Rebel: 'You're not a soldier any more, man. What the f**k are you still fighting for...?'
Leng: 'Once a Wolf Warrior, always a Wolf Warrior...'
Following the incredible box office success of the original tale, a fresh take on the ‘Wolf Warrior’ hits UK cinemas.
Directed by: Wu Jing (Call of Heroes, Kill Zone)
Main Cast: Wu Jing (Call of Heroes, Kill Zone 2), Frank Grillo (Warrior, Captain America: Civil War), Celina Jade (TV’s Arrow, Skin Trade)
Wolf Warrior 2, directed by and starring Wu Jing (Kill Zone, Call of Heroes), brings a masterful adrenaline rush with action co-ordination from Jack Wong (Operation Mekong) and the veteran stunt team behind John Wick, Atomic Blonde and Captain America: Civil War.
I think it was the writer Raymond Chandler who once advised that if the action in your story is flagging in any way, you should just bring on a man with a gun. Words to that effect, anyway. I wonder what he would have thought about WOLF WARRIOR 2, a film with probably the most guns in it I've ever seen in my life.
Guns of all shapes and sizes, guns for every occasion, from the kind you can stash neatly in your hip pocket to the kind that need a massive mutha-f***a of a tank to support/transport 'em from A to B. Guns, guns, everywhere you look.
I also wonder what Chandler, the author and advocate of spare perfect prose himself, would have made of the dialogue here. It's certainly minimal, after all, just like he likes. 'Fire! Re-load! Kill that mother-f***er...!'
It might sound like I'm being sarcastic here, but I actually thoroughly enjoyed this Chinese action movie, or actioner as they're calling 'em now. It was directed by the leading man, as it happens, and his obvious love- nay, adoration- for action in movies is evident in every frame.
It's so funny because the film is, like, about, ninety-nine-point-nine-nine percent action. Even when Leng, the lead character, is enjoying a tender moment, he's either still punching and kicking people or dreaming about punching and kicking people. This film has the highest percentage of punching and kicking of any other film I've ever watched. Fact.
Let's discuss the, ahem, finer points of the, ahem, plot. Snigger. Leng is a cute and highly likeable Chinese guy in his thirties who used to be a top-secret Special Ops agent. His unit of highly-trained fighters was known as the WOLF WARRIORS. At the time of writing this, I haven't seen the original film so I don't know if he's meant to be retired from them in this film or what.
In WOLF WARRIOR 2, however, Leng has to draw on all the skills he possesses in his not considerable arsenal- superlative martial arts skills and terrific comic timing- to protect a group of Chinese doctors in Africa from naughty rebels who wear red scarves because that's their thing. He's got a somewhat more personal agenda on hand as well, though...
He's searching the world for the man- or men- who killed his former co-worker or boss (I'm not sure if she was from the first film?) with whom he also just happened to be madly in love. Probably because of her lovely big blow-job lips, haha. What guy wouldn't miss those...? Guy'd go a long way to find a gal with lips like hers, and God help the man who takes those big juicy smackers away from him...
Leng's got the bullet that presumably killed his gal on a chain around his neck and a thirst for revenge in his heart that can't lead to anywhere good. It won't bring her back, after all, will it? But no, only blood for blood will do here, he maintains stolidly. An eye for an eye and all that jazz.
He's also searching for his African godson Tundu's Mum, Nessa, while falling gradually in
love with Doctor Rachel, an American medic who's looking after a little girl called Pasha. The rebel army in its entirety is searching for Pasha, because her blood contains the all-important antibodies to something called the Lamanla virus, a truly yucky virus like Ebola that has wiped out entire African villages in the past. In the film, I mean. I think the virus itself has been made-up for the movie.
And through it all, Leng keeps punching and kicking his way to victory. A lot of guys get kicked in the nuts here, by the way, to great comic effect. He's proficient with a bow-and-arrow too, and swinging from ropes like Tarzan is no bother to him. He's got great pithy answers to any verbal sallies thrown at him as well.
When his number one enemy has him cornered, while Rachel and little Pasha look on terrified, and tells him evilly: 'You're gonna DIE for these people,' Leng doesn't turn a hair or miss a beat. 'I was BORN for them,' he staunchly replies. What a guy! What a hero! What a superstar! What a tool, haha. Ah, I'm only joking. Leng is undoubtedly the most fearless action hero you'll see this year.
His finest moment, apart from the hilariously patriotic one at the end where Leng actually becomes the Chinese flag, is probably when he tells the terrified African workers that they'll be evacuated along with the Chinese, instead of being left behind to take whatever bad shit comes their way. There wasn't a dry eye in the house, myself included, when he promised faithfully: 'We all leave together...!'
I liked the cute Baby Soldier as well, the one whose Dad is rich and powerful. I liked when he- Baby Soldier- said to one of the many people trying to kill him: 'Didn't your mother ever teach you not to f**k with spoiled brats?' As a comeback to 'Didn't your mother ever teach you not to play with guns?,' I thought it was fair enough.
There will be a third film, the director-lead actor Wu Jing has confirmed. No surprise really, as here is a rich vein of possibilities that can be tapped into indefinitely. People punching and kicking the living snot out of each other never goes out of fashion in films.
It reminds me of the novel that Homer Simpson of THE SIMPSONS was briefly toying with writing in one of the episodes. 'Outta my way, said Superman as he punched everyone at the Coffee Bean.' Then Homer adds as an aside: 'Wow, this thing writes itself...!' It surely does, Homer my man. It surely does...
Cine Asia and CMC Pictures presents Wolf Warrior 2 in selected cinemas
from 4th August 2017
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Twitter @cineasiauk
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from 4th August 2017
Social Media tags
Twitter @cineasiauk
Facebook @cineasiauk
Instagram @cineasiauk
About CINE ASIA & CMC PICTURES: ‘Wolf Warrior 2’ marks the fourth film released in partnership between CINE ASIA & CMC PICTURES. CMC PICTURES is focused on bringing Chinese film to a global audience, with an established reputation of presenting the best in Chinese cinema to screens around the world. CINE ASIA, as the leading distributor or East Asian cinema in the United Kingdom, is proud to be working with CMC PICTURES as of this year, to create opportunities for UK audiences to see the latest and most significant films emerging from China.
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See here for more details:
www. cineasia.co.uk
AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY OF SANDRA HARRIS.
Sandra Harris is a Dublin-based novelist, film blogger and movie reviewer. She has studied Creative Writing and Film-Making. She has published a number of e-books on the following topics: horror film reviews, multi-genre film reviews, womens' fiction, erotic fiction, erotic horror fiction and erotic poetry. Several new books are currently in the pipeline. You can browse or buy any of Sandra's books by following the link below straight to her Amazon Author Page:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B015GDE5RO
You can contact Sandra at:
http://sandrafirstruleoffilmclubharris.wordpress.com
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