Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In

The sets look absolutely stunning and elaborate, very vivid and rich in detail and you can tell a lot of love and care and nostalgia went into the recreations of Kowloon Walled City. Also a lot of extras. And for sure a lot of money.

This is Jackie Chan on steroids. Kind of. I mean I can see it as the result of decades of evolution of martial arts movies and a deserving heir of that tradition. However I am not necessarily a fan of the genre and my experience with it is extremely limited. Still, the action scenes and the choreographies are excellent, creative and breathtaking even. With the caveat that of course in real life these people would be dead ten times over from the many blows and injuries they sustain. And they keep coming back for more, only to defeat the adversary at the very last minute, when all looked lost. Yes, it's a trope. I suppose fans love it, but it bothers me each time. It bothered me here a lot because the rest of it looked so gritty and raw that I expected some anchor to reality. But no. It only amplifies as the movie unfolds. Up to large old men fighting as if they were in their prime and the absolute offender - spirit power. Yes, that's right. They incorporated some fantasy martial arts/cultivation movies motifs - the most annoying and evil guy in the whole movie, who also sports a mullet and lets out a hysterical laugh way too often, possesses spirit power, meaning that nothing blunt can penetrate his skin. Could be a trick to keep him alive for as long as possible to give the good guys something to do, but was it really necessary? Couldn't they just make him very, very good and very lucky?

The poster could have been sexier. Those four last standing deserved that. Maybe they banked on the star power of the veterans. Again, I am not the target audience for this.

Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In is a colorful blazing fury of fisticuffs that spins the infamous Hong Kong landmark into an entertaining pop art mythology.

Director Soi Cheang, cinematographer Cheng Siu Keung, and production designer Kenneth Mak strike the perfect tone, crossing Hong Kong nostalgia with a wuxia comic book aesthetic.

The story chronicles the rise of Chan Lok-Kwan, an illegal immigrant and bare-knuckle boxer surviving on the streets of 1980's Hong Kong. Getting in trouble with local gangster Mr. Big, Chan finds refuge in the Kowloon Walled City, a lawless territory outside of British Hong Kong, and is taken in by gang boss Tornado and his underlings.

The British Government announcing the demolishing of the Walled City ignites a gangland war, settling personal vendettas and seizing the Walled City.

Kenji Tanigaki's inventive fight choreography is fluid and powerful, slightly exaggerating the character's comic book fighting abilities just right.

The Kowloon Walled City set is exquisitely detailed, keeping with Soi Cheang's trademark of arranging garbage into intricately beautiful backdrops.

The set design and fight choreography are well integrated and tell the story visually, with the characters scurrying through the cement crevices, alleyways, and scaffolding.

Raymond Lam, largely known as a TV actor, shines in an iconic movie role and establishes himself as a solid action lead. As Tornado, Louis Koo gives solid support, building a memorable character separate from the star persona created from ubiquitous film appearances. Richie Jen's mob boss is the weakest link, lacking grit and veering into dress-up pantomime territory. Phillip Ng steals the show as the crazy laughing villain King.

The one flaw is a gaping plot hole, an unexplained story contrivance of "how did that character know that?" The error wasn't obvious to me until after the film ended, but it hangs there like a jigsaw puzzle missing its last piece.

Walled In is no masterpiece, but a well-executed crowd-pleaser that has entered the zeitgeist at the exact moment for the audience.

In its quieter moments, Soi Cheang directs the audience's eyes toward the lives of the Walled City residents. Even though this is an exaggerated comic book film, it nostalgically refers to real history where people lived and struggled in these harsh conditions. This is the film's heart; it works in a "look how far we've come" way.

Locally, the film's been the talk of the town, and everybody I know has seen it, some even more than once. It achieves a classic status that Hong Kong people will remember fondly, like a Bruce Lee film.

I didn't make it to Hong Kong til 1994 so this famous Kowloon walled city had already gone but it's legend hadn't. It was the equivalent of a large block of properties, within properties - a mass of alleys, corridors and tunnels in which the law was enforced in a very different way from the outside. This story starts with a battle that sees control pass from "Jim" to "Cyclone" (Louis Koo). There's now a truce of sorts that exists between the bosses and the outside world, but that's about to be thrown into turmoil by the arrival of "Lok" (Raymond Lam). He works hard to get an official ID card but is fleeced by "Mr. Big" (Sammo Hung) and escapes with a bag of his cocaine into the walled city. That's where he encounters it's ruler and his sidekick "Shin" (Terrence Lau) and where his willingness to work and his fortitude ingratiates him with the boss. On the outside, "Cyclone" has a business relationship with "Chau" (Richie Jen) who has really only one purpose left in life. That's to avenge the murder of his family by the now dead "Jim". The focus of his revenge is that man's own son - but nobody nows what happened to him. Well, swiftly you can add two and two and get "Lok". Loyalties are now tested, friendships challenged and forged whilst the fragile peace is soon in tatters. With battle lines drawn and ambitions clear, it's all out war and the action mounts up. This is a sold end-to-end martial arts film with plenty of nimble and lithe combat; acrobatics and bodies that must be made of skin-clad tungsten steel. It's got a little bit of mysticism and embodies human nature, whether benign or not, quite entertainingly and by not just throwing itself about, but by at least trying to create and develop the characters. The denouement takes it's time and does become a bit repetitive, but as a quickly paced drama it really does fly by for two hours. Honour amongst thieves - but always sleep with your back to the wall.

I expected great fight scenes, great backdrop, some over acting, and a bit of fun. I got this.

The beginning was a good setup for the film and drew me in immediately. The main actor was very good.

The first half was actually better than I expected. It was well paced and gave you a good understanding of the character and how he finally felt at home with a new family while also not losing out on some action scenes. Plus, the environment was wonderfully dystopian and looked just what I imagined Kowloon would have been like.

The second half, OH MY, was a whimsical, non-sensical, over-the-top, non-stop fighting fest. It certainly wasn't 'The Raid' standard but it was still a fun watch.

Overall, totally worth a watch.

Finally I can see silver lining in HK movie after all these ten years. This is what a signature movie of HK style should be like. I'm delighted to see a movie that is so "Hong Kong". Old plot is never outdated, it is about how to present in a modern way. The brotherhood of the gangsters were so touching. No MSGs, no grandstanding, no too much focus on the old movie stars - this is just what we, the audience, want.

The Kowloon Walled City is always a mysterious legend to me, I must give credits to the production team for building such a beautiful replica of the city. No matter you like the plot or not, I suggest everyone who like HK culture or miss the old HK to watch this in the theatre.