Wolf Warrior 2 - Blu-ray Review

[Michael Scott]

Wolf Warrior 2

Movie:
Video:
Audio:
Extras:
Final Score: ​

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Movie
It’s very rare that a sequel actually outpaces the original. The standard pattern seems to be that the most creativity and energy goes into the first entry, and each subsequent film gets worse and worse as time goes by. So I was naturally expecting Wolf Warrior 2 to be a steaming pile of of rotten lettuce after the annoyance Wolf Warrior was back in 2015. The film was almost a parody of an action film, and really was nothing but a propaganda flick for mainland China. Filled with hilariously over patriotic quotes like “You may not be the smartest soldier, but you’re certainly the bravest!”, and “Those who threaten China’s resolve will find no place to hide!”, it was a poorly written and poorly directed film directed by Chinese martial artist Wu Jing (Jacky Wu) himself. Color me a bit surprised when Wolf Warrior 2 manages to learn from a lot of its mistakes and craft a surprisingly fun action movie. There’s no Scott Adkins (which is a shame as his fight between himself and Wu Jing WAS the highlight of Wolf Warrior), but it is still quite a bit of fun.

Leng Feng (Wu Jing) is still in the special PLA black ops unit known as Wolf Warriors, but he is drummed out of the military in the first few minutes of the film after defending the honor of a fallen comrade against an unscrupulous civilian businessman. Now fast forward a few years and we see him working the docks of Africa after his wife Long Xiaoyun (Nan Yu, who was also in the first film) is murdered by mercenaries on a mission in Africa. Desperately searching for her killers (his only clue is a specially made bullet that is supposedly the trade mark sign of the killers), Feng is at the brink of despair when a revolution happening within the country forces him and his people out of Africa. However, a special doctor by the name of Chen is working deep within the nation and needs extraction, but no military forces are around to bail him out.

Yup, you guessed it. The ex special forces commando is going to have to go in it alone and rescue the good doctor from the clutches of the European mercenaries that the African nation has used to spearhead their rebellion. Unfortunately, Feng is not the only one looking for the good doctor, and just as he gets to the hospital out in the sticks the commando watches as his target is assassinated in front of him. The only people he can get out is one of Chen’s associates, Dr. Rachel Smith (Celina Jade) and Dr. Chen’s adopted daughter Pasha. Well, these guys aren’t out of the woods yet. The mercenaries, led by Big Daddy (Frank Grillo), don’t seem to want to let them go. Soon tracking them down to a highly fortified Chinese production plant, it becomes all out war as the armed Chinese resistance has to put their wits up against a highly trained mercenary force as well as the African rebels in an all out race for survival.

Wolf Warrior 2 is rather silly. It still is heavily jingoistic and pretty steep on the propaganda, but it as little different than the first movie. The blatant “in your face” lines that made you unintentionally laugh are more hidden (although there still are some), and Wu Jing focus more on making the movie as frenetic and action packed as possible instead of FORCING the issue (at least for mainland Chinese films). Honestly, I had a big grin on my face as Wolf Warrior 2 feels a lot more like 80s action films like Rambo II or Missing in Action than your typical mainland Chinese action flicks. There’s a lot of Chinese patriotism crammed down your throat, but its done with such over the top action that you’re more willing to set those issues aside and watch Leng Feng punch, kick, shoot, stab and generally tear his way through the bad guys with gleeful exuberance.

Is it a GOOD movie? Nah. Just like Rambo II you’re only here to watch explosions and gunfire. Wu Jing is an incredibly talented martial artist and physical action star, and while he never gained the film presence that Donnie Yen or Jet Li did, he still has gotten quite a bit of work and his physical abilities are a treat to watch. Frank Grillo hams it up as Big Daddy, basically playing a non super hero version of Crossbones from Captain America: Civil War, but does so with enough energy to be more than likable. Most of the big problems come from the over the top patriotism that gets a bit grating after a while. It’s not NEARLY so bad as the first film, and Wu Jing focusing more on the action than the propaganda helped make it more palatable to western audience.




Rating:

Not Rated by the MPAA




Video:

Shot on RED digital cameras and finished at 2K for the master (I’m still puzzled at why a camera that gives off a 6K digital source is finished at 2K in this day and age), Wolf Warrior 2 comes to Blu-ray with a stellar 2.35:1 AVC encode. Shiny, glossy, clean and clear, the movie just looks GOOD. The luscious African wild shows up with wonderful greens and browns, while the bright red of fake blood pops off the screen. Individual details are exquisite, with Wu Jing’s clothing showing every little fiber and bit of blood to the naked eye. Blacks are deep and inky, and the ONLY problems I could see with the film is the standard color banding in low light sequences (something Well Go USA is familiar with). The overall imagery is really clean and clear though, with great detail and a nice looking picture that will please all but the most nit picky of Blu-ray fans.






Audio:

Well Go USA has been really good about putting DTS:X advanced audio tracks on their Blu-rays as of the last year or so (a few Dolby Atmos tracks as well, but MOSTLY DTS:X) and Wolf Warrior 2 sparkles in the audio department. Guns, explosions, ambient sound effects, they all come through the speaker system with incredible clarity and heft. LFE is deep and aggressive, adding a lot of punch to the COPIOUS action sequences, and the surrounds are fully engaged with fully automatic AK fire going off all over the place. The overheads get some solid use as helo’s fly overhead, or the sounds of falling debris bounce around all over the place. I will say that I would have liked a LITTLE more use of the LFE channel, but this is a powerful and very encompassing track to be certain.


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Extras:

• Behind the Scenes of Wolf Warrior II Featurettes
• Original Trailers

Final Score: ​

Wolf Warrior 2 is actually the 2nd largest Chinese movie of all time, grossing nearly $850 million in the few months it was in theaters. Unfortunately 95% of that was made IN China itself, as the Hong Kong and Western markets didn’t contribute much to the film. The grating jingoism is a bit off putting, but the high powered action and cheesy one liners made it feel a lot more fun, kind of like those old awful 80s action films we love and adore. Flaws and all, I had a fun action packed time, and the movie makes for a solid watch for those of you who like Asian action flicks. Technically speaking, the Blu-ray is absolutely amazing, with the only flaw being the minimal extras.




Technical Specifications:

Starring: Jacky Wu (Jing Wu), Frank Grillo, Celina Jade
Directed by Jing Wu
Written by: Qun Dong, Yan Gao
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 AVC
Audio: Mandarin: DTS:X (DTS-HD MA 7.1 Core), Mandarin DD 2.0, English DTS-HD MA 5.1, English DD 2.0
Studio: Well Go USA
Rated: NR
Runtime: 123 Minutes
Blu-ray Release Date: December 12th, 2017

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• Michael Scott
• May 11, 2017

Recommendation: Solid Rental

 

[tripplej]

Thanks for the review. Never heard of this nor the first one, Wolf Warrior.. will check out both.

 

[Michael Scott]

I'll post the "legacy" review of Wolf Warrior as soon as I can for reference

 

[tripplej]

Great. Thanks. Appreciate it.