a year? I guess you could say it’s because it’s an entire filmmaking niche dedicated to depicting horrible things happening to innocent people with disasters, man-made or natural, wreaking havoc on cities, towns and civilisations all for the gleeful joy of its audience. Sure, some try to depict the horrors and realities of such events, but for the most part disaster flicks are escapism as we voyeuristically witness the fate of several characters encountering some sort of horrible event. And a lot are pretty fun. While most are familiar with the big budget Hollywood-made disaster flicks, there are actually a fair few interesting ones in the rest of the world. Out of Inferno is one such film, hailing out of China.    

Tai-kwan (Sean Lau) and his brother Keung (Louis Koo) were top firefighters in China who have since become estranged. They haven’t talked in four years after the death of their father, in which time Keung has resigned from firefighting to start a company dedicated to fire safety and prevention. Tai-kwan is planning on giving up a promotion and resigning in an attempt to repair and strengthen his relationship with his pregnant wife Si-lok, which has strained due to his commitment and focus on his job.

Pure chance has Si-lok head to an ultrasound appointment in the same fifty story high-rise commercial block where Keung is having a celebratory party for the opening of his fire-safety company. A series of events cause an explosive fire to break out in the building’s basement, the flames and smoke trapping everybody within. Tai-kwan and his firefighting unit are sent in to rescue the survivors, and Tai-kwan needs to save his wife, brother and the other survivors as the fire continues to get out of control.

 

It’s a pretty basic set-up, and absolutely perfect disaster movie fodder. It’s all the sort of thing we’ve seen before. Thankfully the film improves itself by focusing on its strong main characters, and a growing sense of escalation throughout. It was directed by the Pang Brothers, the twin directing duo best known for directing the original Hong Kong version of ‘The Eye’, and acclaimed Thai action film ‘Bangkok Dangerous’ (they’re also regrettably responsible for the Nic Cage-starring American remake of the same film). They’ve got an eye for stylistic cinematography, energetic pacing and tension and it really shows here. It’s a pretty good looking movie and keeps a good sense of scale and place. As the film continues it gets more claustrophobic as the building starts to collapse and the flames and smoke close in. They keep the sense of danger pretty real, in that every time the characters get somewhere seemingly safe it is always short lived as things get worse.

Disaster movies tend to trade on the three main audience emotions they’re well suited to deliver on. The first is the sadness of seeing characters you like get killed. The second is that dirty little satisfaction of seeing characters you hate get killed. The third, following on from the first, is the triumphant relief of seeing a presumed dead character has survived after all. Out of Inferno weirdly skimps over on the first two. There are actually a lot of survivors, to the point where I don’t really think that many people died at all. Sure, a few side characters and ancillary ones get taken out in flames and rubble, and the sense of danger is certainly there and continues to ramp up ridiculously, but a lot of people make it out relatively fine. But you won’t think that – there are some really intense, panicky moments in there, some which had me squirming in my seat, so that even when nobody is killed you’ll still feel exhilarated and exhausted. That’s a strength many disaster films lack (especially the big Hollywood ones – ‘San Andreas’ was devoid of that sort of tension).

I think a big reason for all this is that Out of Inferno is a disaster film that shows the various emergency response teams as exceptionally competent. The fire-fighting and paramedic response is massive as they cordon off the area, use a variety of equipment to breach the building and get survivors out, and take care of them as well. There’s no incompetence, and also no characters with ulterior motives to make things more dangerous. I think it partly works in the films favour – two of its leads were firefighters and had that experience, so they’re better poised to knowing what they’re doing. I will say though that despite the low death count, the film does briefly look at the more grim implications and effects being in a disaster-like scenario would have on your health and wellbeing.

Things escalate big time. The opening build-up and introduction to the characters is only about thirty minutes or so before the fire starts, and from there things get increasingly dangerous. Besides the fire and smoke, there’s flaming rubble, collapsing rooms, explosions, chemical leaks and deadly falls all ready to take out the characters. Every moment has something big and more dangerous happening. It does get ridiculous, especially with the CGI at times. It mostly looks great, but there are moments where the flames are fake looking or move in ridiculous ways. In particular, one scene has a pillar of fire explode outwards like some sort of flaming snake which the firefighters counter with a blast from a hose. Otherwise it does a fine job of delivering the disaster of a disaster film. Interestingly, the film’s focus is on its central few characters, specifically Tai-kwan, Keung and Si-lok and their relationship together.

Tai-kwan is an interesting protagonist for a disaster film in that he’s part of the outside rescue force. He’s committed to his duties as a firefighter, to the point of prioritising others above his own wife and brother. It’s an oddly refreshing change from the usual sort, where the hero somewhat unheroically abandons his duties to selfishly protect his personal interests (like when Dwayne Johnson completely abandons his life-saving job in a time of crisis to go rescue his ex-wife in ‘San Andreas’). It’s also ripe dramatic material, which Out of Inferno wisely centres the bulk of its character drama around. It also makes up the bulk of their relationship, with Si-lok struggling to understand Tai-kwan’s commitment to his job and his priorities, but her experience in the inferno makes her at least understand why he’s the way he is.

Keung is a great juxtaposition to Tai-kwan, in the sense that he wants to help but in a different way, especially since you can understand his perspective and how it affects his actions and behaviour. His frustration at losing lives as a firefighter despite doing everything according to protocol leads him to resent his by-the-book brother and lead him to strive and focus his efforts in fire prevention. Initially I was afraid he’d end up being that sort of idiot executive character that shows up in disaster movies, the sort who refuses to accept the amount of danger in order to protect their own interests, but the moment the fire breaks out he instantly starts helping people out and does all he can to keep Si-lok safe.

The side characters are, sadly, very lacking and a weak point for the film. Most disaster films line up a wide cast of characters, ostensibly to start killing them off, usually giving them a little bit of characterisation so the audience know who is who. There’s the obnoxious, mean, unlikeable ones whose purpose is to die for the audience’s satisfaction, and the innocent, funny, pleasant ones the audience doesn’t want to see die (so their deaths hold more impact as emotional bullying). Out of Inferno weirdly lacks this. Most of the side characters are exceptionally thin or forgettable, to the point that you won’t remember or care about them. Here we have a doctor, a husband-wife-daughter family, and a security guard and his security guard trainee son. The absolute weakest are the characters operating out of a shifty-looking diamond cutting outfit. When the fire breaks out they resort to theft and murder, and just blindly end up exacerbating things. They’re absurdly underwritten and useless, and just get in the way.

The movie absolutely excels in building up danger and tension. Initially it doesn’t seem too bad. As the flames break out and smoke starts to cloud out the lower levels, the massive firefighting response team seems to be handling things pretty damn well – people are being rescued, protocol is being followed to a T and the fire seems relatively contained. Then there’re explosions, a growing conflagration, massive plumes of deadly smoke, a toxic chemical spill, flooding, collapsing roofs and floors, burning furniture, and even more – by the time we get to flooding, the threat of drowning and an emergency tracheotomy I was almost exhausted. It certainly delivers on the danger and panic you want from a disaster movie, especially as it continues to grow as the film continues.

It’s a good film all things considered, and while it might be a little lacking in certain respects and lacked the kill count most disaster movies tend to have it was exciting and exhilarating enough to keep me engaged the entire time.