Having seen many sub-par foreign-language films films as a child, I was not super eager to see the new Chinese film, Wolf Warrior II, online when it was released in China on July 27. However, just a few days after the release, Wolf Warrior II became China’s top-grossing film of all time. And, as luck would have it, the full movie was on Youtube, almost as if it was a sign from God (the video lasted two days on Youtube before being taken down).
Despite some initial doubts, Wolf Warrior II turned out to be a really awesome movie. The hero, Leng Feng, is a former member of an elite special ops team called the Wolf Warriors. The scene is set in an African country in the middle of a civil war, where the good guys are the Chinese and the bad are the Western mercenaries along with the revolutionaries.
One interesting point to note about this movie is its perspective. Quite a few American movies feature a white savior narrative, in which a white individual learns something about himself while rescuing people of color. Wolf Warrior II happens to be an almost polar opposite of said narrative; an individual of color saves other people of color from their white oppressors.
Producer/lead actor Wu Jing’s performance as Leng Feng is excellent. His experience as a martial artist allows him to perform many dramatic fight and action scenes. To be honest, I think that Jing is almost as good as Jackie Chan at doing the action scenes, but Jing isn’t as good of an actor overall.
The special effects weren’t bad for a ~$30 million movie. The tanks, missiles, planes, and explosions all seemed realistic enough to support the action and hand-to-hand combat. Given that Wolf Warrior II is an action movie, I didn’t spend too much time scrutinizing much else.
One thing that the movie could improve on is in character development, but lack of character development doesn’t really detract from the action, the centerpiece of the movie. Additionally, while the language wasn’t too big a concern for me, a native Chinese speaker, having to read subtitles can be annoying.
All in All, Wolf Warrior II is a fantastic movie that sets itself apart with impressive action scenes and a strong nationalistic message. Had the movie not been taken off Youtube, I would’ve definitely seen it again.