Long before a rushed finale concludes its unnecessary 134 minutes, you may find yourself engaged by its jokiness, admiring of its action and absolutely longing for the fun to end.

A dazzling but derivative piece oozing with adrenaline and anachronistic gags - including what's possibly a preemptive dig at film critics - Hidden Man more or less melts into a gust of hot air.

I am nonetheless heartened to see Jiang’s hyperactive approach to genre revisionism (if that’s what it is) stay the course.

Jiang still has a remarkable touch, ribald, playful and reflexive.