Hong Kong action movie, long time no see.
" Kowloon Walled City: The Siege " avenges its past humiliation and shows the style of Hong Kong action movies, dreaming back to the golden years of Hong Kong movies.
For action movie fans, this is a feast. The movie has the passionate Hong Kong comic fighting style of " Dragon Tiger Gate ", as well as the mixed martial arts and fist-pumping style of "Slaying the Wolf" and " Fuse " Realism.
In the end, the "Four Sons of the Walled City" fight against the crazy villain Wang Jiu, which seems to be a tribute to Chang Cheh's "Incomplete".
After watching it, I can say that "The Siege of Kowloon Walled City" will be the biggest dark horse in the May 1st Film Festival and the best Hong Kong action film in the past ten years.
I can’t say how enjoyable this movie is.
A cool film certified by the Cannes Film Festival, does it count?
is a shortlisted film for in the 2024 Cannes Film Festival "Midnight Screening". Although it is a non-competition unit, this unit has almost strict requirements for the shortlisted films.
Movies that are highly interactive with movie fans, have a unique style, and contain thriller or horror elements can be selected.
can also be directly understood as only cool films that are full of entertainment attributes and have strong impact are qualified to enter the "midnight screening".
The film started preparations as early as 2016, with an investment of 300 million, and it took 8 years of hard work to finally bring the Kowloon Walled City to the big screen in all its glory.
Highlights: The behind-the-scenes team
When the film was initially proposed, the director selected was Johnnie To. Sir To has a strong interest in the origins of the Kowloon Walled City and the epic underworld.
However, due to various reasons, the project was handed over to the hands of Galaxy Image's rising star Zheng Baorui, and the core of the film changed accordingly, becoming a cool film that pursues exciting action nowadays.
Zheng Baorui used the original team behind " Wisdom Teeth " to create this movie, and this team received 14 nominations at the 2022 Hong Kong Film Awards, which shows the hard-core quality.
The purely Hong Kong film "Homicide" in 2023 even gave Cheng Baorui the title of Best Director at the Hong Kong Film Awards.
The director with the strongest Hong Kong flavor in Hong Kong films in recent years is none other than him. Coupled with the blessing of producer Wilson Yip, they can be called the best combination.
The action director of this movie is Tanigaki Kenji from the Zhen family class. He participated in the design of most of Donnie Yen's fashion action films, and he was also the first to integrate the concept of mixed martial arts into the movie.
This film also draws on " Rurouni Kenshin " for which he served as action director, and incorporates some of the essence of the Neon Kenshin film into this film. There are extremely exciting cold weapon battles in the
movie, and the weapon duels with various daggers, double knives, and machetes are dazzling.
Highlight 2: Superstars and powerful actors protect Hong Kong’s pretty boys.
If this movie is successful, its casting ideas may bring a new idea, or some new ideas, to the troubled Hong Kong action movies. Enlightenment.
Sammo Hung, Louis Koo and Ren Xianqi, the three superstars together escorted Raymond Lam.
In fact, there is also a superstar. I won’t spoil it here because when he appears, he will take away your "foul language" in less than three seconds.
Brother Sammo Hung recently won the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Hong Kong Film Awards, which is well deserved.
As a living fossil of Hong Kong action movies, it is his duty to support the younger generations.
It is a miracle in itself that he can participate in this movie at such a seventy-year-old age. As a fan of action movies, he can watch each one less and cherish it.
Ren Xianqi was born as an athlete. He was once a star in film, television and singing. In recent years, he has focused on his acting career.
Brother Xiao Qi, who is now 57 years old, also contributed wonderful fighting scenes in this movie, as well as quite forbearing and even aggrieved literary scenes. Among the superstars, he was the one who sacrificed the most for this movie.
The most talked-about combination in this movie is undoubtedly the master-disciple pair of Louis Koo and Raymond Lam.
is just like " Searching for Qin Ji " 23 years ago. I hope that in this movie, Principal Gu can also lift his apprentice Lin Feng to new heights.
And I also hope that the movie will sell well, so that the movie version of "The Story of Qin", a collaboration between master and apprentice, may be able to meet the fans as soon as possible.
In addition to the superstars, there are also Huang Debin, an old acquaintance of Hong Kong movies, and Wu Yunlong, who has good martial arts skills, as the most insane villain of the film.
Movie fans who like action movies all know a rule. For action movies to be top-notch, the villain must be fierce enough, so fierce that fans worry that the protagonist will be beaten to death by him.
Yes, just like Tony played by Chou Zhaolong in "The Fuse".
Wu Jing plays Tian Yangsheng in " The True Colors of a Man ".
There are also Jet Binny in early Jackie Chan movies and the robot Fujita Go in Jet Li's movie "Fist of Heroes" .
And Ng Yun-lung is definitely the strongest villain created in Hong Kong films in recent years. He wears a strong qigong that is comparable to a golden bell and an iron cloth shirt. He can swallow fire charcoal without changing his face. He can fight one against four without fear and never lose.
However, the main dish of this movie is the four Hong Kong handsome boys, Raymond Lam, Liu Junqian, Hu Tong and Zhang Wenjie.
Superstars and powerful actors are willing to be their green leaves.
These four actors are either from training classes, athletes, or have martial arts skills. They performed the fighting scenes in this movie very well.
It is very difficult for action movie actors in Hong Kong to get ahead. Maybe what they need is an opportunity, an opportunity like this movie that brings out the old and the new.
Point 3: Use light and shadow to retain the background of the Kowloon Walled City
The movie is set in the Kowloon Walled City in 1984.
covers an area of 47,000 square meters, about the size of four football fields.
A survey in 1987 showed that 33,000 people lived in it, and some people believe that there were 50,000 people. No matter which number it was, it was once the most densely populated place on earth.
As a once lawless place, it has been stigmatized as a den that breeds crime. It has also been regarded as a muse by countless directors and artists to draw creative inspiration from. It is also the fantasy of the lives of the lower class people in cyberpunk art works. place.
In the Kowloon Walled City, houses are piled on top of each other, and shops are piled on top of each other. There are cramped spaces everywhere. Your roof is someone else’s garbage dump. Most houses are without sunlight and fresh air all day long.
However, the fact is that tens of thousands of people regard this place as their home. Shops, clinics, restaurants, ancestral halls, residences, etc. are all available in the small walled city, which has its own order.
In the era of Hong Kong's economic boom, everyone had a job and everyone had food to eat, and the same was true in the Kowloon Walled City.
Even if you have lost your identity, you have a past that you want to hide, you are covered in wounds, and you are hungry, here you can have a chance to start over as long as you are willing.
The main theme of this movie is not so much about the Kowloon Walled City, but rather about the people living in it and the memories full of warm human fireworks.
Kowloon Walled City does not need to be stigmatized, nor does it need to be mythical. The reality may lie somewhere in between.
This movie can satisfy all fans’ fantasies about the Kowloon Walled City.
Point 4, the most romantic action movie
To put it bluntly, the core selling point of this movie is the action scenes. If the action is not good-looking or uncomfortable, it will get zero points.
First of all, the action scenes of this movie definitely account for more than 50%, and the quality and quantity are guaranteed. At the end, there is a sufficient amount of 30 minutes of fighting scenes to penetrate the entire walled city, from the bottom of the building to the rooftop.
is definitely the most exciting and enjoyable fight scene in Hong Kong films in recent years.
This movie brings together the best of three generations of Hong Kong actors, old, middle-aged and young, to provide a fighting feast for movie fans.
There are exciting action scenes such as close combat, cold weapon fighting, motorcycle stunts, crazy gun battles, and moderate amounts of strange power and chaos. Filmmakers can be seen everywhere choreographing the action in every possible way. Their creativity and ingenuity continue to amaze people. The case was amazing.
However, the most touching thing is the romantic atmosphere of this film.
After watching this movie, maybe you will feel the same as me: It turns out that there is really a tornado in the Kowloon Walled City.
In the dark Kowloon Walled City, in a narrow open space in a building, a man was flying kites with a group of children.
Postscript
Nowadays, Hong Kong action movies are seriously out of stock, and young action movie actors have no chance to succeed. It is a pity that they were born at the wrong time, in an era when action movies are declining.
I hope that with this movie as an opportunity (again, I hope the movie will be a big hit), the seniors of Hong Kong movies can make room for young people.
doesn’t mean to let them retire, but to learn from the model of this movie: using the appeal of superstars to raise the stars of hope for Hong Kong’s future.
After all, there is not much time left for Hong Kong filmmakers. How long can Sammo Hung continue to support young people? (Written by Mu Weizhou)
