Kowloon Ruck

Twilight Warriors: Walled In (Soi Cheang, 2024)

Director Soi Cheang first came onto my radar with his Hong Kong crime thriller Limbo (2021). Despite its incredible production design and hyper-stylised noir aesthetic, the central core of the film was like every generic crime thriller involving the hunt for a serial killer. It was superficially alluring, at best. His latest film, adapted from a graphic novel known as City of Darkness, is also laced with fantastic visuals, but more importantly, it also has a more interesting plot.

Twilight Warriors: Walled In is set during the eighties in Hong Kong's shanty city of Kowloon. The historical region resembled a post-apocalyptic nightmare rather than an actual urban province. The gargantuan ramshackle is the basis for the film's amazing look. Within its corrugated walls is a densely populated feudal society with triad bosses acting like governing elders.

After being ripped off obtaining a fake ID card by Mr. Big (the legendary Sammo Hung still kicking arse in his seventies), Chan Lok-kwan (Raymond Chan) runs afoul of the triads by mistakenly snatching a bag of drugs thinking it was the money owed to him. The result is an epic chase fight into the Walled City, where the triads are prohibited from venturing in. Lok-kwan finds sanctuary in the urban shit hole to be temporary when he runs into another gang led by the chain smoking, martial arts master Cyclone (Louis Koo). After some more fighting, Lok-kwan goes through the motions of finding acceptance with the inhabitants of the Walled City.

The police free zone has its own laws and politics, which is fascinating during the downtime of not having a violent fight light up the screen. This also benefits the film's world building along with defining its central characters. There's a back story to Lok-kwan, which eventually leads to serious consequences for everyone living in Kowloon.

A refreshing concept is how Mr. Big isn't the major villain in the film. That duty falls to his maniacal second-in-command, King (Philip Ng), who looks like an Asian verison of Paul Calf. Controversially, King the power of invulnerability. He is impervious to lethal machete strikes, a sledgehammer to his skull, and can chew on red hot coal like it's a chicken nugget. This comic book style villain is more than a challenge for Lok-kwan and three of his comrades during the film's epically climactic showdown.

The fight choreography comes somewhere in between Steven Chao's cartoonish action in Kung Fu Hustle (2004) and the brutal grittiness of Gareth Evans' The Raid films. Thus, Twilight Warriors: Walled In does not disappoint with its entertaining action scenes. Did not expect the emotionally effective drama sequences, either. A good example is the brotherhood of Lok-kwan's inner circle: Shin (Terrance Lau), Twelfth Master (Tony Wu) and the masked AV (German Cheung). From playing mah jong to dispensing street justice to a prostitute killer, a tight bond is formed with the foursome, where they're willing to sacrifice themselves to prove it.

The film is superior to the average John Wick-core actioner, which has long outstayed its welcome. Of course, there is the potential of the comic book style combat being a turn off for some, but it more than makes sense considering it's based on an actual graphic novel. A rare win for comic book movies over the last few years.

Overall, Twilight Warriors: Walled In is a quality action film. Not only does it deliver an abundant amount of shit kicking, but it does it with resplendent glee. Apparently, there are another two films (one, a sequel; the other, a prequel) planned and this instalment has managed to get its hooks in, and left me willing to check them out too. Recommended.