Dante Lam returns with the third in his seemingly unofficial Operation series (after ‘Operation Mekong’ and ‘Operation Red Sea’) to deliver another round of big and brash modern-day military-themed action. Sticking with the nautical theme seen in his actioner ‘The Rescue’, Lam this time takes the action underwater to the world of submariners.

A massive Chinese oil rig is captured by a rogue Western military unit looking to reclaim a sunken nuclear device that the workers on the rig had recovered while drilling. No sooner has the rig been captured than the elite Chinese Sea Dragons corps is dispatched to reclaim the rig and save its workers. After a fierce firefight several of the rogue unit escape underwater to various submarines and underwater sea bases to rejoin the rest of their team and plot a plan to wreak nuclear devastation. The Chinese army thus sends their super submarine Longjing with the Sea Dragons aboard to locate said underwater bases and bombs before it’s too late.

Taking his knack for bombastic action, Lam delivers all the spectacle one would expect from a big-budget military-themed film, albeit this time set at crushing depth and in confined spaces. There is no doubting the technical proficiency and access to the latest military hardware gives the action scale, bolstered by some fairly decent CGI to show high-tech subs engaging in warfare. Despite most of the action and runtime being set underwater, Lam still manages to stage a huge amount of tactical action and massive explosions. The tight confines of the submarines give the firepower-based action a creative edge, the tactical action thrilling even if the huge underwater set-pieces push credibility to breaking point.

Set in the near future, this gives Lam licence to give proceedings a slightly futuristic edge, throwing in giant submarines more akin to small towns, jetpacks (seen in the opening storming-the-oil-rig set-piece), and in one audacious sequence robot dogs that fire missiles! Realism may not be high on the agenda here, the jingoistic nature of the Sea Dragons is through the sea level (perhaps even more compared to Lam’s other Operation-based films), and characterisation is almost non-existent. The film, reportedly cut down by almost 20 minutes from its original release and presumably jettisoning character beats, means there’s not a lot of substance to go along with the near-continuous action.

It’s a fun ride while it lasts, though those looking for a bit more meat to go along with all the boom will be left unsatisfied and Lam’s preoccupation with all things military hardware and jingoistic may irk others. It’s a long way from the likes of Lam’s more grounded pieces such as ‘Beast Stalker’ and ‘The Stool Pigeon’ and not as relentlessly entertaining as ‘Operation Red Sea’, but one can’t fault Lam’s ambition on an action-scale level, certainly when he has access to a huge budget like he does here. Don’t come looking for credibility or accurate military representation, but do come for a submarine full of fun tactical-based action.