When the police and army decided to raid a drug factory, they also got help from some of China’s best experts. Leng Feng (Wu Jing) is one of those special forces soldiers who are observing during the raid. Feng kills the brother of one of China’s biggest criminals, Ming Deng. Feng is reprimanded for taking the shot when he was ordered to retreat, but it’s more of a slap in the face. Ming Dan wants revenge on Feng and everyone who can protect him.
WOLF WARRIOR is a bit of action and drama with a dash of modern warfare. Some military technologies are exaggerated for cinema, but still remain within the realm of realism. For example, soldiers use small drones to survey an area, but then control rooms also have elaborate 3D maps of the target area. The film itself is very interesting and has a solid story. Once the training operation begins, things get crazy. The action is consistent with the type of film this is, and you never feel like you’re in a lull. It just gets stronger and stronger than the previous scene.
As for editing, the shots are very, very fast. What I mean is that nothing stays on the screen for more than a few quick seconds, so you’ll never be able to absorb much of what you’re seeing. The only thing that bothers me is working with CG and green screen. There’s a part where the team is parachuting into a combat training area and it looks like they’re just lying on a green table against the sky. The CGI in the wolf scene looks a little cartoony, but that might just be a budget choice.
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WellGo released such a clean Blu-ray when they released WOLF WARRIOR. The transfer is a crisp 1080p AVC image from what appears to be a digital source. Skin tones are natural and lines are crisp in both close-ups and wide shots. Every line and wrinkle is visible in the translation, which actually speaks about the quality of the makeup artist’s work. There are a few places where there is blocking, but it’s minor and not distracting at all.
The original audio for the film is a Dolby Digital Atmos track that has been transferred to a DTS-HD MA 5.1 mix. It’s a very powerful mix with a lot of depth throughout the film. Sure, bullets whizzing through a sound field sound amazing, but so does the movement in soldier formations. The director made sure that as the soldiers run through the wooded area, you can hear how every detail of the terrain changes. Explosions are powerful and bassy, and the highs blend well with the action on screen.
There are no bonuses in the release, except for the trailer and preview.
Wolf Warrior took a while to get going, but once it did, the film was amazing. The part of the plot involving the infiltration of their combat training grounds is a welcome change from the average war film. As for the release itself, the video is a clean transfer and the audio mix is strong. I definitely recommend watching this movie because it is worth your time.