"With his career in tatters, China's deadliest Special Forces operative has settled into a quiet life on the sea. But when he crosses paths with a sadistic band of mercenaries terrorizing innocent civilians, he must reaffirm his duty as a soldier and save the day once again."
With the Summer Movie Season 2017 limping its way to the finish, I noticed that a foreign film I’d been hearing about from friends in LA had hit my local AMC. Based on what I’d been hearing, I figured I needed to see it for myself.
Why?
Because it is a medium budget
(estimated $30m US) Chinese action movie sequel to a moderate hit
film - that grossed more than $800m US worldwide since its release
in Late July… and it’s still playing in theaters!
And most of you haven’t heard about it!
Wolf Warrior II is co-written & directed by its star Jing Wu returning as Leng Fend, an elite Chinese soldier (“Wolf Company") looking for redemption & revenge while in exile in Africa. The film also co-stars Frank Grillo (The Purge-Anarchy & -Election Day, Captain America-Winter Soldier & -Civil War), as the villain Big Daddy, leader of a group of American mercenaries. The kind of story is nothing new, especially for US action films. It has the look and feel of a mid-Nineties Michael Bay film, somewhere between The Rock and Armageddon, right down to some broadly played stereotypical characters.
Wolf Warrior II is done quite well. Beautifully shot, highlighting the landscapes of Africa as well as the dynamics of action, both gunplay and martial arts. There's a plague subplot that really did little to help the story. I have to say that it is a little disconcerting seeing a film hitting the same patriotic tones, yet it's for China, with the US leads being the bad guys. But that's not a bad thing to realize when we see US film similarly set up.
Wolf Warrior II is a happily violent, action packed, patriotic/jingoistic movie, very much the familiar Big Hollywood Summer Action Film that we’ve become accustomed to… except this is coming completely for China.
I’ve heard it said that Hollywood movies do better overseas because no one BUT Hollywood can make them. Until now, it would seem.
A good part of that is because the filmmakers brought in some of the best of Hollywood: the people who make your favorite Marvel movies!
As reported recently in The Hollywood Reporter, writer/director Joe and Anthony Russo (the last two Captain America movies and the up-coming Avengers-Infinity War) were consultants to the production. They brought in their stunt team and stunt coordinator from their Marvel films, and even brought Grillo to their attention of director/star Jing. Even one of the featured secondary bad guys, sniper Athena, is played by Heidi Moneymaker , stunt double for Scarlet Johansson’s Black Widow in the Marvel movies!
This kind of interaction between US and Chinese studios isn’t new, as the studios have realized what an important market China is to a film’s worldwide box-office. As well as the fact there is a limitation to how many US films can be screened there. But this kind of exchange is the biggest I can remembers reading about, signaling real changes.
Between the immense success of this in China and the disappointing US summer box office, it’s very possible that this moment will be looked back upon as a game-changer for Hollywood studios. While I doubt it will change the sequel mentality, as this film is a sequel itself, it may show them that focusing solely on large scale, franchise films is a dangerous game for them. With places like Amazon and Netflix filling in the medium budget films, if China can produce Hollywood-style blockbusters for their audiences, it leaves the US studios in the position of having nothing to sell overseas.
Wolf Warrior II is still in theaters in the US.
NOTE: There is a post-credits scene and blooper montage.
