" Kowloon Walled City: The Siege " I have finished reading.
126 minutes duration. From the first minute of the movie, I was breathless.
After reading this, I want to find a group of brothers and have a good fight. How do you say
? I haven't seen such an enjoyable Hong Kong movie in a long time.
The last time I enjoyed watching a Hong Kong movie in a theater was " fuse ".
And I also completely miscalculated.
Originally, I was not optimistic about this movie at all.
Looking at the title, it looks like a bad movie.
"The Siege of Kowloon Walled City", films with zigzags in their titles are usually not acceptable.
The lineup is not cold. It is Louis Koo, Hung Jinbao, Ren Xianqi and Aaron Kwok. The old school male stars are arranged and combined, and I am tired of aesthetics. The most important thing about
is the type.
.3 billion investment to make an action movie? Doesn’t this mean losing all your money?
Sketch-style comedies such as " Hot and Hot " are the mainstream of the current movie market. Who wants to watch a group of old guys fighting for their lives?
Even if it is shortlisted for the "Midnight Screening" section of the Cannes Film Festival, it still won't work. Action movies and Hong Kong movies cannot win.
I was wrong. The box office of
has exceeded 40 million. On May Day, it has the most potential as a dark horse.
Director Wang Jing angrily praised that now in Hong Kong, it is estimated that only director Cheng Baorui can balance artistry and commerciality.
has an overwhelming reputation among viewers.
In a nutshell: The "everyone is crazy" in Hong Kong movies is back.
It can be said that this is the best and most action-packed Hong Kong action movie in the past 20 years.
director Zheng Baorui just won the Academy Award for Best Director.
In my opinion, what he is expected to win this year is no longer the best director, but the best picture.
this time. I can say with certainty that Hong Kong action movies are good again!
Hong Kong movie lovers, what are you waiting for?
Action movie lovers, what are you waiting for?
rush!
Let's see how a group of old guys break out of the siege of the stereotyped impression of mainland audiences and create a new atmosphere?
1: How do you feel?
After watching " Kowloon Walled City ", if you ask me what my most direct impression is, I will use two words to describe it, surprise!
I was surprised, not because I watched the news two years ago, and Sammo Hung, who was still in a wheelchair, danced vigorously with the Shaolin Bagua stick in the film.
I was surprised that it was not as interesting as the movie "龙虎门".
I was surprised that the Kowloon Walled City, which was built with a lot of money from the movie, was actually full of cyberpunk mystery and darkness.
It's not because the opening song "Dancing Street" by Priscilla Chan has already filled the show with Hong Kong flavor.
I was surprised that it was not Aaron Kwok who made a cameo. It was only at the end that I discovered that Wang Jiu was not played by Aaron Kwok, but by Ng Yun-lung.
I was surprised. It is not a passionate and touching movie, but a gangster action epic that is rare in Hong Kong movies in recent years.
I was surprised because this movie is really both civil and military.
wu.
actually has an action movie, which has the passionate Hong Kong comic fighting style of "Dragon Tiger Gate", as well as the mixed martial arts and physical realism of "Slaying the Wolf" and "The Fuse".
The action scenes in the entire film are thrilling from beginning to end, and you can fully appreciate what "punch to the flesh" means.
Hong Kong style hardcore action, full marks.
text.
Hong Kong-style passionate friendship, perfect.
You may think that the friendship between Kowloon Walled City is priceless and too cliché.
But for the old men who have experienced the golden age of Hong Kong movies, the casting of these big brothers in the film actually represents the golden age of Hong Kong entertainment. In the film, they all grow old and die. Isn’t it just a song? An elegy dedicated to Hong Kong cinema.
Unexpectedly, the movie actually did two things at the same time: it found the freshness of Hong Kong-made action movies and regained the soul of Hong Kong-style action movies.
Here, I want to solemnly say: the door to Hong Kong action movies has been kicked open again by old guys like Sammo Hung and Louis Koo.
2: Regarding the adaptation of
, as mentioned above, the movie is both civil and military.
The drama is simple and direct, but simplicity does not mean weak.
The focus of the story is actually in the title -
Kowloon Walled City.
The film is adapted from the novel "Kowloon Walled City" written by Yu Er and the comic book of the same name created by Situ Jianqiao.
"Kowloon Walled City" is about the most traditional Hong Kong movie Jianghu love story. The story of
begins when the protagonist Chen Luojun, played by Raymond Lam, is being hunted and accidentally runs into the Kowloon Walled City at night.
The new generation represented by him has involved the gang disputes and past events of the older generation under the three-way struggle between the big boss played by Sammo Hung, Brother Qiu by Yan Xianqi and the tornado played by Louis Koo.
The life experience of Lin Feng's character has become the fuse of the battle between Jianghu factions.
Tornado sincerely takes in Chen Luojun.
Just like Chen Luojun's father Azhan (played by Aaron Kwok) and he were from different factions, but they acted in the same spirit.
There was a fight in the world, and the brothers eventually killed each other.
A Zhan was ordered to kill A Qiu's wife and daughter, but Tornado desperately saved A Zhan's wife and children.
But this past incident has also become an opportunity for the big boss to separate Aqiu and Tornado.
The brothers broke up, the world was in turmoil, Qiu Ge and Tornado fell one after another, and the big boss was attacked and killed by his epileptic king Wang Jiu.
Kowloon Walled City is about to fall into the hands of the Mad King.
The new generation represented by Chen Luojun can only fight to the death with Wang Jiu. The plot of
is indeed cliche, but the further you look at it, the more complete and flavorful the story becomes.
especially, the taste of Hong Kong movies.
Many young viewers cannot understand. When Chen Luojun learned that the enemy who killed his father was the tornado played by Louis Koo, he said that he didn't care? Is Ou Jianer, the screenwriter of " Detective ", crazy?
But only Hong Kong film fans understand that this is a Hong Kong film.
The fateful grievances of the previous generation have not yet been resolved, and the young people of this generation cannot escape being manipulated by fate. However, in the hand-to-hand gang war, they cannot escape the brotherhood of a promise.
Especially, when Louis Koo and Raymond Lam acted as brothers, the Jianghu atmosphere, the friendship of Hong Kong movies, the flavor of old Hong Kong movies, and the lost golden age all came back.
At the end of the movie, when Brother Qiu saw the pack of cigarettes left behind by the tornado, I felt even more sad.
Hong Kong movies are old.
The audience who can understand the story of "Kowloon Walled City" must be old.
3: Regarding the action scenes
action movies, the core selling point is the action scenes. It is useless to say that it is not good-looking or enjoyable.
"Kowloon Walled City", you will be happy with it. The entire film of
has a lot of fighting scenes, which lasts 126 minutes. It is said to be 100 minutes of fighting. In the last 30 minutes, it penetrates the entire walled city and goes from the bottom of the building to the rooftop. It can be called the most over-the-top and craziest fighting scene in Hong Kong films in recent years. play.
Zheng Baorui also opened up a very new way of playing action scenes.
Traditional Kung Fu moves with punches and punches + comic-like parkour that closely follows the trend of the genre + a combination of old, middle and young generations.
The most amazing thing is that all action designs such as close combat, cold weapon fighting, motorcycle stunts, crazy gun battles, and tornado killing gods are placed in the Kowloon Walled City.
Let’s talk about move design first. The director of the action stunts of
's film was Tanigaki Kenji of " Fury: Serious Case ", "The Righteous One" and "Rurouni Kenshin".
Tanigaki Kenji, who grew up in a family class, has a Hong Kong style in his action design.
The origin of Hong Kong kung fu movies is actually traditional Chinese martial arts. Jackie Chan and Sammo Hung both studied martial arts in Peking Opera.
Ace action instructors such as Liu Jialiang, Yuen Woo-ping, Yuen Kui, etc. all know kung fu.
In this film, Sammo Hung uses a Shaolin stick.
The Tiger Fist used by Huang Debin. Ren Xianqi's Qiu Ge is Hong Quan.
Wu Yunlong, who plays the villain, has been practicing martial arts with his father since he was a child. He is good at Wing Chun and has also learned Taekwondo, Judo, and Hong Quan. He is a rare practitioner among the new generation.
These Kung Fu stars who can really fight have actually inherited the long-lost Hong Kong Kung Fu film system.
With them, the action of the movie can be real and not showy.
During the fight, he threw his opponent over the shoulder and smashed his opponent's head through the wall.
Even if it is a sneak attack, the opponent will directly hit his head against the glass. Glass splashing.
That kind of pain is unique to Hong Kong action movies.
But if there is real skill, this young audience doesn’t care at all.
also needs to be played well.
Zheng Baorui combines a variety of traditional kung fu into a comic style.
For example, a motorcycle rises into the sky and directly knocks people flat.
and Louis Koo's tornado appeared for the first time, a rotation and reversal, and finally caught the smoke steadily.
Real kung fu + comic style, both ordinary audiences and kung fu movie fans will be satisfied.
Is this enough? not enough.
Cheng Baorui's last unique skill is the Kowloon Walled City.
In fact, in "Slaying the Wolf" and "The Fuse", which he collaborated with Donnie Yen, Tanigaki Kenji fully demonstrated his ability to control space combat, fighting in close quarters in alleys, free fighting, mma, and ground fighting. .
This time, Zheng Baorui gave him a walled city.
The Kowloon Walled City in the 1980s was such a complex environment, and it was naturally a place that was both vast, narrow, and dark. However, if the fighting scenes were shot smoothly and freely, in contrast to the environment and space, a very strong feeling would be formed. of tension.
For example, playing street fighting in a narrow and cramped city.
is flying on the roof.
There is also the final team battle of the whole film. Chen Luojun, Xinyi, Si Zai, and Twelve Young Masters fight against the big boss Wang Jiu. Because they cannot defeat the opponent's hard Qigong, the four can only "fly a kite" while fighting, using the rooftop's Wires and ropes were used to restrict Wang Jiu, and finally the ropes were used to complete the final counterattack.
Such action scenes can only appear in Kowloon Walled City.
Finally, the film also pays countless tributes to the golden era of Hong Kong action movies.
For example, Chen Luojun fights Wang Jiu who is chasing him on the bus, paying tribute to the bus scene in " Police Story ".
In the end, the four sons of Chengzhai fought against Wang Jiu, paying tribute to Zhang Che's "Incomplete".
At the end of the game, Sammo Hung, who has been the action director of countless classic Hong Kong films, also praised: "Wu Zhi did a good job and worked very hard."
4: About Sammo Hung, Louis Koo and other older actors
The main actors in the movie are divided into two groups. The older generation is Sammo Hung, Louis Koo, Aaron Kwok, etc.
Like everyone, before the film was released, I was skeptical about Sammo Hung playing the big boss.
Of course I am not questioning Sammo Hung's physical skills and acting skills, but because there has been a lot of news about Sammo Hung being in a wheelchair in recent years. It is hard for the audience to imagine that this fat man, the most flexible in Hong Kong films, not only returns to action movies, but can also fight.
As a result, Big Brother's Shaolin stick skills in the film were so impressive that he jumped up with a carbine, leaving his opponent unable to resist.
What's more important is that big brother's spirit. No one else, just reading a comic, his aura reminds me of Wang Bao in "Slaying the Wolf".
Ren Xianqi’s white hair style is also very fashionable.
But it was also because he had such a strong aura that all the viewers thought Brother Qiu was capable of fighting, so his fighting scene in the end was particularly frustrating.
A Zhan, played by Aaron Kwok, makes people dream back to "Judo Dragon and Tiger List".
Among the older generation celebrities, the one with the most prominent role is of course Louis Koo.
As soon as he appeared on the scene, he seemed to be in a place where no one was around, and he was very skilled.
is handsome and charming, with the calmness and responsibility of a boss, and is also funny.
The character of Tornado can become a talkative person in the city not only because of his kung fu, but also because of his emphasis on love and justice. I opened a barber shop where I can chat with the neighbors and know what grandma is dancing recently.
Everyone obeyed him because he could keep the city safe. The character
represents the older generation of Hong Kong films. For the sake of friends, they keep their promises and send Chen Luojun away even if they offend their brother Qiu.
So the final death of Tornado actually represents the end of an era of Hong Kong films.
5: About the new generation of actors such as Raymond Lam, Ng Yun Lung, and Liu Junqian
The most eye-catching new generation actor in kung fu is undoubtedly Ng Yun Lung.
He plays the crazy villain Wang Jiu. He wears a hard qigong suit that is comparable to a golden bell and an iron cloth shirt. He swallows charcoal without changing his face. He kills almost all the masters in the entire film by himself. Both Tornado and Big Boss were defeated by him, and the four sons of Chengzhai combined were no match for him.
used to be good at playing the upright Ng Yun-lung as well as the villain, but he unexpectedly fit in well with the film.
However, the film focuses on the four handsome boys from Hong Kong, Raymond Lam, Liu Junqian, Hu Tong and Zhang Wenjie.
superstars are willing to be their green leaves.
Lin Feng's performance is stable enough.
In several fighting scenes, the victory lies in adapting to changes.
After fighting with Xin, the iron sheet turned into a knife; when fighting Brother Qiu, he folded his stool into battle; for the last head-to-head encounter, he self-soldered a pair of extended hammers, which even spun when thrown.
can see that Lin Feng really worked hard.
His literary drama with Louis Koo is even better than Louis Koo and Aaron Kwok.
But the most amazing thing is Liu Junqian.
He plays Shinichi, who likes to be cool but not annoying, and is reliable at critical moments.
A favorite weapon, a knife, with a secret hidden in it.
The overall atmosphere of the movie is quite heavy, and the good guys camp is almost completely wiped out. His appearance is like a mediator, neutralizing the depressing atmosphere. Someone of the new generation of actors will finally take the lead.
6: About the Kowloon Walled City
There is another invisible protagonist in the movie, which is the background of the movie, 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. It was an extremely densely populated Sangui zone.
I have filmed "The Flag Soldiers of Hong Kong and Province" in 1984, I have filmed Wang Jing's " Chasing the Dragon",
I have also filmed Stephen Chow's "Kung Fu". The "Pig Cage Walled City" is inspired by the Kowloon Walled City.
Star Master said, "The place I lived in when I was a child was like this. It was a place full of people, as if everyone was stuck together."
Nolan's "Batman: Mystery" takes this as a reference prototype.
"Ghost in the Shell", "Blade Runner", etc. have all used this as a source of inspiration.
Director Cheng Po-sui defined the Kowloon Walled City: "It has once been glorious, but it is a declining castle." How to restore
? 1:1 setting.
The crew produces some props themselves, such as refrigerators, soda boxes, soda bottles, wine bottles, etc. The effect produced by
shows that the ceiling is full of exposed wires.
A giant maze composed of ups and downs of stairs and narrow alleys.
Louis Koo found it incredible, while Ren Xianqi felt like he was actually there.
But why spend a lot of money to build and restore the Kowloon Walled City? If you have this money, spend 100 million to recruit top domestic entertainment companies to join, and the box office can easily be hundreds of millions more, isn't it good?
Because Cheng Baorui wants to recreate a real Kowloon Walled City.
People fight hand to hand in a cage-like living space, like a fight between trapped animals.
If you win, you can get out of here alive.
But here we are, struggling to live. It is the magical setting of
4d cyberpunk, and it is also the safe haven full of human touch in Hong Kong movies where you can fly kites.
Without Kowloon Walled City, there would be no movies.
7: On the fate of Hong Kong action movies
In the movie, Wang Jiu's "magic body protection" sentence,
makes people feel transported to the classic martial arts film of the 1980s and 1990s, " Once Upon a Time in the Sky".
But everyone knows that the golden age of Hong Kong-style action movies will never come back.
"Kowloon Walled City" cannot return to the golden age of Hong Kong action movies.
videos have various imperfections.
Full Movie The eldest brother outnumbers the younger brother. Whenever there are fights, the eldest brother starts the fight himself, while the younger brother silently cheers for the older brother from the side.
Because the Hong Kong stars are too old, the Hong Kong version of "Sin City" was shot into "Dragon and Tiger Gate: The Fierce Fight among the Elderly".
The most intolerable thing is that the strength of several protagonists fluctuates high and low.
At the beginning, the big boss played by Sammo Hung kept talking about how powerful the tornado was, and Brother Qiu, played by Ren Xianqi, also appeared with great momentum.
But these seemingly high-level experts easily went offline.
Wu Yunlong's ultimate villain, he can train his muscles, bones and skin internally and externally in one breath, and he has mastered the Vajra Shield Hard Qigong, and he can kill the tornado and the big boss by himself.
lost to the fledgling Chengzhai Four.
None of these are perfect.
But for fans of old Hong Kong movies, watching "Kowloon Walled City" has a very strange feeling.
On the one hand, you will think it is exaggerated.
on the other hand. All the exaggeration of
finally converges into one word: cool.
Cheng Po-sui, who has returned to the Hong Kong film industry, is full of firepower. He made the Kowloon Walled City multi-faceted and three-dimensional, cold and solemn on the outside, but full of love and justice on the inside.
is more important, it is the feeling of pleasure you feel in an action movie. The last time I experienced it was "The Fuse" 17 years ago.
And this is one of the few action movies that Hong Kong has produced since it entered the new century.
Counting again, the most popular ones include the "Slaying the Wolf" series, the "Ip Man" series and "Wrath: Serious Case".
It is undeniable that Hong Kong action movies have been dim for a long time. The most direct reason and manifestation of
is - no one.
Jackie Chan,
Jet Li, the hero is old.
Donnie Yen, who is still preparing for "Ip Man 5" and "The Fuse 2", is already 61 years old. Among the new generation of
, except for Nicholas Tse, Andy On, and Xie Miao, the rest who can play are basically in "Kowloon Walled City".
There are fewer and fewer action movies, and audiences are buying them less and less.
There was a scene in the movie where Louis Koo and Sammo Hung were fighting. Louis Koo punched a little too hard. After filming, he asked Sammo Hung if he was okay.
Sammo Hung said: It’s okay, it just hurts.
How can a Hong Kong action movie not hurt? If it doesn’t hurt, it’s not a Hong Kong action movie.
But this time the audience still cares about whether it hurts or not? They no longer care, they only care about whether their brother is handsome or not.
The hard bridge and hard horse approach of Hong Kong Kung Fu movies has been eliminated by the times.
This is why Xie Miao, who made a breakthrough with "Defiant", is still not very popular, and "Defiant 2" still cannot be released in theaters.
Because the era of Hong Kong action movies has passed.
On the contrary, South Korea's Ma Dong-seok's "Crime City" series, Keanu Reeves' "John Wick" series, etc., continue to shine globally.
"The Siege of Kowloon Walled City" appeared, and some people said: The glory of Hong Kong action movies is back.
is just like what people said when "Fury: Crime" came out.
But let me ask, if there were no Sammo Hung, Louis Koo, and Ren Xianqi, would the movie still be good? But how long can these older generation stars continue to play?
In fact, the precarious and precarious Kowloon Walled City is the current Hong Kong movie.
"If you can't live without it, you can't live without it."
There are always some unwilling tornadoes who are clinging to this Hong Kong film city and want to pass it on to the next generation. In the
film, Ren Xianqi said, "From now on, it will be your young people's world."
The question is: who are the young people?
Next, Paul Cheng and Wilson Yip will start filming "Slaying the Wolf 3", Donnie Yen will have "The Fuse 2" and "Ip Man 5", and Miao Xie will star in "Fury", but these are the same people who act again and again.
Action movie actors are getting old, and what’s even more frightening is that the audience is getting old too.
Even if "Kowloon Walled City", which has a huge reputation, has a box office of over 40 million, and is expected to eventually exceed 500 million, or even hit 1 billion, the box office is only a drop in the bucket of the box office kings such as "Hot and Furious". What is the use of
?
But at the end of the film, there is a scene where a tornado carried the four children of the Walled City, and the kites flying in the open space of the narrow and cramped building turned into a flying plane.
The four of them finished fighting. Looking into the distance from the dilapidated eaves of the Kowloon Walled City, Chen Luojun raised his hand and asked for a cigarette that Xinyi held in his mouth.
The sunset is infinitely beautiful, but it is almost dusk, but at this moment, just enjoy the sunset.
is like the era of Hong Kong films. Of course, it can never come back. Even a "Kowloon Walled City" cannot save Hong Kong films.
But so what? At least for this moment, the movie cheered me up.
Then just remember to laugh now.
