If the movies are anything to judge by, I never want to visit Hong Kong, but I am very glad it exists. Soi Cheang is at it again. He made my favorite film of 2021, the uncompromising and completely bleak b&w vision of Hong Kong crime, Limbo. The Soi Cheang style isn’t on full display here, but the five Americans besides me who saw Limbo will recognize similar elements of bleak: cramped, unhygienic locations, patterns of violence reinforced but respected, severed hand (well, severed fingers here, but I think we can agree that’s similar, yes?).
Unlike Limbo, Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In is more of a power struggle and less of a mystery. Like Limbo, setting is a key here: inside Hing Kong, there is, literally, a walled city, a ramshackle high-rise several city blocks in area where there might be more than one entrance, but I sure didn’t see any. With the limited ingress/egress, the entire flow of the city is dominated by gangs who all have a tense-but-accepted relationship.
Chan Lok-kwai (Raymond Lam), a refugee, didn’t come to upset that relationship, but sometimes the new kid fits in perfectly, and sometimes the new kid completely tips the balance into utter chaos. After being tossed around a bit by the gangs of the Walled City, Lok is taken in by warlord, city protector, and local barber, Cyclone (Louis Koo). Cyclone pities the kid; perhaps he knows what it is to be a refugee, and Lok just wants somewhere to fit in. He doesn’t really care about the politics of the closed environment.
Oh, but there’s a secret involving Lok that even he doesn’t know about and, hence, there’s a lot of violence on the horizon. Or there would be if one could see the horizon; the Walled City doesn’t
have windows. Rest assured. Louis Koo, Sammo Hung … there will be kung-fu.
Mind you, this is a bro film. At one point, I saw a woman and almost shrieked. GOOD LORD, A WOMAN! EVERYBODY HIDE! And it becomes more so as the film wears on, introducing a villain who literally cackles. Seriously, cackles. And some sort of Band of Brothers theme. What started as a solo act is going to end in a brotherhood; you can bet on that.
Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In is a silly title (is it better in Mandarin? I sure hope so) and has nowhere near the artistry displayed in Limbo, but this is different film with similar themes. Limbo was about exposing a world we’ve never seen. Walled IN displays the world we’ve never seen, but the isn’t about that world so much as the people who are going to run it. This is a good film with good heroes and good action. Good enough? Maybe.
There was once a refugee, Lok
Who disembarked the boat flat broke
So he found the Walled City
Where the master took pity
And made the man one of his folk
Rated R, 126 Minutes
Director: Soi Cheang
Writer: Kin-Yee Au, Tai-Lee Chan, Li Jun
Genre: The walls closing in?
Type of being most likely to enjoy this film: Are you into mob films?
Type of being least likely to enjoy this film: If you’re not into mob films, I’m guessing magical mab films are even worse
