Warriors of the Nation (2018) Review

Warriors of the Nation | Blu-ray (Well Go USA)

AKA: Unity of Heroes 2
Director: Marco Mak
Cast: Vincent Zhao Wenzhuo, Miya Muqi, Kenya Sawada, Na Wei, Lubing Li, Huanhuan Wei
Running Time: 92 min.

By Paul Bramhall

To many kung fu fans in the west the genre may be regarded as dead and buried, but in China streaming channels like Youku and iQiyi have been providing a steady stream of original kung fu flicks for a number of years now. A place for kung fu stars of yesteryear to maintain their workload (Fan Siu Wong is a mainstay), or titles to riff on their more mainstream counterparts (Ip Man and the Four Kings), these flicks rarely travel beyond the streaming platforms they’re made for. Apart from the lack of English subtitles reducing their accessibility to wider audiences, the underlying reason behind their lack of exposure is down to the fact they simply don’t need to travel any further.

In the 1980’s Hong Kong movies needed international distribution. It’s a small population, and with Mainland China still off-limits, securing distribution in nearby neighbours like Korea, Japan, and further afield to western shores, ensured the productions costs would be covered and a profit would be made. Skip forward to 2019, and with a population of 1.4 billion, the Mainland market has no need to hassle itself with finding overseas buyers for their product, when breaking even based purely on domestic viewing figures is practically a given. With that being said, some titles have found their way to western shores, with 2018’s Unity of Heroes being one of them, which saw Vincent Zhao returning to the role of Wong Fei Hung for the first time since the 90’s.

The turnaround time on VOD titles is alarmingly fast in China, and while Unity of Heroes was released in May 2018, before the year was out a follow-up was already good to go in December, this time under the no less bombastic title of Warriors of the Nation. Zhao is back as Wong Fei Hung, in what was ridiculously his 3rd appearance as the character within the year, featuring in Jeff Lau’s Kung Fu League in-between. Gone is newcomer director Lin Zhenzhao, and in his place is Hong Kong stalwart Marco Mak. While Mak’s filmography as a director is hardly awe inspiring, his last time to helm a movie was 2012’s Naked Soldier, what makes him an interesting choice is that he served as the editor on all 6 of the 1990’s Once Upon a Time in China series (as well as the aforementioned Kung Fu League).

I’d hoped having Mak at the helm would add more of that classical Hong Kong flavour that Unity of Heroes was so blatantly striving for, but fell short of the mark, and proceedings start off promisingly enough. Much like Unity of Heroes kicked off with an almost shot-for-shot recreation of Jet Li training his disciples on the beach, so Warriors of the Nation kicks off with some White Lotus Clan shenanigans lifted directly from Once Upon a Time in China II. While the inclusion of the White Lotus Clan is initially a welcome one, it soon becomes clear that this instalment is going to concern itself more with internal corruption and Japanese devils (is there any other type in a recent Chinese flick?), than it is the pulpy super powered zombies of Unity of Heroes.

The shift to a comparatively more grounded storyline runs the risk of making Warriors of the Nation take itself more seriously than it deserves too, but thankfully Mak has the sense to fill the runtime with far more action than his predecessor. However even this is a double edged sword (pun intended). While the action in Unity of Heroes was sporadic, its gimmicky nature made for entertaining viewing, from the no-shadow kick bullet time to x-ray shots of internal impacts. Here the frequency of the fights has increased, however the execution of them never feels anything more than pedestrian.

Zhao is given the spotlight to show-off his talents in a variety of scenarios. Be it fighting off bladed rings while balancing on an elevated bamboo pole, pitting a spear against a Guandao, or engaging in a sword duel, fans shouldn’t be left wanting. There’s even a brief skirmish with some sumo wrestlers thrown into the mix. The issue is there’s no real wow moment in any of the fights, and the occasional moments of clunky camerawork betray the obviously tight shooting schedule the crew was working with. The no-shadow kick is portrayed here no less amusingly than it was in Unity of Heroes, with Zhao now able to take off vertically from a standing position, hover for a moment, before flying forward feet first like some kind of kung fu drone. While it was a pleasant diversion to see the inclusion of some actual exchanges within the choreography, the finishing moves still entertain more for the wrongs reasons than the right ones.

Despite Zhao’s presence, the previously stoic figure he cut in Unity of Heroes here seems to be that of someone who’s lost interest, and dare I say phoning it in. There’s no real spark to his character, to the point that I was wishing for a return to the anger he showed at being presented with a western style cake in the previous instalment. The subtle as a hammer patriotic speeches are still there, from mentions of how the Chinese need to fight for every inch of Chinese land (thankfully there was no sighting of the Nine Dash Line in the South China Sea), to a ridiculous pre-closing credits speech about how all Chinese people need to come together to defeat imperialism. As pleasing as these scenes may be to the NRTA, Zhao looks bored reeling them off, making them induce even more eye rolling than normal.

Zhao’s dour demeanour results in the ladies of Warriors of the Nation stealing the show whenever they’re onscreen. Returning cast member Wei Xiaohuan shines in her fight scenes, and despite having little to do apart from occasionally burst into action, she’s the only one who conveys a real sense of power and grace in her movements. Clearly the real deal, here’s hoping she headlines a kung fu flick soon, regardless of if it’s straight to streaming or not. Yoga instructor Miya Muqi, last seen in (ironically enough) Kung Fu Yoga, brings a welcome touch of sexuality to proceedings as the villainess of the piece, and this time around actually gets a fight scene that incorporates her yoga talents. Just ignore the fact that she performs it in modern yoga gear.

Kenya Sawada is also on-board as the Japanese bad guy, a face no doubt familiar to fans of 90’s Hong Kong cinema thanks to his roles in the likes of Thunderbolt and Extreme Crisis. Here Sawada plays a similar role to the one he portrayed in the highly entertaining Hidden Man, released the same year, and gets to face off against Zhao in the finale. It’s the lengthiest duel in the movie, and allows us the opportunity to witness some of Zhao’s wushu prowess, clearly showing that he’s still got it. While some of the movements are obscured due to poorly placed camera angles, it was still enough to make me draw a sigh, and imagine what could have been if he’d never left Special ID. Alas what we do get is a finale which see’s Wong Fei Hung brandishing a sword to face off against his opponent, which I believe may be a first for the finale of a movie featuring the character.

While there’s an undeniable nostalgic pleasure in seeing Zhao back in the role, that nostalgia ultimately doesn’t extend to being able to recommend Warriors of the Nation. The plot fails to engage, and the low budgets rears its head just enough for it to be a distraction, from the 90’s computer game CGI ships, to the extra’s meaninglessly flailing their swords around in the background of certain scenes. In the right hands, the lack of budget on these types of movie should be an enabler that allows the kung fu movie to go back to basics. Bring together performers who can fight, an action director who knows what he’s doing, and all you need after that is a forest, there are plenty of examples from the golden era that fit that exact description and are considered classics. But as long as the budget also dictates the shooting schedule, I don’t expect this latest incarnation of Wong Fei Hung to become more entertaining any time soon.

Paul Bramhall’s Rating: 4/10