Tired
of America serving as the “world’s policeman?” Perhaps you would like to have
China sub in for a while. Wu Jing is so eager to show us what that might look
like, it is downright scary. Yet, somehow, he manages to greatly improve on the
first outing for PLA sniper-commando Leng Feng. Things get more personal when his
fiancée vanishes while on assignment in Wu’s blockbuster Wolf Warrior 2 (trailer here), China’s no-chance-whatsoever official
foreign language Academy Award submission, which releases today on DVD and BluRay.
Believe
it or not, Wolfy 2 includes maybe a thimble
full of critical domestic social commentary—maybe. As the film opens, Leng Feng
and his brothers-in-arms are delivering the ashes of their fallen comrade to
his home, only to find his family blocking their shrine from a real estate
tycoon’s bulldozer. When the sleazebag threatens to make the surviving
relatives’ lives miserable, our favorite Wolf Warrior fixes his attitude
problem permanently.
Cashiered
out of service and convicted of manslaughter, Leng Feng is unable to protect
Long Xiaoyun, his former commanding officer and love-of-his-life, when she is
ambushed in Africa. All he has left of her is a bullet with a distinctive
decorative design. After his release, he disappears into Africa, hoping to match
the vanity bullet to a bad guy. Much to his surprise, he gets emotionally
involved with several locals, especially his “godson,” Tundu.
When
mercenaries hired by a coup-plotting general start running amok, Leng Feng is
there to go rogue. With the unofficial support of the PLA, the ex-Wolf Warrior
sets off to rescue Dr. Chen, the modern-day Albert Schweitzer who founded the “Chinese-Invested
Hospital” (that seems to be its official name) and then liberate the workers at
a Chinese factory under siege, including Tundu’s mother. However, instead of
Dr. Chen, he winds up with his colleague, Dr. Rachel Prescott Smith, but old Leng
seems to find this a fair trade.
Although
Wolfy 2 features an honest to
goodness flag-waving scene, it still is not nearly jingoistic as its
predecessor (the marketing campaign is another story, since it included key art
with Wu flipping the world the bird and the tag line: “anyone who offends China,
no matter how remote, must be exterminated.”). Still, it is hard to argue with
Leng Feng when he tells Dr. Smith the U.S. Marines have up and evacuated,
leaving utter bedlam behind. What can we expect, when we have steadily
disengaged from the world, over the last eight-plus years?
Of
course, most viewers will be more interested in the action, so they will be
happy to hear Wu steps it up considerably from the first film. Action directors
Sam Hargrave and Wai-leung Wong stage some gritty, adrenaline-charged fight
scenes, but it is the way-over-the-top tank battles that really make the film.
Ironically,
Wu Jing is more charismatic and likable this time around, even though his
character is supposed to be more jaded and disillusioned with life. He also has
all the moves and a deceptively thin, but super-cut physique, making him one of
the most credible action stars working today. Frank Grillo brings more gusto as
the latest western nemesis than Scott Adkins, but it is former wrestler Oleg
Prudius and crossover stunt-performer Heidi Moneymaker who really add
villainous flair as hench-mercs, Bear and Athena (you’ll be able to guess which
is which). Yu Nan appears briefly as the ill-fated Long, but Chinese American
Celine Jade develops better rapport with Wu as Dr. RPS. However, Wu Gang does
the most to keep the film grounded as He Jianguo, the factory’s world-weary
PLA-veteran security director.
In
WW2, Wu blows up crap pretty good. He
also gives us a peak of the world we have been sliding into. For eight years,
we had a policy of isolationism through multilateralism—meaning if anyone might
object to the use American power, we would duly defer. Now we have a more
honest “America First” brand of isolationism, but it is just as likely to put
China in charge mediating the world’s disputes. Wu Jing says they are ready and
Jade has a hard time disagreeing. Recommended for the action, not the messaging
(but perhaps as a wake-up call), Wolf Warrior
2 is now available on DVD and BluRay.
