In Hidden Strike, the story begins in Iraq, where a Chinese oil‑refinery operated by the company Unicorp is under repeated assault by mercenaries demanding control of the facility. The refinery’s director, Professor Chang, enlists the help of a private Chinese security team, led by Commander Luo Feng (portrayed by Jackie Chan), to evacuate hundreds of civilians via the notorious desert route known as the “Highway of Death.” Feng’s motivation is not only professional, but personal: his estranged daughter, Mei, is among the evacuees, and the mission becomes as much about reunion and redemption as it is about rescue.
Meanwhile, the film introduces former U.S. Marine Chris Van Horne (played by John Cena) who has settled in a rural Iraqi village facing a desperate water shortage. In his quest to restore the water supply, Chris reluctantly agrees to join a mercenary operation—led by his brother Henry—that targets the convoy headed by Feng. The mercenaries trigger a massive sand storm as a distraction and succeed in kidnapping key personnel from the convoy, stealing away two of the buses carrying the civilians and the codes needed to control the refinery.
As the two strands of the story collide, Feng and Chris realize they share a common enemy in Owen Paddock, the insider working for Unicorp who masterminds the attack for his own profit. Despite initially being on opposite sides, the characters must team up. Feng must protect the civilians and salvage his relationship with his daughter, while Chris must confront his own motives and decide whose side he is really on. The desert becomes a battleground of shifting loyalties, with high‑stakes vehicle chases, hijacked buses, and helicopter insertions marking the unrelenting action.
Visually, the film leans heavily into its desert setting and road‑trip into peril motif. The “Highway of Death” is no mere backdrop—it’s an active character in the story, its sweeping sands and dust storms heightening every confrontation. Several sequences emphasise vehicle‑mounted weaponry, sandstorms generated by jet trucks and high‐octane pursuit elements. Beneath the spectacle, the personal arcs—Feng’s need to reconnect with Mei and Chris’s guilt‑driven redemption—add emotional weight, though critics argue the narrative execution is uneven.
Ultimately, Hidden Strike resolves in a climactic sequence where Feng and Chris thwart Owen’s oil‑heist plan, destroy the tanker convoy, rescue the hostages including Professor Chang and her son, and restore balance—at least temporarily—to the war‑torn desert village and the refinery. In a mid‑credit sequence, they return to the village, the well is fixed, and Feng invites Chris to join a new mission—hinting that their collaboration, and perhaps their friendship, is only beginning.
