Wolf Warriors
(aka Wolf Warrior)
2015; directed by Wu Jing

Wu Jing steps behind the lens for the second time with Wolf Warriors. Though it was a huge hit in Mainland China, no one will mistake this release for top-tier cinema -- but if you're a fan of B-movie action fare, you'll probably have a good time here, especially with the inclusion of cult martial arts movie favorite Scott Adkins in the cast.

In addition to his directing duties, Wu also co-produced and co-wrote the film, as well as starring as Leng Feng, a sniper who is sent to the stockade for disobeying an order from an officer. The army doesn't want his skills go to waste, so he is enlisted to join the eponymous squad, just in time to take on a group of mercenaries (led by Adkins) who are trying to smuggle a convicted drug lord out of the country.

The plot has enough holes to drive a Mack truck through and the pro-China agenda is disarmingly obvious at points, but this is the sort of film that you turn your brain off and enjoy, and, in that sense, it succeeds for the most part -- though it is still disappointing that there isn't more hand-to-hand combat on display here (especially considering the pedigree of the cast) and some of the CGI on display during the firefights is laughably bad. In particular, there is a scene featuring CGI wolves that look like they were ripped from a low-budget YouTube video.

But things pick up finely during the finale, when Wu and Adkins finally trade blows in a fight that is perhaps not the dream matchup fans have been waiting for, but still fun nonetheless, leaving the viewer with a good deal of satisfaction. Does this establish Wu Jing as a legitimate director? Time will probably have to wait to tell on that accord, but fans of his past work should enjoy themselves here, and, in the end, that is all that really matters.

RATING: 6

This movie has been released in North America by Well Go USA under the alternate title Wolf Warrior. Besides the title change, Well Go USA's version is uncut and in the original Mandarin/English soundtrack. The movie is available on Blu-ray and DVD from Amazon. Bonus features include trailers for the movie and several other Well Go releases.