[yasr_overall_rating]
China’s deadliest special forces operative settles into a quiet life on the sea. When sadistic mercenaries begin targeting nearby civilians, he must leave his newfound peace behind and return to his duties as a soldier and protector.
As far as action movies go, “Wolf Warrior 2” blows them all out of the water. There have been many Asian action films with spectacular fight choreography and exciting car chases and explosions but the opening scene of “Wolf Warrior 2” puts most, if not all of them, to shame. A small boatload of African pirates attempt to hijack a Chinese freighter but Leng Feng (Wu Jing), a former Chinese special forces soldier who now works security on the ships, dives off the freighter, headfirst into the water, where he proceeds to individually pull each of mercenaries off the boat and in spectacular fashion, fights them underwater. By the end of the scene, he manages to tie them all up and keep them alive as he pulls them behind the boat. And this is just the opening scene.
Later, Feng and his shipmates are docked in an African port when a band of rebels open fire, killing many civilians. They quickly overpower the local government troops and when China hears of the attack, they send the Chinese fleet into the port to evacuate Chinese nationals. While Feng and many others are lining up to board the ship, he overhears some guards talking about someone needing to rescue a Dr. Chen (Guo Qiucheng), a Chinese physician who claims to have discovered the cure for Lamanla, a virus so deadly that its mortality rate is 90%. Feng approaches the guards and tells them that he used to be a member of the Wolf Warrior Special Forces Unit and volunteers to take on the task. He is informed that he will be alone, and that “on the record,” they cannot condone such a rescue mission but he is up to the challenge and sets off for the factory in the middle of nowhere where Chen is being housed. When he reaches the location, the mercenaries, who also need Chen alive as a bargaining chip, are already there and one trigger-happy guard accidentally shoots him. Feng attacks the mercs and before Chen dies, he tells him that he needs to save his daughter, an African girl named Pasha (Diana Sylla) and his associate, a fellow doctor named Rachel Smith (Celina Jade). Feng agrees and takes them with him but with the mercenaries in hot pursuit, led by the cruel and merciless Big Daddy (Frank Grillo), making it back to safety will take every resource Feng has.
“Wolf Warrior 2” is filled with amazing fight choreography and incredible action scenes and in between, we are treated to some attempts at character development and story exposition but they mainly fall flat. In one scene, Feng, along with Pasha and Rachel, get stuck in a small village where the Lamanla virus is rampant, and because Feng was injured in a previous fight, he quickly succumbs to it but Rachel and Dr. Chen, having already found the cure, injects Feng with it and he recovers in no time. Pretty convenient, eh? Sometimes, an action film needs little to no exposition and more action and thankfully, for the most part, “Wolf Warrior 2” delivers. After the success of “Wolf Warrior,” and now with “Wolf Warrior 2” having gone on to be included in the top 100 highest-grossing films of all time, and with China having submitted it to next year’s 90th Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film, “Wolf Warrior 3” is right around the corner.
Now available on Blu-ray Combo Pack, DVD & Digital HD
