5 ms·

What do Americans think of the Wolf Warrior movies from China? Part Bond/Rambo achinese guy geats bumbling evil Americans.

BobbyJo 5y ago
I doubt most Americans even know they exist. I pay a lot of attention to China (through sources like HN, youtube channels, etc.) and even I am only barely familiar with the genre. The movies don't get published here (for obvious reasons), and Americans tend not to pay much attention to movies they themselves aren't going to watch. I've seen a few clips, and they look like if Marvel fired all their writers and cut their budgets by 80%. I tend not to like the writing of any Chinese movies I've seen though, which I guess is to be expected. Different culture, different emphasis, different ideas of realism.
- habeebtc 5y ago
  I don't know that I have quite the same issue with Chinese movies. Some have quite good production values, actually! Especially for the budgets. The challenge I have with Chinese films (especially high fantasy) is that it feels like I have missed something along the way and can't follow the plot. This is regardless of the translation quality, and regardless of how closely I am paying attention. I suspect it is the case that as a viewer you are assumed to be well versed in Chinese fairy tales, mythology or history. Certainly this is the case in lots of Western films. Pretty good example: Sorcerer and White Snake. Quite watchable (beautiful film, really), but hard to follow 100% of the time as a Westerner.
- snowgrove 5y ago
  >The movies don't get published here (for obvious reasons) I saw Wolf Warrior 2 at the AMC cinema in Sunnyvale, California. There weren’t a lot of showtimes but the theater was packed for my showing. Chinese audio with English subtitles. Thought it was an entertaining action movie with some ridiculous propaganda set pieces a la Rambo. My mostly Chinese (maybe Taiwanese? didn’t ask) fellow audience members audibly groaned en masse at some of these, like when the hero gets a truck full of refugees past some African rebels by dramatically waving a PRC flag. An American friend of mine saw the film a few months later on a cross-country fight, the airline had it on the inflight entertainment system. It’s also apparently on Prime Video. So such movies can be found here for those who want to see them; that’s just a pretty small group of people.
CoastalCoder 5y ago
I hadn't even heard of the Wolf Warrior movies. More broadly speaking, I'm concerned that their production may be consistent with the CCP's recent saber-rattling. The more evidence I see of that posture, the more I worry that my sons will die in an unnecessary war.
qsmi 5y ago
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3540136/ https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3540136/ Looks like people were not too impressed. I haven't seen it but from the description it looks like Chinese special forces fighting drug lords who happen to be American, not really the same thing. Interestingly, just the other day I was reading a Tom Clancy novel and thought, surely other countries must've wrote novels or made movies where the Americans loose WWIII, or whatever. I'd be interested in a recommendation. I'm really curious how others see it going down. Although maybe it's boring, i.e. Luke gets to the end of the trench, and misses...
- fivefifty 5y ago
  From what I've seen it mostly it's Americans writing about the US losing the next world war in fictional books like Ghost fleet: A Novel of the Next World War or Twilight's Last Gleaming.
- mark-r 5y ago
  I dimly remember a story about a wrong number phone call connecting a man with a woman in an alternate universe where the Japanese won WWII. Unfortunately both my memory and my Google-fu are failing me on identifying the source.
  - ctchocula 5y ago
    A wild guess but "The Man in the High Castle"? I could be wrong, because the phone call doesn't happen in the novel by Philip K. Dick that the Netflix show is based on and I haven't watched the show. However, the premise is alternate history of Japanese winning WWII.
    - mark-r 5y ago
      In the story I remember, the parallel universe is discovered when they agree to meet at an important landmark building in New York - but they never meet, because in her universe the original building was destroyed by a bomb that hit New York and the building was rebuilt in a new location.
cronix 5y ago
I've only heard of it through China In Focus on YouTube. Our free press doesn't really report much on China. From what I've seen though, it would pass as pretty good comedy in the US. It's really over the top, similar to "The Interview" comedy movie about North Korea, except it's meant to be serious, which makes it funnier.
clockwork123512 5y ago
I've seen both movies, though I'm Canadian. I enjoyed the movies because my family is East Asian, and I wanted to see what a real East Asian hero in the movies could look like (long before Shang-Chi came out). This differs from the typical depiction of Asian guys in Hollywood movies as unconfident, geeky, and not romantic interests. In contrast, the hero of Wolf Warrior is athletic, confident, highly competent, and heroic (he saves civilians in the second movie). I really enjoyed this because the absence of East Asian heroic figures has contributed to Asian men being seen as unattractive in the dating pool [0]. Career-wise, Asians are also the least likely in the US to be promoted, according to the Harvard Business Review [1]. It's also a struggle to lack Asian role models growing up. You can't even really talk about this issue of underrepresentation in media as an Asian male without criticism. The first result when you search for issues facing Asian men today is a Slate article documenting radicalized men who have harassed Asian women ("Men's Rights Asians Think This Is Their Moment"). What those guys did is reprehensible, but if I speak about these issues in real life, I can get lumped in with them. So, I enjoyed the movies, but don't typically talk about my enjoyment for fear of being ostracized. Anyways, Wolf Warrior is more G.I. Joe than James Bond or Rambo. He's also not fighting against American spies or representatives of the US government, but rather villains who happen to be American (and more vicious than bumbling). Also, the hero surprisingly disobeys the Chinese government several times (and ends up imprisoned, though he ultimately returns to alignment with the government in the end). Sources: [0] https://theconversation.com/asian-guys-stereotyped-and-excluded-in-online-dating-130855 https://theconversation.com/asian-guys-stereotyped-and-exclu... [1] https://hbr.org/2018/05/asian-americans-are-the-least-likely-group-in-the-u-s-to-be-promoted-to-management https://hbr.org/2018/05/asian-americans-are-the-least-likely...
- post_from_work 5y ago
  >>> I wanted to see what a real East Asian hero in the movies could look like K-Pop Star Rain in Ninja Assassin: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ninja_Assassin https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ninja_Assassin Lee Byung-Hun as Storm Shadow in the GI Joe movies (a villian, but a damn cool one): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G.I._Joe:_The_Rise_of_Cobra#Cobra https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G.I._Joe:_The_Rise_of_Cobra#Co... John Cho in the new Star Trek films: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Trek_(film) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Trek_(film) ^Just in case you want to work through a back catalog of kickass Asian dudes in blockbuster films. I've seen both of the Wolf Warrior films as well. I was curious how they would handle the size/physical strength disparity with the presumably-former-spec-ops American mercenaries. I like the approach taken, where the Chinese protagonists overcome them with agility and dexterity. As an American, and one who has to deal with the Chinese military as an adversary on a regular basis, I still enjoyed these movies.
coupdejarnac 5y ago
They don't look too great from the clips I've seen. I don't think I can watch either movie in its entirety without being plastered.
robocat 5y ago
I just watched the 4 Ip Man kung fu movies on Netflix: #1 is Chinese versus evil Japanese occupiers, #2 is Chinese versus evil Brits (Hong Kong occupiers), and #4 is Chinese versus evil Americans (Chinese immigrants in US). I really enjoyed the depictions of foreigners from the Chinese POV, since their clichés are still visible, even as a Western viewer.

BobbyJo 5y ago

I doubt most Americans even know they exist. I pay a lot of attention to China (through sources like HN, youtube channels, etc.) and even I am only barely familiar with the genre. The movies don't get published here (for obvious reasons), and Americans tend not to pay much attention to movies they themselves aren't going to watch. I've seen a few clips, and they look like if Marvel fired all their writers and cut their budgets by 80%. I tend not to like the writing of any Chinese movies I've seen though, which I guess is to be expected. Different culture, different emphasis, different ideas of realism.

habeebtc 5y ago
I don't know that I have quite the same issue with Chinese movies. Some have quite good production values, actually! Especially for the budgets. The challenge I have with Chinese films (especially high fantasy) is that it feels like I have missed something along the way and can't follow the plot. This is regardless of the translation quality, and regardless of how closely I am paying attention. I suspect it is the case that as a viewer you are assumed to be well versed in Chinese fairy tales, mythology or history. Certainly this is the case in lots of Western films. Pretty good example: Sorcerer and White Snake. Quite watchable (beautiful film, really), but hard to follow 100% of the time as a Westerner.
snowgrove 5y ago
>The movies don't get published here (for obvious reasons) I saw Wolf Warrior 2 at the AMC cinema in Sunnyvale, California. There weren’t a lot of showtimes but the theater was packed for my showing. Chinese audio with English subtitles. Thought it was an entertaining action movie with some ridiculous propaganda set pieces a la Rambo. My mostly Chinese (maybe Taiwanese? didn’t ask) fellow audience members audibly groaned en masse at some of these, like when the hero gets a truck full of refugees past some African rebels by dramatically waving a PRC flag. An American friend of mine saw the film a few months later on a cross-country fight, the airline had it on the inflight entertainment system. It’s also apparently on Prime Video. So such movies can be found here for those who want to see them; that’s just a pretty small group of people.

CoastalCoder 5y ago

I hadn't even heard of the Wolf Warrior movies. More broadly speaking, I'm concerned that their production may be consistent with the CCP's recent saber-rattling. The more evidence I see of that posture, the more I worry that my sons will die in an unnecessary war.

qsmi 5y ago

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3540136/ https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3540136/ Looks like people were not too impressed. I haven't seen it but from the description it looks like Chinese special forces fighting drug lords who happen to be American, not really the same thing. Interestingly, just the other day I was reading a Tom Clancy novel and thought, surely other countries must've wrote novels or made movies where the Americans loose WWIII, or whatever. I'd be interested in a recommendation. I'm really curious how others see it going down. Although maybe it's boring, i.e. Luke gets to the end of the trench, and misses...

fivefifty 5y ago
From what I've seen it mostly it's Americans writing about the US losing the next world war in fictional books like Ghost fleet: A Novel of the Next World War or Twilight's Last Gleaming.
mark-r 5y ago
I dimly remember a story about a wrong number phone call connecting a man with a woman in an alternate universe where the Japanese won WWII. Unfortunately both my memory and my Google-fu are failing me on identifying the source.
- ctchocula 5y ago
  A wild guess but "The Man in the High Castle"? I could be wrong, because the phone call doesn't happen in the novel by Philip K. Dick that the Netflix show is based on and I haven't watched the show. However, the premise is alternate history of Japanese winning WWII.
  - mark-r 5y ago
    In the story I remember, the parallel universe is discovered when they agree to meet at an important landmark building in New York - but they never meet, because in her universe the original building was destroyed by a bomb that hit New York and the building was rebuilt in a new location.

cronix 5y ago

I've only heard of it through China In Focus on YouTube. Our free press doesn't really report much on China. From what I've seen though, it would pass as pretty good comedy in the US. It's really over the top, similar to "The Interview" comedy movie about North Korea, except it's meant to be serious, which makes it funnier.

clockwork123512 5y ago

I've seen both movies, though I'm Canadian. I enjoyed the movies because my family is East Asian, and I wanted to see what a real East Asian hero in the movies could look like (long before Shang-Chi came out). This differs from the typical depiction of Asian guys in Hollywood movies as unconfident, geeky, and not romantic interests. In contrast, the hero of Wolf Warrior is athletic, confident, highly competent, and heroic (he saves civilians in the second movie). I really enjoyed this because the absence of East Asian heroic figures has contributed to Asian men being seen as unattractive in the dating pool [0]. Career-wise, Asians are also the least likely in the US to be promoted, according to the Harvard Business Review [1]. It's also a struggle to lack Asian role models growing up. You can't even really talk about this issue of underrepresentation in media as an Asian male without criticism. The first result when you search for issues facing Asian men today is a Slate article documenting radicalized men who have harassed Asian women ("Men's Rights Asians Think This Is Their Moment"). What those guys did is reprehensible, but if I speak about these issues in real life, I can get lumped in with them. So, I enjoyed the movies, but don't typically talk about my enjoyment for fear of being ostracized. Anyways, Wolf Warrior is more G.I. Joe than James Bond or Rambo. He's also not fighting against American spies or representatives of the US government, but rather villains who happen to be American (and more vicious than bumbling). Also, the hero surprisingly disobeys the Chinese government several times (and ends up imprisoned, though he ultimately returns to alignment with the government in the end). Sources: [0] https://theconversation.com/asian-guys-stereotyped-and-excluded-in-online-dating-130855 https://theconversation.com/asian-guys-stereotyped-and-exclu... [1] https://hbr.org/2018/05/asian-americans-are-the-least-likely-group-in-the-u-s-to-be-promoted-to-management https://hbr.org/2018/05/asian-americans-are-the-least-likely...

post_from_work 5y ago
>>> I wanted to see what a real East Asian hero in the movies could look like K-Pop Star Rain in Ninja Assassin: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ninja_Assassin https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ninja_Assassin Lee Byung-Hun as Storm Shadow in the GI Joe movies (a villian, but a damn cool one): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G.I._Joe:_The_Rise_of_Cobra#Cobra https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G.I._Joe:_The_Rise_of_Cobra#Co... John Cho in the new Star Trek films: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Trek_(film) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Trek_(film) ^Just in case you want to work through a back catalog of kickass Asian dudes in blockbuster films. I've seen both of the Wolf Warrior films as well. I was curious how they would handle the size/physical strength disparity with the presumably-former-spec-ops American mercenaries. I like the approach taken, where the Chinese protagonists overcome them with agility and dexterity. As an American, and one who has to deal with the Chinese military as an adversary on a regular basis, I still enjoyed these movies.

coupdejarnac 5y ago

They don't look too great from the clips I've seen. I don't think I can watch either movie in its entirety without being plastered.

robocat 5y ago

I just watched the 4 Ip Man kung fu movies on Netflix: #1 is Chinese versus evil Japanese occupiers, #2 is Chinese versus evil Brits (Hong Kong occupiers), and #4 is Chinese versus evil Americans (Chinese immigrants in US). I really enjoyed the depictions of foreigners from the Chinese POV, since their clichés are still visible, even as a Western viewer.