[yasr_overall_rating]
During the warlords era in China, a village located in rural area called Pucheng fell into dangerous situation when its government allocated all its military force to the front line, the cruel commandant Cao from the enemy troops arrived the village and killed the innocent, the guardians of Pucheng were desperate to fight against Cao for justice and to protect their homeland.
“Call Of Heroes” takes place during 1914 following the collapse of the Qing dynasty, and focuses on a small rural village named Pucheng. With the country at war, and its army sent to fight at the front line, a cruel and vicious warlord, Cao (Louis Koo), wanders into Pucheng early one morning and kills three innocent people, a restaurant owner, a teacher and a young boy. He is quickly disarmed by the town’s guardians and Yeung Hak-nan (Sean Lau), the town’s sheriff, puts him in a holding cell. Yeung and his people are not aware who they have in their custody and he informs them that the murderer will be put to death early the next morning. As soon as he finishes his announcement, Cheung Yik (Wu Jing) enters the grounds and informs everybody that he is the army commander for Cao, the man they are holding prisoner. Immediately, the atmosphere changes and they beg Yeung to release him, for fear that he and his men will kill the entire town but he refuses, saying that he broke the law and will be punished accordingly.
Cheung informs him that he will be back with his men first thing in the morning and that if they don’t hand Cao over, everyone will perish. Yeung’s band of guardians are willing to stand by him but as the day wears on, it becomes quite apparent that the townspeople, as much as they want revenge for the killing of their own, don’t want to die. Yeung tries to caution them that even if he does release him, because of his notorious savage and sadistic nature, he will most certainly turn around and have them all killed anyway so why not die fighting for something worthwhile? Even Yeung’s own family begin to have doubts as night falls but when a drifter, Ma Fung (Eddie Peng), wanders into town, and proves very adept at taking care of himself, he offers to help Yeung with his predicament after he discovers that someone he greatly cared about, was among the three killed early on. As Cao sits in his holding cell, giddily awaiting morning, the entire town waits along with him, anticipating first light, where all of their lives will be changed forever.
“Call Of Heroes” is exquisitely shot and brimming with spectacular martial arts entertainment. On top of the tremendous action throughout, it is also filled with moral dilemmas, the debate on whether a murderer should be released for fear of everyone dying, or whether he should be punished regardless, makes for some great drama. Eddie Peng as the drifter is the typical loner who wants to be left alone but when push comes to shove, will most certainly take a stand. Louis Koo as Cao, the sneering villain, is decidedly wicked and obviously takes relish in playing the bad guy. Sean Lau as the town sheriff, is the voice of morality, even with the entire town against him, he remains steadfast in his belief that Cao needs to be punished and by doing so, forces everyone else to look at their own ethics. “Call Of Heroes” has it all; action, adventure, drama, and some genuinely funny laugh-out-moments. For a great night’s viewing, look no further.
Available on Blu-ray & DVD Tuesday, December 6th
