Ten years ago, Jason Wu played a killer "Ajie" with only a few lines in Kill the Wolf. 10 years later, Baby Face finally reached the opposite position in the movie, from a killer to a policeman.
After watching it for the first time, I walked out of the cinema, and my muscles still trembled involuntarily. I can't help it It's cruel and realistic. I haven't seen such a ferocious action movie for a long time, so that the sudden ending is unbelievable. "It's over? It's so easy to finish? Shouldn't we fight for 15 minutes to make everyone happy? "
I looked up at the film in the cinema, hesitated for a while in the Youth Classroom, brushed it again, bought another "Kill the Wolf 2" and turned around and went in.
I didn't expect "Kill the Wolf 2" to achieve this level, whether it was word of mouth or box office, it was popular all the way. And all this was done without much publicity in advance. Compared with the previous exposure, the publicity of domestic youth films "Youth Classroom" and "Kill Wolf 2" is not simple, but just quite satisfactory. If action films are better than literary films, there are Hollywood visual effects masterpiece Jurassic World and the youth action gunfight film Divergent 2. Under such pressure, they can have today's box office and word of mouth, which is proud and earned enough face for Hong Kong movies, Hong Kong action movies and Hong Kong gangster movies.
As a so-called "sequel" movie, how to jump out of the previous mold, start a new stove and open new flowers has always been a difficult problem in the film industry. Being able to shoot the sequel well is also a proof of the strength of the production team to some extent. On the other hand, the main creative team of Kill Wolf 2 was directed by Zheng Baorui, supervised by Ye Weixin, planned by Lu Huiguang, written by Liyan Liang, starring Jason Wu, Tony Jaa, Max Zhang and Yam Tat-wah. It is not the big coffee team of Hong Kong action movies and gangster movies that we have in mind, but it has dedicated an action classic with courage and strength.
In fact, if we carefully analyze the members of this team, we will find that although their fame is not great, they are the real backbone of today's film circle. Zheng Baorui's previous work was "Make a scene in Heaven", which earned 654.38 billion yuan at the box office in Chinese mainland. Ye Weixin was the director of Kill the Wolf, and he also contributed to the later Hong Kong film masterpieces The Fuse and Ip Man. Jason Wu has just made a hit with Wolf Warrior. Tony Jaa's films have never been shown in China, but their technology and strength are world-class. Max Zhang just left a deep impression on the audience with the role of "Ma San" in The Master. Needless to say, Yam Tat-wah has been Jackie Chan's partner for many years. Lu Huiguang, which is famous for its word horse, is very strange. As a champion of Muay Thai, he not only plays a supporting role, but also takes the lead in planning. Screenwriter Liyan Liang's previous works are firefighting heroes and zombies in Juno Mak, which are relatively weak. Therefore, the whole team is actually a master of Hong Kong films going to the front line, and today's achievements can be regarded as the accumulation of money.
The creative team, the backbone of Hong Kong film
After counting the team, let's talk about the highlights of the film.
In fact, judging from the story structure of the whole film, the plot trend of Kill the Wolf is a replica of the Korean film Uncle, which also involves the sale of human organs. It is also the life and death of the little girl that drives the plot direction of the whole movie, and even the cold and tidy battle scene in the final hall is similar to the uncle's last scene. Oh, by the way, there is also a Thai (the sympathetic heavy-browed killer in Uncle is Thai) and a group of Korean thugs (it is rare for Korean martial artists to rob Hong Kong martial artists of their jobs). In fact, Uncle inherited luc besson's classic Black Boy Leon, so fundamentally, this plot structure is old-fashioned, but very solid.
Uncle is a rare action classic in Korean movies in recent years.
However, this is "Kill the Wolf 2" after all, and the words "Kill the Wolf" are related. "Seven Killings, Pojun and the Greedy Wolf", three terms in astrology, show three personalities and fates. Last time, Donnie Yen, Yam Tat-wah and Sammo Hung performed the interpretation respectively. This time, they were replaced by Jason Wu/Yam Tat-wah, Tony Jaa/Lu Huiguang and Louis Koo/Max Zhang. The three groups were divided into civilian and military posts, and they were independent. Jason Wu struggled for survival while completing the task, Tony Jaa struggled for the little girl's life, and Louis Koo struggled for his own life. Three groups of six people have their own origins. The relationship between the characters and the plot is far more difficult than before, so the plot is actually a bit weak. The most obvious coincidence is too many. For example, I happened to be able to donate bone marrow to the little girl, and he was put in the prison, and that crucial mobile phone happened to fall into the hands of an imbecile (this person is China's famous imbecile "conductor" Zhou), which made a language. In addition, the wolf, which is full of symbolic meaning but inexplicably appears in Bangkok, and some hasty endings at the end make the whole story have some flaws, which are not as perfect as the previous work or uncle.
But who cares? Who cares? This is an action movie, and the plot is for action. So we saw the smiling, pitiful little girl. Who cares about so many coincidences? Her heart softened first, and it is understandable that Tony Jaa suddenly broke out after being seriously injured. Jason Wu, Yam Tat-wah and Tony Jaa stood up, denounced the strong enemy, and immediately excited people. Yes, this is our favorite Hong Kong movie. A simple reason is enough, and then act. As Hong Qigong said in Ashes of Time, "My knife is fast because I am direct". Clean and neat, talking with actions and scenes, long shots, slow motion, prison group battles, corridor melee, hall one-on-one hit, swoop, bounce legs ... scenes come to my face, making people hold their breath and intrigue. Even if the ending is a little hasty, I want people to watch it a few times. Not by computer special effects, but by pressing people's nerves with fists and bodies. This is our favorite Hong Kong film style in the past.
Simple, direct and clear, this is our favorite Hong Kong movie.
However, in such a mainstream commercial action film, Zheng Baorui still retains full personal characteristics. As a director from the "ghost story" genre, his films have been pursuing truth and tragedy, even to the point of darkness and ruthlessness. In Dog Bites Dog, Edison Chen and Li Cansen are inhuman, fighting like wild animals, leaving no excuse for justice; In Army Chicken, Shawn Yue was discredited and raped and sodomized in prison. Zheng Baorui is always used to showing people the darkest and most desperate side of reality. Whenever possible, he twisted and perverted all the way. In the mainstream commercial film Kill Wolf 2 released in Chinese mainland, he also tried his best to keep his dark hobby. The actor's modeling and scenes are inherited from dog-eat-dog and military chicken. Yam Tat-wah and Jason Wu are always dark and sweaty, with short hair and bald eyebrows (this style is reserved for deaf-mute killers with short knives). Plasma, feces and urine are everywhere, and chains are wrapped around the SM scene. People bark and struggle like dogs, self-harm in order to survive, and twitch in their own vomit and blood, which is no longer human. Although Little Loli came out from time to time to save the scene, the cult atmosphere that could not be concealed made the audience sick, sick and trembling, and finally there was a kind of abnormal happiness. Personally, I think this is not only caused by Zheng Baorui's abnormal feelings, but also the maximum connivance of producer Ye Weixin. After all, Ye Weixin's Burst Interpol is also a classic of film noir.
Yam Tat-wah's scene is the bloodiest and most abnormal scene in the whole film.
Fortunately, this is a mainstream commercial film that needs to make money. The personal feelings of Zheng Baorui and Ye Weixin need to make way for the overall situation, and the classic action scenes that Hong Kong films should have are the protagonists. There are several wonderful fighting scenes in the film, each with its own meaning, namely:
1. Jason Wu was kidnapped to a Thai prison, and Max Zhang forged his identity certificate and killed him. Jason Wu stood up and fought with Tony Jaa, the prison guard, while Max Zhang looked on coldly. In this play, Jason Wu used traditional martial arts and judo against Tony Jiagang's fierce Muay Thai. He did not fall in the wind in front of the fierce knee and elbow skills of the other side, and it took him a long time to be subdued because of his poor physical condition. This drama not only shows Tony Jaa's exquisite Muay Thai skills, but also creates a desperate situation, and even implies that Max Zhang, who has been closely watching, is hidden.
2. Jason Wu got the key by self-mutilation, tried to escape from prison, released all prisoners to create chaos, and took the opportunity to call for help. In this play, Jason Wu runs away, Tony Jaa runs after him, and Max Zhang shows his skill in suppressing chaos, and all three actions are involved. The real protagonist of this play is Max Zhang. In addition to looking around for the kidnapped living organ supplier, he also killed him all the way in the chaos. His shirt, tie and vest are light and his hair is not messy, just like Colin Firth who was just killed from church in Kinsman. A suit is really a man's best armor. After this scene, Max Zhang has become a superior male god and officially entered the ranks of first-line male stars in action movies.
3. The bald eyebrow killer raided the police in the corridor, turned the knife into a pistol, came and went like the wind, completely eliminated the opponent, and successfully took away the witnesses closely protected by the police. This play is the spiritual inheritance of Kill the Wolf ten years ago. At that time, Jason Wu played the role of a killer. He also attacked and killed several policemen with a short knife. Although the scene is short, it is an indispensable inheritance.
Jason Wu went directly to the hospital to fight the bald eyebrow killer. This scene is a classic tribute to the desperate battle between Donnie Yen and Jason Wu in "Kill the Wolf" ten years ago, but this time it was replaced by Jason Wu as a policeman. The weapon is also a short stick versus a short knife, and even the soundtrack is "Dead End Alley Dead End" composed by chan kwong wing, a famous music artist, ten years ago. The cold and flat drums are accompanied by Feng Xiyu's cold and ethereal voice. Jason Wu steps towards an unavoidable enemy and fights to the death. Two people can only live one, just like 10 years ago, but Jason Wu changed from a killer to a policeman, which is definitely a classic action drama of Hong Kong films. It is worth mentioning that Feng Xiyu, the backup singer of the soundtrack, also sang for the scene of Huang Qiusheng's death in Infernal Affairs. The song "Police, Police" has spread to this day and touched countless people.
5. In the final decisive battle in the hospital hall, Zhang Jin used Xingyiquan Bagua Boxing against Tony Jaa's Muay Thai and Jason Wu's comprehensive fighting. He is still well dressed and his hair is not messy. It is expected that the enemy plane will strike first and then strike, calmly and calmly, playing in an orderly way and very beautifully. Especially in the face of Tony Jaa's Muay Thai knee bump, he fought back with a trick of "White Ape Offering Peach". Friends who have seen The Grandmaster will remember that Gong Er, played by Zhang Ziyi, used this trick to break Ma Sanyi's trick of "old ape hanging seal" played by Max Zhang, and the trick of "old ape hanging seal" is similar to that of Muay Thai, where he grabbed his opponent's neck and pulled it down, while slamming his opponent's chest with his knee. It can be said that Max Zhang copied Gong Er's methods here, but it wasn't him who was unlucky this time. Ma San finally breathed a sigh of relief, and he could teach Tony Jaa that "the old ape looks back, but looking back is important". In a word, this decisive battle is too wonderful to be described in words. You might as well go to the cinema and watch it yourself.
A suit is a man's armor. Max Zhang started from Ma San, and now he has officially become a super driver.
Jason Wu and others are in charge of martial arts, while Yam Tat-wah and Louis Koo are mainly in charge of literature and drama in the triangle of "killing wolves". They are actually supporting roles, but their performances are wonderful. Yam Tat-wah plays an uncle who is a policeman. In order to save the undercover nephew, he kidnapped an important witness at all costs, and even broke his finger with a vise to take off his handcuffs and get the key. But the best scene is that he is in his iron cage, barking like a dog in Louis Koo. There are no policemen and criminals here. He is a man who wants to live. Louis Koo's crew cut, big round glasses and mask made people not recognize him at the beginning of the film. But such a person who expresses himself with his eyes, voice and sinister smile exudes a trace of evil in his bones. He is the person who needs an organ transplant most, but he is the big boss of underground organ smuggling, but he can't save himself because of blood type restrictions. So he even killed his own brother, just to get his own heart transplanted into himself. He plausibly said, I saved so many lives, can't I change my life? I never thought how many people he killed while saving lives. For an instant, he cried and begged, as if his conscience had found out, and he wanted his brother to leave quickly. The next moment, he grabbed an oxygen bottle, blew off his brother's head and shouted, "You can't leave." He is cold-blooded, selfish and heartless, but he is extremely afraid of death. Louis Koo took human meanness and sadness to the extreme, and he already had Wu Zhenyu-style evil beauty. Even if he finally glared at his brother's hand and convulsed to death, it was hard to hate.
Louis Koo played a traitor again after the drug war. He was insidious and despicable to the bone.
In a word, this is a good film with multi-person cooperation and win-win situation for everyone. After "Wolf Warriors", Jason Wu once again handed over a satisfactory answer sheet, which proved that he had successfully become a top actor in China's action movies. The white-haired killer ten years ago didn't have a line, but now he has finally started. Tony Jia has successfully opened the China market and looks forward to more cooperation with his counterparts in China in the future. Max Zhang should be the biggest winner. Although he is still a villain, his handsome skills and modeling have made countless female audiences shout male gods. Next time, he should be able to take the lead and play a positive role.