Page 3 of 3 FirstFirst 123
Results 31 to 39 of 39

Thread: Wolf Warrior 2

  1. #31
    Join Date
    Jan 1970
    Location
    Fremont, CA, U.S.A.
    Posts
    47,947

    Wolf Warrior 2

    I'm copying this last portion of this article continued from the previous post on the Academy Awards thread on the Wolf Warrior 2 thread.

    Wolf Warrior 2: China’s propaganda smash

    While Taiwan and Hong Kong’s submissions are quiet independent films, Wolf Warrior 2 is an action blockbuster that projects Beijing’s idealized vision of China on the world stage, as well as the growing nationalist sentiment among its citizens.
    The film tells the story of Leng Feng, a Rambo-esque former member of the Chinese Special Forces who leaves China for an unnamed African country after being discharged from the army. There, he winds up fighting to save overseas Chinese workers and locals stuck in a civil war. There’s also a subplot involving a fictitious disease known as “Lamanla,” and a romance between Leng and Rachel Smith, a dual US-Chinese citizen who worked with a team of Chinese doctors to develop the vaccine for the disease.



    Of course, what appears as a generic action film on the surface is really a subversion of the white savior Hollywood trope, with Chinese characteristics. Its theatrical release came days before China opened its first-ever overseas military base in Djibouti, which also coincided with the 90th anniversary of the formation of the People’s Liberation Army.
    The film’s overt politics will likely prevent it from receiving the nomination, but reviews suggest that there’s value in considering what a Hollywood-style action film would look like when the geopolitical context is flipped. Noel Murray of the Los Angeles Times writes, “There’s something bracing about its patriotic fervor, which asserts that the Chinese will act in the best interests of the world’s downtrodden, while the rest of the world just exploits them. It’s instructive to recognize the presumptions we’re used to finding in American blockbusters, but with the heroes and villains reversed.”
    Chinese moviegoers have flocked to Wolf Warrior 2. The film has raked in 5.6 billion yuan ($824 million) to date at China’s box office (link in Chinese), making it the highest-grossing film ever in the country. Explosions and car chases certainly help draw viewers, but there is also a palpable sense of increasing nationalism (paywall) among Chinese citizens themselves. In Africa and elsewhere, China has asserted itself more aggressively, at times championing itself as a bastion of globalization particularly at a time when America’s leadership role is in question. Meanwhile, many Chinese individuals, whether online or in real life, are standing up for China’s interests in the face of criticism from abroad. After years of watching white men save the world, Wolf Warrior 2 gives Chinese audiences a hero of its own.
    Gene Ching
    Publisher www.KungFuMagazine.com
    Author of Shaolin Trips
    Support our forum by getting your gear at MartialArtSmart

  2. #32
    Join Date
    Jan 1970
    Location
    Fremont, CA, U.S.A.
    Posts
    47,947

    $856 m+

    Headlines from China: ‘Wolf Warrior 2’ Finishes Theatrical Run in China with Over $856 M
    BY CHINAFILMINSIDEROCT 26, 2017


    ‘Wolf Warrior 2′ Finishes Theatrical Run in China with Over $856 M at Box Office

    Opened on July 28, China’s highest grossing film ‘Wolf Warrior 2’ will complete its theatrical run on October 28. A specially designed poster was released this week to celebrate the completion of its theatrical release. As of October 26, the film has raked in 5.68 billion yuan ($856 million). Over the past three months, the film broke various records: exceeding 100 million yuan at box office after four hours in release, making 426 million yuan on a single day, becoming the first Chinese film that gets on the list of global box office top 100, and being viewed by the largest number of audiences (159 million viewers as of October 26) on a single territory. According to sources familiar with the matter, ‘Wolf Warrior 2’ will become available on Chinese streaming sites on November 3.
    Wonder when it'll be available for U.S. streaming...
    Gene Ching
    Publisher www.KungFuMagazine.com
    Author of Shaolin Trips
    Support our forum by getting your gear at MartialArtSmart

  3. #33
    Join Date
    Jan 1970
    Location
    Fremont, CA, U.S.A.
    Posts
    47,947

    Will Hollywood be saved by the Last Jedi?

    CHINA'S ANSWER TO RAMBO
    China’s box office is setting new records—with a bit of Hollywood help


    The number one movie in China. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)

    WRITTEN BY Ashley Rodriguez
    OBSESSION Glass
    3 hours ago

    China’s biggest movie of the year wasn’t a popular Western actioner like the Fast & Furious and Transformers films. It was Wolf Warrior 2, a homegrown action sequel about a Chinese special forces agent who comes out of retirement to fight Western mercenaries.
    With $854 million at the Chinese box office, the movie is now the second highest-grossing of all-time in a single market. Only Star Wars: The Force Awakens, which earned $937 million in North America in 2015, has done better.
    It also helped China’s box office cross a new threshold. On Nov. 20, the box office surpassed 50 billion yuan ($7.5 billion) for the first time in a single year, said the state authority.
    This comes a year after sagging growth had filmmakers and studios worried that China’s decade of average annual box-office growth of at least 35% was over. In 2016, the total box office grew 3.7% year over year, compared to 48% the prior year. But the world’s second-largest movie market appears to be getting back on track.
    After a disappointing summer, the North American box office is down 4% from last year at $9.38 billion through Nov. 19. Tickets sold are also down 7% around 1.05 billion, Box Office Mojo estimated. That’s compared to a 15% increase to 1.4 billion admissions in China. There, movies that bombed with US audiences, like Transformers: The Last Knight, still prevailed.
    And while Wolf Warrior 2 is pure hyper-nationalist China, it did have a bit of help from the Americans.
    How Hollywood aided “Wolf Warrior 2”
    Called China’s answer to Rambo, the patriotic movie had its fair share of Western influences. The sequel’s larger, $30 million budget afforded it input from Marvel directors Joe and Anthony Russo, from Captain America: Civil War and Avengers: Infinity War, Variety reported. The brothers consulted on the film, US actor Frank Grillo played the villain, and it had an American stunt director and composer.
    Hollywood has been collaborating more with China’s growing movie business. Hollywood studios have worked with Chinese partners to add subplots that appeal to local audiences and meet the government’s strict regulations for movies like Iron Man 3 and The Great Wall. And Chinese filmmakers are leaning on Hollywood to help them make movies with broad international appeal.
    To aid its ailing box office last year, China’s government relaxed its quota on foreign films. It released 38 instead of 34 that year, the majority of which were from the US. The US and China—the biggest export market for Hollywood films—are due to re-negotiate the quota this year.
    The country also imposes blackout periods during busy times like the summer months, when only local films can be screened. That propped up domestic releases like Wolf Warrior 2 and The Founding of an Army.
    But the quotas and blackouts historically guaranteed that Chinese films, including co-productions with Hong Kong or American partners, accounted for 60% of the overall box office. And the government seems to be easing off that, too. So far in 2017, Chinese films made up about 52%, down from around 58% in 2016.

    Top-grossing 2017 films in China, through Nov. 19
    Wolf Warrior 2 $854 m
    The Fate of the Furious 393
    Never Say Die 332
    Kung Fu Yoga 255
    Journey West: The Demons Strike Back 240
    Transformers: The Last Knight 229
    Dangal 193
    Pirates Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales 172
    Kong: Skull Island 168
    xXx: The Return of Xander Cage 164
    State regulators expect China’s box office to finish 2017 with 55 billion yuan, a 20% lift from last year. In the US, all eyes are on Star Wars: The Last Jedi to save 2017.
    A good overview on Wolf Warrior 2 and the effect it's had on on Chollywood's rise. We've discussed most of the Top Grossing films listed above, except Kong & Pirates I think.
    Gene Ching
    Publisher www.KungFuMagazine.com
    Author of Shaolin Trips
    Support our forum by getting your gear at MartialArtSmart

  4. #34
    Join Date
    Jan 1970
    Location
    Fremont, CA, U.S.A.
    Posts
    47,947

    Our latest sweepstakes. Enter to WIN!

    Enter to win KungFuMagazine.com's contest for Wolf Warrior 2 on Blu-Ray™ + DVD Combo Pack! Contest ends 5:30 p.m. PST on 12/21/2017.
    Gene Ching
    Publisher www.KungFuMagazine.com
    Author of Shaolin Trips
    Support our forum by getting your gear at MartialArtSmart

  5. #35
    Join Date
    Jan 1970
    Location
    Fremont, CA, U.S.A.
    Posts
    47,947

    No Oscar nom for WW2

    Oscars: Academy Unveils Foreign-Language Film Shortlist
    5:12 PM PST 12/14/2017 by Gregg Kilday


    Tim Boyle/Getty

    The nine films include the Palme d'Or winner 'The Square,' but not Angelina Jolie's 'First They Killed My Father.'
    The Academy on Thursday announced the nine films that will compete for a nomination for the best foreign-language film Oscar.

    The shortlist includes a number of expected entries, like Ruben Ostlund's Swedish art-world satire The Square, which won the Palme d'Or at this year's Cannes Film Festival, and the Russian drama Loveless, about a divorcing couple searching for their missing son and directed by Andrey Zvyagintsev, which won the Cannes Jury Prize.

    But it also has some striking omissions: Angelina Jolie failed to earn a nomination for her film First They Killed My Father, which was submitted by Cambodia and also has earned a Golden Globe nomination. And the list also failed to find room for France's submission, Robin Campillo's BPM (Beats Per Minute), about AIDS activists, which won the Grand Prix prize at Cannes.

    The shortlist of films was chosen from a record 92 titles that were submitted by their respective countries. The selected films will now screen for committees in New York, Los Angeles and London, which will cast the ballots for the film nominees in the category, to be announced Jan. 23.

    The films on the shortlist, and their country of origin, are:

    Chile, A Fantastic Woman, Sebastián Lelio, director
    Germany, In the Fade, Fatih Akin, director
    Hungary, On Body and Soul, Ildikó Enyedi, director
    Israel, Foxtrot, Samuel Maoz, director
    Lebanon, The Insult, Ziad Doueiri, director
    Russia, Loveless, Andrey Zvyagintsev, director
    Senegal, Félicité, Alain Gomis, director
    South Africa, The Wound, John Trengove, director
    Sweden, The Square, Ruben Östlund, director

    The 90th Oscars will be held Sunday, March 4, at the Dolby Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center and will be televised live on ABC. Nominations will be announced Tuesday, Jan. 23.
    Wolf Warrior 2 didn't make the Academy Awards Foreign language cut. I had my doubts that it would.
    Gene Ching
    Publisher www.KungFuMagazine.com
    Author of Shaolin Trips
    Support our forum by getting your gear at MartialArtSmart

  6. #36
    Join Date
    Jan 1970
    Location
    CA, USA
    Posts
    4,900
    Second forum review (or forum opinions).

    WW2 is a pretty good action film. Wu Jing has definitely grown as an action star, and seems to be taking over from Donnie Yen. Ever since Kill Zone and Fatal Contact, he has been upping his penchant for extreme intensity in many of his fight scenes, and IMO in Kill Zone 2, he outshines co-star Tony Jaa. Funny; I thought I remember reading a few years ago that Wu Jing was going to retire from action films, perhaps due to injuries(?).

    I had totally forgotten that Celina Jade was the daughter of Roy Horan, until I reread some of this thread. Horan appeared in some KF films in the '70s to early '80s, such as Bruce Lee's Secret, Snake in the Eagle's Shadow, The Snuff Bottle Connection, The Ring of Death, and Tower of Death (a.k.a., Game of Death II). At the time, Horan was working with Ng See-Yuen at Hong Kong's Seasonal Film Corp. In Snake in the Eagle's Shadow, Horan gave what is possibly the goofiest, worst performance of a death scene ever shot in a professional movie:



    Anyway, Celina did a fine job and has a great screen presence. Her MA training (not evident in WW2) in in TKD. If her father taught her, then that makes her a second-generation student of Hwang Jang-Lee, who is often considered the best kicker in MA movie history.

    Frank Grillo is great as the arch-villain. It's nice to see a martial artist who is actually a legitimate actor being cast as the villain in a Chinese movie. Way back in the day, many of the white foreign villains cast in the Hong Kong/Taiwan (and China?) MA films were random guys with some MA background who were found in youth hostels. Some others were foreign students who were recruited from area MA schools, or spotted in foreigner talent contests. They were not actors, and it showed. Grillo plays the type of villain that someone can easily 'love to hate', which means he did an excellent job.

    Many people have mentioned the pro-China hyper-nationalism of the movie, but if you think about it, American action movies have done the exact same thing, especially back in the '80s and '90s. Still, I found some of those scenes a bit cringe-worthy, but chose to overlook them in favor of the action.

    As far as the action goes, there was some very good stuff, but also some so-so stuff. And WW2 suffers a bit from what I call The John Woo Syndrome. There is SO MUCH action/shooting/explosions/killing that it began to feel a bit over-saturated. When it becomes "Ho-hum, another head and arm blown off," then the action has reached a point of diminishing returns. And as for the CGI blood and exploding heads and limbs, the effect was more cartoonish than awe-inspiring. And people go flying about 20 to 30 feet from side kicks.

    Back in 1995, my CLF sifu, along some classmates and I, got special tickets to see a performance held by China's then-national Wushu team on the UCSD campus. One of those performers was a young Wu Jing. After the program, there was a meet-and-greet with the team members, including Wu Jing. Unfortunately, we didn't stick around for that, as there were many audience members staying for that. Had I known at the time that that young standout performer would eventually go on to become The Next Big Thing in China's MA/action cinema, mentioned in the same breath as Jackie Chan, Jet Li and Donnie Yen, I definitely would have stayed. Than I could have made the claim that I met him before he became an international star. Oh, well...
    Last edited by Jimbo; 01-29-2018 at 02:45 PM.

  7. #37
    Join Date
    Sep 2007
    Location
    Pound Town
    Posts
    7,856
    I support the anti Hollywood political aims but I fell asleep at the tank sequence

    Honorary African American
    grandmaster instructor of Wombat Combat The Lost Art of Anal Destruction™®LLC .
    Senior Business Director at TEAM ASSHAMMER consulting services ™®LLC

  8. #38
    Join Date
    Jan 1970
    Location
    Fremont, CA, U.S.A.
    Posts
    47,947

    10% of Chinese theaters to show propaganda

    We'd do this here but we already have sitonmyfacebook, where we propaganize ourselves. We don't need no government regulated propaganda.

    China to Select 5,000 Cinemas to Show Propaganda Films
    2:43 AM PST 2/13/2018 by Associated Press


    Courtesy of Media Asia
    Chinese propaganda film 'The Founding of an Army'

    In a throwback to language used during the era of Mao Zedong, the country's film regulator said the policy is intended to promote propaganda films to create a "people's theater front."

    China plans to select 5,000 movie theaters across the country to screen propaganda films and will look to boost their box office with group sales, discounted tickets and other financial backing.

    The number of theaters accounts for roughly 10 percent of China's total, with quotas issued for each major city, province and autonomous region.

    A notice from the nation's film regulator said the policy is intended to promote specific movies at special times to create a "people's theater front," a throwback to language used during the era of Mao Zedong.

    In keeping with the ruling Communist Party's latest initiatives, the policy intends to "guide thought and educate the people," said the statement, which was stamped Jan. 30. Copies of it were posted Tuesday to Chinese websites that cover the entertainment industry.

    China, the world's second-biggest film market, saw movie ticket sales rise 13.5 percent last year to over $8.6 billion. Chinese-made movies accounted for 54 percent of ticket sales, with baldly nationalistic action thriller Wolf Warrior 2 topping the box office.

    The ruling Communist Party is anxious to promote more productions with patriotic themes and exercises broad control over scripts and shooting permits.

    It also routinely manipulates ticket sales and movie release dates, including limiting the number of foreign films that can be shown and banning them entirely for certain periods.

    That helps pump up sales for domestic productions, although patriotic themes don't always win out. Recent successes have included films glorifying materialism and complex interpersonal relationships, such as the Tiny Times series.

    As part of party leader and President Xi Jinping's ideological drive, the party has also sought to crack down on internet content deemed frivolous or immoral.

    That includes online games such as the Japanese hit Travel Frog, although the denouncements appear to have done little to dampen public enthusiasm for them, and the authorities are eager to keep the internet open as a conduit for business.

    Thread: Chollywood rising
    Thread: Wolf Warrior 2
    Gene Ching
    Publisher www.KungFuMagazine.com
    Author of Shaolin Trips
    Support our forum by getting your gear at MartialArtSmart

  9. #39
    Join Date
    Jan 1970
    Location
    Fremont, CA, U.S.A.
    Posts
    47,947

    Chinese 'Rambo' is a terrible way to characterize Wu Jing

    China’s ‘Rambo’ and Jackie Chan co-star Wu Jing returns to filming after leg injury
    The 44-year-old Beijing-born actor and director of Wolf Warrior has been plagued by injuries since he was a boy
    Jackie Chan’s co-star in Climbers has returned to the film set having spent two months in hospital
    Unus Alladin
    Published: 5:50pm, 24 Mar, 2019


    Wu Jing in Wolf Warrior 2. Photo: Handout

    China’s top martial arts star Wu Jing went straight from his hospital bed to the set of his next movie Climbers, having spent two months overseas recovering from his latest injury.
    Wu, whose Wolf Warrior franchise broke all-time box office records on the mainland, is co-starring with Hong Kong martial arts legend, Jackie Chan, in the mountain epic, Climbers, which tells the story of the first Chinese mountaineers to conquer Mount Everest in 1960.
    The 44-year-old Beijing-born Wu, who starred with American martial arts hero, Scott Adkins, in the patriotic war movie, Wolf Warrior, has rejoined his film crew in China to continue shooting his latest venture after being seen by netizens in a wheelchair at the airport on the mainland recently. His public relations team said he had been seriously injured during filming of Climbers and had emergency treatment abroad but went “straight back to his film crew after returning home”.


    American martial arts hero Scott Adkins co-starred with Wu Jing in Wolf Warrior. Photo: Handout

    Wu began shooting Climbers in January, experiencing extreme cold as he climbed the 5,254-metre Gangshika snow peak in Qinghui, China.



    It’s not known exactly how Wu had injured his leg but the martial arts star has been pictured in crutches or in a wheelchair more frequently over the years as he struggles with a series of injuries. He even appeared in crutches at his wedding to TV presenter Xie Nan in 2014.


    Wolf Warrior poster. Photo: Handout

    Since he was six years old, he has been injured either while learning martial arts in Beijing or at the film set, a similar scenario to “his older brother” martial arts superstar Jet Li, who has also been plagued by injuries and is recovering from hyperthyroidism.


    Wu Jing is wheeled by airport staff after having leg surgery. Photo: Sina Weibo


    Wu Jing in crutches. Photo: Weibo

    And recently he talked about his misfortunes in a TV interview aired on March 8, when he revealed to the host that he can obtain a “disability certificate” in China owing to his many injuries. He talked about going through pain and suffering over the years.
    Jet Li photo with daughters paints contrasting picture to Jackie Chan’s turbulent family life
    He has shown absolute dedication to his craft as an actor and director, rushing back to rejoin his film crew for Climbers.


    Climbers poster. Photo: Handout

    “I was very determined to succeed. I grew up learning about pain and experiencing a lot of pain. If you want to continue, you need to accept [the pain] and continue,” said Wu, who also starred in the Chinese sci-fi adventure The Wandering Earth which was released last month. He said it was only through such hardship could he succeed as an actor and film director.


    Wu Jing on the set of Climbers. Photo: Sina Weibo

    Chinese blockbuster The Wandering Earth may break new ground worldwide, but may not go far in Hong Kong
    Nicknamed China’s Rambo by his fans, Wu’s Wolf Warrior 2 released in 2017, which he also directed, became China’s biggest-ever grossing film, earning US$850 million in China alone. Wu’s The Wandering Earth was also a smash hit, becoming the second biggest grossing movie of all time in China, grossing US$600 million. Climbers is set to be released on National Day in China this year.
    This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: China star Wu Jing back on set after injury
    THREADS
    Wu Jing
    Climbers
    The Wandering Earth
    Wolf Warrior 2
    Gene Ching
    Publisher www.KungFuMagazine.com
    Author of Shaolin Trips
    Support our forum by getting your gear at MartialArtSmart

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •