Wolf Warrior makes a triumphant return to the big screen in China and is now available on Blu-ray + DVD from Well Go USA. Grossing some $900M or so in China, apparently the second largest amount for any movie there, Wu Jing reprises his role as the ex-special forces badass Leng Weng. This time the mission sees him going into an African warzone to rescue trapped Chinese citizens and other innocents while being pursued by a team of mercs led by Big Daddy (played by Frank Grillo).
Wolf Warrior 2 follows directly in the footsteps of the enjoyable first outing, which I reviewed in August of 2015. The loss of Feng’s love interest bothers him still, and his discharge from the Chinese military finds him working in a port city in Africa, helping to transport goods via ship. Very quickly, things get bad as war breaks out amongst the locals and Feng finds himself required to use his skills to save himself and those close to him. The Chinese military is not able to assist without authorization from the UN, and while the local embassy is able to help save a lot of innocents, there are around fifty more trapped and out of reach. Amongst the stranded are medical staff and other workers. Feng volunteers to leave the safety of the rescue boat he just boarded to go and rescue those captives.
Wolf Warrior feels like Rambo and Commando wrapped into one — it’s guns-blazing action that always wants to out-do itself at the next chance it can. Wild car chases, well choreographed and intense martial arts scenes, knife-fights, underwater action, and even tanks get into the mix late in the movie. The cinematography is impressive, and the action is intense and doesn’t really hold back. As with most movies in this genre you do have to suspend disbelief and just accept what you see, but it’s fun and the pacing is such that there’s really never a dull moment. The story is actually pretty good too, but clearly the action is the focus here and Wu Jing, Wu Gang, Frank Grillo, and the supporting cast do not disappoint.
Presentation quality of Wolf Warrior 2 on Blu-ray is excellent. The visuals are beautiful, both in terms of the scenery, sets, and camera angles, as well as the technical quality which is top notch. DTS-X in Mandarin is supported which gave my new Yamaha YAS-207 soundbar a nice workout and the film sounded fantastic. Mandarin 2.0 Stereo, English DTS-HDMA 5.1 and 2.0 and English subtitles roundout your setup options. A handful of short extra features round out this home release, those are:
-Previews of three other Well Go movies: Triple Threat, The Villainess, and God of War
-Trailer of Wolf War 2
-Director Wu Jing – 4m15s, here we see behind the scenes (BTS) footage of Wu Jing doing directing, offering his vision to the crew and cast on things like fight scene choregraphy.
-Filming In Africa – 4m24s – It’s revealed that the screenplay for Wolf Warrior 2 actually existed before the first film was made, which is pretty cool. Wolf Warrior 3 is in the works by the way. Anyway, Wu Jing talks about his travels to Africa, and we get to see some footage of his visits there. He talks about the danger of filming with lions, and the dangers of some of the areas they filmed in.
-Action Scenes – 2m43s – Action Director Sam Hargrave and Executive Director Ix Shen talk about the numerous, complicated action scenes in the movie and injuries and wirework that happened.
-Wu Gang – 3m14s – Wu talks about his role and the hard work he had to put in to doing the action scenes. Wu Jing compliments his dedication.
Wolf Warrior 2 is a must-see for action fans, and the Blu-ray + DVD release from Well Go USA doesn’t disappoint. The movie is pretty great, the image and sound quality are excellent, and the extra features, although short, are worth a watch.
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