Wolf Warrior 2 wants to have it both ways. It wants to be about Chinese exceptionalism, but also wants to show the world a China and the her people, that are at one with the world community. It's a movie that wants to tug on the heartstrings of audiences at home and abroad, but fumbles the latter due to eschewing the universal human element in favor of focusing on exclusively the people of China (and their symbols and institutions).
But it was a pretty entertaining action movie, and interesting propaganda piece (I didn't see the first movie, but it didn't seem to matter much). The cgi was dodgy, but the action and fight choreography were really slick and inventive. There were also a couple cool plot wrinkles late in the movie that were really good, along with one of the most well done third act product placements I've ever seen.
**SPOILERS**
The main story line followed the hero, as he tried to save a few VIPs, along with African and Chinese workers trapped in the conflict zone. It was pretty straightforward stuff.
Now the secondary story line was where almost all the juicy propaganda was placed, the main thrust of which was is in how the Chinese people, and their government, were depicted as sticking by Africa and its people as western governments had abandoned it.
All the Westerners in the movie were in Africa under the sponsorship of stateless private, and non-governmental groups (UN and unspecified business interests) the latter of which were behind the bad guys. And it's the Western bad guys that were aiding and abetting African insurgents, who were murdering hundreds of their fellow Africans in the movie, and threatening to undermine the work that the Chinese government backed businesses were doing on the ground.
Not surprisingly it's the second plot, the propaganda plot, which was more effectively pulled off... building to a jingoistic pro Chinese climax that obviously struck a cord with audiences there.
Unfortunately, that came at the expense of giving the lead character a really organically heart felt ending. Yeah he avenges the death of his lover, but that's handled in a cold, matter of fact way that was unsatisfying. The same went for the burgeoning father/son relationship between the hero and the charismatic African boy whose mother he promised to save. Yeah he did it, but it was all so matter of fact. The execution was done as if they were merely boxes to be ticked. There was no heart behind the craft... that went elsewhere.
**END OF SPOILERS**
And that's a shame because the film could have had a real universal heart that resonated with audiences across the globe, instead of just in China. I'm not begrudging the movie it's jingoistic ending, that's cool, but it didn't have to come at the cost of leaving he rest of us out in the cold. The films loss and ours.
But again, Wolf Warrior 2 is a fine effort nonetheless. It's an action movie, and a pretty darn good one at that.
But it was a pretty entertaining action movie, and interesting propaganda piece (I didn't see the first movie, but it didn't seem to matter much). The cgi was dodgy, but the action and fight choreography were really slick and inventive. There were also a couple cool plot wrinkles late in the movie that were really good, along with one of the most well done third act product placements I've ever seen.
**SPOILERS**
The main story line followed the hero, as he tried to save a few VIPs, along with African and Chinese workers trapped in the conflict zone. It was pretty straightforward stuff.
Now the secondary story line was where almost all the juicy propaganda was placed, the main thrust of which was is in how the Chinese people, and their government, were depicted as sticking by Africa and its people as western governments had abandoned it.
All the Westerners in the movie were in Africa under the sponsorship of stateless private, and non-governmental groups (UN and unspecified business interests) the latter of which were behind the bad guys. And it's the Western bad guys that were aiding and abetting African insurgents, who were murdering hundreds of their fellow Africans in the movie, and threatening to undermine the work that the Chinese government backed businesses were doing on the ground.
Not surprisingly it's the second plot, the propaganda plot, which was more effectively pulled off... building to a jingoistic pro Chinese climax that obviously struck a cord with audiences there.
Unfortunately, that came at the expense of giving the lead character a really organically heart felt ending. Yeah he avenges the death of his lover, but that's handled in a cold, matter of fact way that was unsatisfying. The same went for the burgeoning father/son relationship between the hero and the charismatic African boy whose mother he promised to save. Yeah he did it, but it was all so matter of fact. The execution was done as if they were merely boxes to be ticked. There was no heart behind the craft... that went elsewhere.
**END OF SPOILERS**
And that's a shame because the film could have had a real universal heart that resonated with audiences across the globe, instead of just in China. I'm not begrudging the movie it's jingoistic ending, that's cool, but it didn't have to come at the cost of leaving he rest of us out in the cold. The films loss and ours.
But again, Wolf Warrior 2 is a fine effort nonetheless. It's an action movie, and a pretty darn good one at that.