Wolf Warrior 2
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

''Wolf Warrior 2'' () is a 2017 Chinese action film co-written, co-produced, and directed by Wu Jing, who also starred in the lead role. The film co-stars
Celina Jade Celina Jade (born Celina Horan; 10 June 1985) is a Hong Kong-American actress, singer, songwriter, model, and martial artist. She is nominated as one of four the greatest beauties in Hong Kong SAR besides Carol Cheng, Lydia Shum and Amy Yip. She ...
, Frank Grillo, Hans Zhang, and Wu Gang. The film is a sequel to 2015's ''
Wolf Warrior ''Wolf Warrior'' () is a 2015 Chinese war film written and directed by Wu Jing. It stars Wu Jing along with Scott Adkins, Yu Nan and Kevin Lee. It was released on 2 April 2015. A sequel, titled ''Wolf Warrior 2'', was released in China in 201 ...
''. It was released in China on 27 July 2017. The film tells a story of a
loose cannon A Loose cannon is a hazard on the decks of a battleship, figuratively a person acting in a wild and unpredictable manner. Loose Cannon or Loose Cannons may also refer to: Films * ''Loose Cannons'' (1990 film), an American comedy film * ''Loose ...
Chinese soldier named Leng Feng who takes on special missions around the world. In this sequel, he finds himself in an unnamed African country protecting medical aid workers from local rebels and vicious arms dealers. In China, ''Wolf Warrior 2'' received general praise for its patriotic plot, special effects, action sequences and the cast's performances. It was a massive commercial success and has become the highest-grossing Chinese film ever released. The film broke numerous box office records, including the biggest single-day gross for a Chinese film as well as the fastest film to cross RMB 2 billion, 3 billion, 4 billion and 5 billion box office marks. It also became the fastest film to surpass US$500 million and the first film to gross more than US$600 million at the Chinese box office. At a total domestic gross of (US$874 million), it is the second highest-grossing film of all-time in a single market behind '' Star Wars: The Force Awakens'' ($936.7 million in North America), and has exceeded North America's totals from '' Avengers: Endgame'' (858.4 million), '' Avatar'' ($760 million), ''
Black Panther A black panther is the melanistic colour variant of the leopard (''Panthera pardus'') and the jaguar (''Panthera onca''). Black panthers of both species have excess black pigments, but their typical rosettes are also present. They have been d ...
'' ($700 million), and '' Titanic'' ($659 million). The film was the seventh highest-grossing film of 2017 at US$874 million, making it the 54th highest-grossing film worldwide. It is the first non-English film ever to be included in the list of 100 all-time highest-grossing films worldwide, making it the highest-grossing non-English film of all time, a position it retained until 2021 when '' The Battle at Lake Changjin'', another film Wu starred in, took top spot. It was selected as the Chinese entry for the
Best Foreign Language Film This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards. Best Actor/Best Actress *See Best Actor#Film awards, Best Actress#F ...
at the 90th Academy Awards.


Plot

After the events of ''
Wolf Warrior ''Wolf Warrior'' () is a 2015 Chinese war film written and directed by Wu Jing. It stars Wu Jing along with Scott Adkins, Yu Nan and Kevin Lee. It was released on 2 April 2015. A sequel, titled ''Wolf Warrior 2'', was released in China in 201 ...
'', Leng Feng and members of his special-ops team bring his fallen comrade's remains back to his hometown. As the family prepare for the funeral, a real estate company is about to demolish their house. The boss of the real estate company confronts and sneers at Feng and his team for their patriotism, and he is kicked to the ground. The boss orders his henchmen to attack them but they are all swiftly disabled by Feng and his team. Police arrive shortly after and order Feng to stand down. The boss gets back up and boasts that he will "make the family wish they were dead", enraging Feng, who kills him. Feng is sent to a military prison for two years and then discharged from the Chinese army. After his release from prison, Feng leaves for Africa, planning to wander aimlessly around the continent. While serving as a mercenary providing security for a freighter delivering relief supplies to Africa, he foils an attempted hijacking by Somalian pirates, defeating them in hand-to-hand combat underwater. The freighter arrives safely at its destination. For three years, Feng has been carrying a bullet he found, which was a clue to the kidnapping of his fiancée, Lieutenant Colonel Long Xiaoyun, that happened while she was on a mission. Feng and some locals are partying on a beach when they are attacked by rebel forces aiming to overthrow the African nation. Shortly after the rebels and their mercenaries overrun the government troops, the Chinese fleet arrives to evacuate Chinese nationals caught up in the civil war. While on board a Chinese military ship, a shop owner that Feng rescued informs him that the bullet he is carrying belongs to European mercenaries who are helping the rebels. Feng volunteers to rescue workers at a Chinese factory and also a VIP, Dr. Chen, who was held hostage in a nearby hospital. Dr Chen is developing a vaccine for Lamanla, a deadly endemic disease. However, Feng will be on his own. No China military personnel could accompany him because they are on foreign soil, and must wait for permission from the Chinese military's higher authorities. Feng travels to the hospital but during the hostage rescue, Dr Chen is accidentally killed by the rebels and their mercenaries. Dying, Dr Chen tells Feng to take his daughter, an African girl named Pasha. The mercenaries are led by Big Daddy, a ruthless American working for Dyon Corps. Feng and Pasha, together with Rachel Smith, a surviving doctor, escape but Feng cuts his hand when he falls on some Lamanla-infected dead bodies. Feng continues to the Chinese-owned Hanbound factory to save the workers and his godson's mother, who also works there. Upon arrival, Feng is confronted by the suspicious factory security team led by the factory owner's son, Zhuo Yifan, a cocky
fuerdai Fuerdai (; ) is a Chinese term for the children of the ''nouveau riche'' in China. This term, generally considered pejorative, is often invoked in the Chinese media and everyday discussions in mainland China as it incorporates some of the soci ...
young man who is also an ardent Chinese army fan. Feng informs everyone that the Chinese fleet plans to send a helicopter to rescue them. The women and children will evacuate via helicopter and everyone else will travel by road to join the fleet. Big Daddy's mercenaries attack the factory to capture Pasha, as they believe she holds the cure for Lamanla. Feng rallies the workers to fight to protect their families and their fellow factory workers. Feng is about to be overwhelmed and killed when Big Daddy and his men are unexpectedly ordered to fall back. The rebel leader informs Big Daddy that no Chinese can be harmed as he needs China's support when he comes into power, since China is a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council. However, Big Daddy kills the leader and takes over, ordering everyone back to the factory to capture Pasha and kill Feng. Meanwhile, Feng chooses to leave after the factory workers discover that he is infected with the deadly Lamanla virus. Dr Rachel Smith injects him with a serum and he learns that Dr Chen had discovered a cure using infected patients who survived and developed immunity. Pasha is one of Dr. Chen's patients and not his daughter, and she is the only surviving infected patient with immunity. Big Daddy and his men return to the factory and round up the workers who were waiting for the Chinese helicopter to arrive. Feng returns with Rachel and Pasha in a rescue attempt. The workers are saved and then the helicopter arrives. Pasha and Rachel leave in the helicopter with the other women and children, but the helicopter is shot down. The battle continues with Feng and his allies fighting hordes of Dyon Corps mercenaries and rebels, who are reinforced by several tanks. Seeing the massive battle casualties, the Chinese fleet fire missiles to take out the tanks. In the battle climax, Feng confronts Big Daddy and learns that the bullet which killed Xiaoyun belonged to Big Daddy. Driven by rage, he kills Big Daddy after a brutal fight. Then, Feng leads the survivors in a convoy through rebel territory until they reach the UN camp. In the mid-credits scene, Feng is allowed by his commander to return to his military squadron and is shown a video revealing that Xiaoyun is still alive.


Cast

* Wu Jing as Leng Feng, a former Chinese special forces soldier. *
Celina Jade Celina Jade (born Celina Horan; 10 June 1985) is a Hong Kong-American actress, singer, songwriter, model, and martial artist. She is nominated as one of four the greatest beauties in Hong Kong SAR besides Carol Cheng, Lydia Shum and Amy Yip. She ...
as Dr. Rachel Prescott Smith, a doctor working in Africa. * Frank Grillo as Big Daddy, head of a group of mercenaries called Dyon Corps. * Hans Zhang as Zhuo Yifan, a
fuerdai Fuerdai (; ) is a Chinese term for the children of the ''nouveau riche'' in China. This term, generally considered pejorative, is often invoked in the Chinese media and everyday discussions in mainland China as it incorporates some of the soci ...
and army fan. His father owns a factory in Africa who he supervises. * Wu Gang as He Jianguo, a retired scout who serves as a security supervisor of a Chinese factory in Africa. *
Yu Nan Yu Nan (, born 5 September 1978) is a Chinese actress. Born in Dalian, Yu Nan studied at the Beijing Film Academy, where she graduated in 1999. Career Yu Nan started acting at the age of 4, playing role of a little girl with a handkerchief t ...
as Lieutenant Colonel Long Xiaoyun (guest appearance) * Yu Qian as Qian Bida, a profiteer who gets caught in a rebel crossfire battle in an African port town. * Ding Haifeng as a captain in the
People's Liberation Army Navy The People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN; ), also known as the People's Navy, Chinese Navy, or PLA Navy, is the maritime service branch of the People's Liberation Army. The PLAN traces its lineage to naval units fighting during the Chinese ...
. * Shi Zhaoqi as Shi Qingsong * Chunyu Shanshan as Lin Zhixiong *
Oleg Prudius Oleg Aleksandrovich Prudius (russian: Олег Александрович Прудиус; uk, Олег Олександрович Прудіус, ''Oleh Oleksandrovych Prudius''; born April 27, 1979) better known by his ring name Vladimir Koz ...
as Great Bear, a Russian Dyon Corps mercenary who serves as muscle and a heavy machine gunner. * Heidi Moneymaker as Athena, a sniper of the Dyon Corps mercenaries. * Aaron Ly as Ghost, the driver and the most stealthy member of the Dyon Corps mercenaries. * Aaron Toney as Roach, a Dyon Corps mercenary and Big Daddy's second in command.


Production


Background

The ''Wolf Warrior 2'' continues the storyline of ''Wolf Warrior''. However, the action takes place overseas, rather than in China, which helps develop an international perspectives. The film was shot on locations in Africa and China between June 2016 and November 2016. The film's African scenes were mostly shot on location in Soweto and Alexandria. The tank battle was filmed in Zhaochuan Ironworks (), Zhaochuan Town of Xuanhua District, Zhangjiakou city, in Hebei province. A promotional poster contained the slogan "Anyone who offends China, no matter how remote, must be exterminated."


Pre-production

Wu Jing started work on the script in 2009 and on 16 April 2013, the first draft of ''Wolf Warrior 2'' was completed.


Filming

On 19 June 2016, the filming of ''Wolf Warrior 2'' was launched started up in Beijing. Wu Jing spent six months preparing for the launch. In one scene on 23 August 2016, Wu Jing drove a tank alone, rushed through six tanks and crushed a car in the end. In just ten seconds, the car turned into a pile of scrap iron. This is the first time that a domestic actor personally drove a tank into and crushed a car. A car weighs approximately one ton while a tank weighs around thirty-five tons. On 2 November 2016, ''Wolf Warrior 2'' was completed after five months of filming.


Release

The film was released in China on 27 July 2017 in MX4D,
4DX 4DX is a 4D film format developed by CJ 4DPlex, a subsidiary of South Korean cinema chain CJ CGV. It allows films to be augmented with various practical effects, including motion-seats, wind, strobe-lights, simulated-snow, and scents. First in ...
, 3D and
China Film Giant Screen China Film Giant Screen (CFGS) is a Chinese premium large film format company. The company was previously known as DMAX, with the name also referring to the film technology. It has been described as a competitor to IMAX Corporation and its IMAX fi ...
. An
IMAX IMAX is a proprietary system of high-resolution cameras, film formats, film projectors, and theaters known for having very large screens with a tall aspect ratio (approximately either 1.43:1 or 1.90:1) and steep stadium seating. Graeme F ...
version was released on 18 August 2017 and has gone out in IMAX 2D. The film was released in Sri Lanka through Madhu Entertainment with English subtitles. It was also released in South Africa with English Subtitles through Ster-Kinekor on 10 November 2017.


Reception


Box office

''Wolf Warrior 2'' became a huge commercial success at the Chinese box office, and also in countries such as Australia and Malaysia where there were reports of sold out tickets in Chinese language cinemas. The film was noted for showing incredible staying power at the box office despite being a tent pole movie, earning seven times its prequel and five times distributors' initial estimates. It topped the international box office for all major films on three separate occasions – in its first three weekends. Its unprecedented success has been attributed to various reasons such as its patriotic subject, nationalistic themes, and its bona-fide action sequences and stunts that have been said to be a breakthrough for Chinese films. The film was also released during the annual summer "blackout period" in which foreign movies are not released, and it only had to compete with other domestic movies. It became the highest-grossing film in China after just twelve days of release, overtaking ''The Mermaid'' which held the record for eighteen months. However, the records that the film broke were not just limited to its domestic market. It also became the biggest film released in a single territory in 2017, breaking '' Beauty and the Beast''s record of US$504 million and the biggest summer release of the year in a single territory, ahead of '' Wonder Woman'' (US$400 million). As a result, it became the tenth film to earn over US$500 million in a single territory and the sixth film to make over US$600 million, and the third film to pass the US$700 million threshold following '' Avatar'' and '' Star Wars: The Force Awakens''. It is also the fastest film to reach the , , and marks in China, doing so on its eighth, eleventh, seventeenth and twenty-third day respectively and became the first film to earn more than (est. US$30 million) for twelve consecutive days globally (tied with ''Star Wars: The Force Awakens''). It has so far grossed a total of (US$716.5 million), which includes online ticketing fees, or around US$768.5 million with online surcharges and is among the top 100 highest-grossing films of all time, unadjusted for inflation. Due to the film's rising popularity and strong holds, analysts believe the film could end up making (US$747 million) to (US$895 million) at the Chinese box office alone. It opened in China on Thursday 27 July 2017, across 19,000+ screens, occupying 42% of the nation's total screens and earned (US$31.4 million) on its opening day. Including previews, the total stood at (US$46.4 million). After four hours of advanced screenings Thursday evening brought in ($US14.9 million) in ticket sales, phenomenal word-of-mouth quickly grew and made its way to the social media. This resulted in the film posting an opening of (US$144.5 million) – or (US$136.7 million) without online ticketing fees – through Sunday, and US$125 million from Friday to Sunday. The latter figure is the biggest three day opening, ahead of '' The Mermaid'' which opened to US$122.3 million in the same number of days. This made it the top film released that weekend worldwide, even ahead of Christopher Nolan's ''
Dunkirk Dunkirk (french: Dunkerque ; vls, label=French Flemish, Duunkerke; nl, Duinkerke(n) ; , ;) is a commune in the department of Nord in northern France.Star Wars: The Force Awakens'' (US$40.1 million). This pushed the film past the threshold with a total of (US$187.8 million). This was followed by the biggest Tuesday with (US$42 milliin), also ahead of ''Star Wars: The Force Awakens'' (US$37 million) and the fifth biggest Wednesday with (US$41.4 million). By Thursday, the film had earned past , the fastest film to do so in the least amount of time. In just ten days, the film grossed (US$406 million) to become the biggest release of 2017 there, surpassing '' The Fate of the Furious'' () and the second highest-grossing film ever, behind only ''The Mermaid'' (). The film's demand was so strong that it made more in its second weekend than the first. Earning a total of (US$162.2 million), an increase of 30% from the previous weekend, it also set a new record for the biggest ever second weekend in a single territory, surpassing the previous record holder ''Star Wars: The Force Awakens'' (US$149 million). The 30% weekend-to-weekend hike is among the top ten smallest second weekend drop, and the smallest for a non-Hollywood production. The same weekend it passed the threshold with a total of (US$470.4 million) becoming the second Chinese film to reach the mark after ''The Mermaid''. On 7 August 2017, it became the biggest ever Chinese film released just after twelve days of release. Similarly, ''The Mermaid'' overtook '' Monster Hunt'' in February 2016 after twelve days. The film began to shed a considerable number of theatres by its third weekend mainly to make room for new releases such as ''
Guilty of Mind ''Guilty of Mind'' () is a Chinese suspense crime film based on the novel ''Guilty of Mind: Portrait'' () by Lei Mi, starring Li Yifeng, Liao Fan and Wan Qian. The film was released in China on August 11, 2017. Synopsis A gifted criminal profiler ...
'', '' The Adventurers'' and '' Legend of the Naga Pearls'', resulting in the film falling by 49% earning another (US$78.5 million), though still maintaining the top spot. Twenty five days after the film's release, it surpassed ''Avatar'' to become the second highest-grossing film in a single-territory and is behind only ''Star Wars: The Force Awakens''. It topped the box office charts in China for four consecutive weekends, or a record breaking thirty consecutive days. It was eventually overtaken by French film '' Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets'' on its thirty-first day. At that time, ''Valerian'' played 78,000 times while ''Wolf Warrior 2'' was still screened 32,500 times. The film sold 159million tickets at the Chinese box office. The film remained the highest-grossing film in China until November 24, 2021, when it was overtaken by the
war epic Epic films are a style of filmmaking with large-scale, sweeping scope, and spectacle. The usage of the term has shifted over time, sometimes designating a film genre and at other times simply synonymous with big-budget filmmaking. Like epics in ...
'' The Battle at Lake Changjin''.


Critical response

In China, ''Wolf Warrior 2'' received praise for its patriotic plot, special effects, action sequences and the cast's performances. As of August 2017, the film scored 7.6 on
Douban Douban.com (), launched on 6 March 2005, is a Chinese online database and social networking service that allows registered users to record information and create content related to film, books, music, recent events, and activities in Chinese c ...
versus the previous film's 6.8.; on Mtime, it scored 7.5 versus 7. Film critic Zhang Chuan argued that the movie was "a decent Chinese film in visual effects, story telling, and action scenes", and that it was "comparable to its Hollywood counterparts" in terms of these aspects. ''
Wenhui Daily ''Wenhui Bao'' (), anglicized as the ''Wenhui Daily'',Shanghai Municipal Government"Press Group Celebrates" 26 July 2008. Accessed 18 Dec 2014. is a Chinese daily newspaper published by the Shanghai United Media Group. History ''Wenhui Bao'' wa ...
'' considered the film to be a milestone in the history of Chinese cinema with "stories, connotations, and structures". Several other Chinese state-owned and military-affiliated outlets praised the film. However, its reception in China was not uniformly positive. By May 2020, the Douban rating dropped to 7.1 with the top positive and top negative reviews each receiving 39,148 and 35,822 supporters respectively. Yin Shanshan, a lecturer at the Central Academy of Drama, a top drama school in China, criticized the film as excessively violent and "psychopathic, worthless, without values or logic" on her
Sina Weibo Sina Weibo (新浪微博) is a Chinese microblogging ( weibo) website. Launched by Sina Corporation on 14 August 2009, it is one of the biggest social media platforms in China, with over 582 million monthly active users (252 million daily acti ...
account. Tsinghua University Professor Xiao Ying echoed criticism from some foreign reviewers who found the film to be a Chinese imitation of ''Rambo: First Blood Part II'''','' and he contrasted this with greater praise for ''Dunkirk'' released in the same year. Internationally, the film received more mixed responses. On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, ''Wolf Warrior 2'' holds an approval rating of based on reviews, with an average rating of . Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned ''Wolf Warrior 2'' a score of 44 out of 100 based on four critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Much of the criticism was directed towards the plot and screenplay, alleging similarities to ''
Blood Diamond ''Blood Diamond'' is a 2006 American political war action thriller film directed and co-produced by Edward Zwick and starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Connelly, and Djimon Hounsou. The title refers to blood diamonds, which are diamonds min ...
'', ''Black Hawk Down'', '' Tears of the Sun'', and '' Rambo: First Blood Part II''.
Frank Scheck Frank Scheck is an American film critic. He is best known for his reviews in the ''New York Post'' and ''The Hollywood Reporter''. He formerly edited ''STAGES Magazine'' and worked as a theater critic for the ''Christian Science Monitor Ch ...
of '' The Hollywood Reporter'' wrote, "The star's charisma is enhanced by his athletic prowess, which makes the hand-to-hand combat particularly arresting, especially a brutal brawl between him and Grillo that provides a fitting climax. The breathless pacing thankfully doesn't allow much time for viewers to ponder the plot holes or worry about character development, although the two-hour running time results in overkill fatigue." Stanley Rosen, a professor at the University of Southern California who studies Chinese society and cinema, said to '' New York Times'', "It's a very individualist personal quest, which is much more of a Hollywood thing. They’re definitely downplaying the Communist Party in favor of patriotism and defending Chinese people and Chinese interests all over the world." Simon Abrams of ''
RogerEbert.com ''RogerEbert.com'' is an American film review website that archives reviews written by film critic Roger Ebert for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' and also shares other critics' reviews and essays. The website, underwritten by the ''Chicago Sun-Times' ...
'' severely criticized the film, writing that "its characters' sense of patriotism is built on the back of racist assumptions that would, in a European or American narrative, be rightfully criticized for being part of an ugly '
white savior The term white savior is a critical description of a white person who is depicted as liberating, rescuing or uplifting non-white people; it is critical in the sense that it describes a pattern in which people of color in economically under-develo ...
' power fantasy", and stated that the film "lectures you, pummels you, then expects you to cheer." Rob Hunter of the ''
Film School Rejects Film School Rejects is an American blog devoted to movie reviews, interviews, film industry news, and feature commentary. It was founded by Neil Miller in February 2006. The site was nominated for Best News Blog by ''Total Film'' magazine and na ...
'', in his positive review of the film, wrote: "''Wolf Warrior 2'' still suffers some of the same issues that dogged the first film, but the improvements elsewhere make for a noticeably better and more entertaining action movie. It's a fun movie blending lots of action, some humor, and "feelings" for friends and family, and if the next one improves at this same rate Wolf Warrior 3 is going to be something even more special." In a less enthusiastic review, Noel Murray of the '' Los Angeles Times'' wrote that the "blandly generic" film features digital effects that "look fake," but praised its stunts and pointed out "it's fascinating to see a film so closely mimic big-budget Hollywood war pictures, but from an opposing socio-political perspective." The Guardian described the movie as "the undisputed torchbearer for this new generation of hinesepatriotic action dramas."
Evan Osnos Evan Lionel Richard Osnos (born December 24, 1976) is an American journalist and author. He has been a staff writer at ''The New Yorker'' since 2008, best known for his coverage of politics and foreign affairs, in the United States and China. His ...
points out how "''Wolf Warrior II'' captures a new, muscular iteration of China’s self-narrative, much as Rambo’s heroics expressed the swagger of the Reagan era." Jonathan Papish from China Film Insider described the tone of Chinese nationalism in the movie as being “definitely a product of Xi’s reign and the idea of hina'srejuvenation”.


Accolades


Sequel

A sequel, ''Wolf Warrior 3'' ( zh, 战狼3), has been confirmed at the end of the mid-credits scene of ''Wolf Warrior 2''. This was later confirmed by Wu Jing.


Influence

Since its release the movie has been used for nationalist sentiments, most prominently by associating a group of Chinese diplomats and their approach as Wolf Warrior Diplomats by Chinese media.


See also

* List of submissions to the 90th Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film * List of Chinese submissions for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film


References


External links

* * * * {{Authority control 2017 3D films 2017 action films 4DX films Polybona Films films China Film Group Corporation films Chinese action thriller films Chinese 3D films Chinese nonlinear narrative films Chinese sequel films Films about military personnel Films about the People's Liberation Army Films directed by Wu Jing (actor) Films scored by Joseph Trapanese Films set in Africa Films shot in Hebei Films shot in Gauteng 2010s Mandarin-language films Chinese propaganda films Works about Chinese military personnel Films shot in Zhangjiakou