I visited the site of the Walled City in 2019 (see my below photo of the city replica taken at the site), so was really looking fwd to see how the producers would pull this off.
My verdict? 2 thumbs up!
As the movie is 90% set within that famous no man’s land (the densest place on earth before it was torn down in 1993) you can really get a sense of the claustrophobic corridors + sheer human density + extremely shady vibes (the place was ground zero for drugs, prostitution, gambling, etc.) + the pipes + the mini markets and even factories.
Now imagine ‘blazing’(!) kungfu sword and axe action happening smack in the center of the place.
There was not a single dull minute.
Louis Koo has insane screen presence; he’s got this quasi-psychotic yet deeply engaged character which keeps you hooked to him each time he appears. Samo Hung plays some Devil-may-care gangsta leader who loves barking orders and curses. Both Koo’s and Hung’s characters are the kind who stay still and silent 99% of the time before springing into action.
I’m not familiar w the actors who played the fighters (Raymond Lam, German Cheung, etc.) and I don’t know if they kungfu practitioners in real life (probably not).
But they’re all sufficiently muscled up and flexi with the punches and kicks (or was it their stunt doubles?). I found Terrance Lau’s moves very slicks at the start very smooth; Raymond Lam (as the chief protagonist) was a’ight but he lacked the gaya (which was NOT lacking in Koo and Hung believe it or not!); German Cheung (the one with the mask) had this dark demeanor throughout which he more than made up for with his punches; I thought Philip Ng’s (the chief bad guy) Joker-like maniacal laughter got a bit old eventually.
Nevetheless the action is stylish, brutal and there’s even a tribute to Jackie Chan’s Police Story (Part 1) during the bus action scene. Whilst the action cannot always be compared to Chan’s (in fact it’s more like Donnie Yen’s non-Ip Man movies), as a 40-year consumer of kungfu movies I’ll say the action here ranks in Tier 1.
The cool factor is 100% present and accounted for.
Easily the most gripping scene (for me) was when 3–4 dudes were trying to drag an unconscious fella (with a make-shift portable basket) out of the walled city whilst fighting a dozen bad guys trying to slash and chop at them. The many scenes when bodies flew through walls or down steps or across food stalls are just what you need after a busy day at the office.
Oh and Aaron Kwok makes a brief appearance — as does his knife wielding skills.
