Introduction

Wolf Warrior 2 (Chinese: 战狼2; Zhan lang 2) is a 2017 Chinese action film co-written, co-produced, and directed by Wu Jing, who also starred in the lead role.

The film co-stars Celina Jade, Frank Grillo, Hans Zhang, and Wu Gang. The film is a sequel to 2015’s Wolf Warrior. It was released in China on 27 July 2017. The film tells a story of a loose cannon Chinese soldier named Leng Feng who takes on special missions around the world. In this sequel, he finds himself in an unnamed African country protecting medical aid workers from local rebels and vicious arms dealers.

A third film is in development.

Outline

After the events of Wolf Warrior, Leng Feng and members of his special-ops team bring his fallen comrade’s remains back to his hometown. As the family prepare for the funeral, a real estate company is about to demolish their house. The boss of the real estate company confronts and sneers at Feng and his team for their patriotism, and he is kicked to the ground.

The boss orders his henchmen to attack them but they are all swiftly disabled by Feng and his team. Police arrive shortly after and order Feng to stand down. The boss gets back up and boasts that he will “make the family wish they were dead”, enraging Feng, who kills him. Feng is sent to a military prison for two years and then discharged from the Chinese army.

After his release from prison, Feng leaves for Africa, planning to wander aimlessly around the continent. While serving as a mercenary providing security for a freighter delivering relief supplies to Africa, he foils an attempted hijacking by Somalian pirates, defeating them in hand-to-hand combat underwater. For three years, Feng has been carrying a bullet he found, which was a clue to the kidnapping of his fiancée, Lieutenant Colonel Long Xiaoyun, that happened while she was on a mission.

Feng and some locals are partying on a beach when they are attacked by rebel forces aiming to overthrow the African nation. Shortly after the rebels and their mercenaries overrun the government troops, the Chinese fleet arrives to evacuate Chinese nationals caught up in the war.

While on board a Chinese military ship, a shop owner that Feng rescued informs him that the bullet he is carrying belongs to European mercenaries who are helping the rebels. Feng volunteers to rescue workers at a Chinese factory and also a VIP, Dr. Chen, who was held hostage in a nearby hospital. Dr Chen is developing a vaccine for Lamanla, a deadly endemic disease. However, Feng will be on his own. No Chinese military personnel could accompany him because they are on foreign soil, and must wait for permission from Chinese military leadership.

Feng travels to the hospital but during the hostage rescue, Dr Chen is accidentally killed by the rebels and their mercenaries. Dying, Dr Chen tells Feng to take his daughter, an African girl named Pasha. The mercenaries are led by Big Daddy, a ruthless American working for Dyon Corps. Feng and Pasha, together with Rachel Smith, a surviving doctor, escape but Feng cuts his hand when he falls on some Lamanla-infected dead bodies.

Feng continues to the Chinese-owned Hanbound factory to save the workers and his godson’s mother, who also works there. Upon arrival, Feng is confronted by the suspicious factory security team led by the factory owner’s son, Zhuo Yifan, a cocky fuerdai young man who is also an ardent Chinese army fan. Feng informs everyone that the Chinese fleet plans to send a helicopter to rescue them. The women and children will evacuate via helicopter and everyone else will travel by road to join the fleet.

Big Daddy’s mercenaries attack the factory to capture Pasha, as they believe she holds the cure for Lamanla. Feng rallies the workers to fight to protect their families and their fellow factory workers. Feng is about to be overwhelmed and killed when Big Daddy and his men are unexpectedly ordered to fall back. The rebel leader informs Big Daddy that no Chinese can be harmed as he needs China’s support when he comes into power, since China is a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council. However, Big Daddy kills the leader and takes over, ordering everyone back to the factory to capture Pasha and kill Feng.

Meanwhile, Feng chooses to leave after the factory workers discover that he is infected with Lamanla. Rachel injects him with a serum and he learns that Dr Chen had discovered a cure using infected patients who survived and developed immunity. Pasha is one of Dr. Chen’s patients and not his daughter, and she is the only surviving infected patient with immunity.

Big Daddy and his men return to the factory and round up the workers who were waiting for the Chinese helicopter to arrive. Feng returns with Rachel and Pasha in a rescue attempt. The workers are saved and then the helicopter arrives. Pasha and Rachel leave in the helicopter with the other women and children, but the helicopter is shot down. The battle continues with Feng and his allies fighting hordes of Dyon Corps mercenaries and rebels, who are reinforced by several tanks. Recognising the threat, the Chinese fleet fire missiles to destroy the tanks.

In the battle climax, Feng confronts Big Daddy and learns that the bullet which killed Xiaoyun belonged to Big Daddy. Driven by rage, he kills Big Daddy after a brutal fight. Feng then leads the survivors in a convoy through rebel territory until they reach the UN camp.

In the mid-credits scene, Feng is allowed by his commander to return to his military squadron and is shown a video revealing that Xiaoyun is still alive.

Cast

• Wu Jing as Leng Feng, a former Chinese special forces soldier.
• Celina Jade as Dr. Rachel Prescott Smith, a doctor working in Africa.
• Frank Grillo as Big Daddy, head of a group of mercenaries called Dyon Corps.
• Hans Zhang as Zhuo Yifan, a fuerdai and army fan. His father owns a factory in Africa which he supervises.
• Wu Gang as He Jianguo, a retired scout who serves as a security supervisor of a Chinese factory in Africa.
• Yu Nan as Lieutenant Colonel Long Xiaoyun (guest appearance)
• Yu Qian as Qian Bida, a profiteer who gets caught in a rebel crossfire battle in an African port town.
• Ding Haifeng as a captain in the People’s Liberation Army Navy.
• Shi Zhaoqi as Shi Qingsong
• Chunyu Shanshan as Lin Zhixiong
• Oleg Prudius as Great Bear, a Russian Dyon Corps mercenary who serves as muscle and a heavy machine gunner.
• Heidi Moneymaker as Athena, a sniper of the Dyon Corps mercenaries.
• Aaron Ly as Ghost, the driver and the most stealthy member of the Dyon Corps mercenaries.
• Aaron Toney as Roach, a Dyon Corps mercenary and Big Daddy’s second in command.

Production

Background

The Wolf Warrior 2 continues the storyline of Wolf Warrior. However, the action takes place overseas, rather than in China, which helps develop an international perspective. The film was shot on locations in Africa and China between June 2016 and November 2016. The film’s African scenes were mostly shot on location in Soweto and Alexandria. The tank battle was filmed in Zhaochuan Ironworks (坤源集团赵川铁厂), Zhaochuan Town of Xuanhua District, Zhangjiakou city, in Hebei province.

A promotional poster contained the slogan “Anyone who offends China, no matter how remote, must be exterminated.”

Pre-Production

Wu Jing started work on the script in 2009 and on 16 April 2013, the first draft of Wolf Warrior 2 was completed.

Filming

On 19 June 2016, the filming of Wolf Warrior 2 was launched started up in Beijing. Wu Jing spent six months preparing for the launch.

In one scene on 23 August 2016, Wu Jing drove a tank alone, rushed through six tanks and crushed a car in the end. In just ten seconds, the car turned into a pile of scrap iron. This is the first time that a domestic actor personally drove a tank into and crushed a car. A car weighs approximately one ton while a tank weighs around thirty-five + tons.

On 2 November 2016, Wolf Warrior 2 was completed after five months of filming.

Release

The film was released in China on 27 July 2017 in MX4D, 4DX, 3D and China Film Giant Screen. An IMAX version was released on 18 August 2017 and has gone out in IMAX 2D. The film was released in Sri Lanka through Madhu Entertainment with English subtitles. It was also released in South Africa with English Subtitles through Ster-Kinekor on 10 November 2017.

The film remained the highest-grossing film in China until 24 November 2021, when it was overtaken by the war epic The Battle at Lake Changjin.

Critical Response

In China, Wolf Warrior 2 received praise for its patriotic plot, special effects, action sequences and the cast’s performances.

Sequel

A sequel, Wolf Warrior 3 (Chinese: 战狼3), has been confirmed at the end of the mid-credits scene of Wolf Warrior 2. This was later confirmed by Wu Jing.

Influence

Since its release the movie has been used for nationalist sentiments, most prominently by associating a group of Chinese diplomats and their approach as Wolf Warrior Diplomats by Chinese media.

Trivia

• Official submission of China for the ‘Best Foreign Language Film’ category of the 90th Academy Awards in 2018.
• Before this film, Celina Jade also appeared together with Jing Wu in Long nga (2008) (which he also directed).

Production & Filming Details

• Director(s):
  • Jing Wu
• Producer(s):
  • Jeffrey Chan … co-producer
  • Qingyi Chen … co-producer
  • Jie Cui … co-producer
  • Hao Deng … associate producer
  • Gong Ge … co-executive producer
  • Hailong Guan … producer
  • Liz Han … co-producer (as Lu Han)
  • Steven Hui … associate producer (as Zhiyong Xu)
  • Daoqing Ji … producer
  • Defu Jiang … associate producer
  • Ping Jiang … associate producer
  • Peikang La … co-executive producer
  • Yang Li … associate producer
  • Ying Liang … line producer
  • Hong Ling … co-producer
  • Hongyan Liu … co-producer
  • Kailuo Liu … associate producer
  • Jianmin Lv … producer
  • Xiaojiang Quji … co-producer
  • Mark Rau … CEO of The H Collective Europe
  • Wenjie Sun … co-producer
  • Jiaren Karren Wang … executive producer
  • Jing Wu … executive producer
  • Yan Wu … associate producer
  • Yi Xiu … co-producer
  • Ziquan Xu … executive producer
  • Jijun Xue … co-executive producer
  • Weidong Yang … co-executive producer
  • Baimei Yu … executive producer
  • Dong Yu … co-executive producer
  • John Zeng … co-executive producer (as Maojun Zeng)
  • Miao Zhang … producer
  • Haicheng Zhao … associate producer
  • Jiangjun Zhao … associate producer
  • Hao Zhu … co-producer
• Writer(s):
  • Jing Wu … (screenplay by) &
  • Qun Dong … (screenplay by)
  • Yi Liu … (screenplay by)
  • Yan Gao
• Music:
  • Joseph Trapanese
• Cinematography:
  • Peter Ngor … (as Zhijun Ao)
• Editor(s):
  • Ka-Fai Cheung
• Production:
  • Beijing Dengfeng International Culture Communications Company (presents)
  • Spring Era Films Co. (Spring Era Film Company, presents)
  • Jetsen Cultural Industry Group (presents)
  • Chao Feng Pictures (presents)
  • Horgos Orange Image Media (presents)
  • Tianjin Chengzi Yingxiang Media (Horgos Orange Image Media, presents)
  • Khorgos Dengfeng International Culture Communications (presents)
  • China Film Co., Ltd. (in association with)
  • Deer Pictures Company (in association with)
  • Bona Film Group (in association with)
  • Beijing Jingxi Culture & Tourism (in association with)
  • Wanda Media Co. (in association with)
  • I Verge Information Technology Company (in association with)
  • Jiahui Culture and Media Company (in association with)
  • Star Era Movie & TV Culture Media Company (in association with)
  • Beijing Century Media Culture uncredited)
  • Youku (Youku presents, in association with)
• Distributor(s):
  • AMG Entertainment (Japan, 2017)(theatrical)
  • CMC Pictures (Australia, 2017)(theatrical)
  • Cinetopia (Chile, 2018)(theatrical)
  • Guang Hua Media (Germany, 2017)(theatrical)
  • Kadokawa (Japan, 2018)(theatrical)
  • Shaw Organisation (Singapore, 2017)(theatrical)
  • The H Collective (United States, 2017)(The H Collective, in partnership with Well Go USA, theatrical)
  • Trinity Filmed Entertainment (United Kingdom, 2017)(theatrical)
  • United Entertainment Partners (China, 2017)(theatrical)
  • Well Go USA Entertainment (United States, 2017)(in partnership with The H Collective, theatrical)
  • Wuzhou Film Distribution (China, 2017)(co-distribution, theatrical)
  • Beijing Culture (China, 2017)
  • Universe Films Distribution Company (Hong Kong, 2017)
• Release Date: 27 July 2017 (China).
• Running time: 123 minutes.
• Rating: 15.
• Country: China.
• Language: Mandarin and English.

Video Link(s)