Warriors of Future

明日战记

Hong Kong/China, 2022, colour, 2.35:1, 98 mins.

Director: Wu Xuanhui 吴炫辉.

Rating: 4/10.

Utterly generic sci-fi VFX-athon is weighed down by a deadly dull script and cold, grey look.

STORY

Sometime in the future. Because of pollution and constant wars, disease and famine ravaged the Earth, and the atmosphere became poisoned. Children, including the daughter (Cheng Xiaoxia) of star military pilot Tai Lai (Gu Tianle), became ill soon after being born. Governments around the world tried to purify the atmosphere, and in District B16 general Li Sheng (Zhang Jiahui) devoted himself to constructing a sky canopy 天慕 above the whole city. One day, however, B16 was hit by a large meteor, which brought with it an alien, plant-like life-form which grew to a huge size when in contact with water. Scientists dubbed it Pandora. At B16 command centre colonel Tan Bing (Liu Jialing) arrives for a meeting with Li Sheng about Pandora. The mission must succeed before heavy rainfall that’s due soon. The plan, devised by research scientist Chen Cangsong (Xie Junhao), is to make use of the alien’s capacity to digest refuse and create hydrogen gas by inserting a magic “gene bullet” inside the alien mother. If the mission fails, Tan Bing has a back-up plan – to send a super-bomber to destroy Pandora during the large downpour. As there is no time for an organised evacuation, that would mean sacrificing 160,000 human lives; but if her back-up plan fails, all of B16’s 5.6 million population will die. As mission leader, Tai Lai objects but he is over-ruled by his friend and superior Zheng Zhongsheng (Liu Qingyun), B16’s military commander. Tai Lai sets off with his team in helicopters. However, the mission fails, and Tai Lai’s helicopter crashes in the heart of the city, in alien territory, along with young communications officer Guangzai (Wan Guopeng) and a wounded team member. While they try to stay alive and find a hospital, Tan Bing tells Zheng Zhongsheng that he has three hours to find Tai Lai & Co. before she activates her back-up plan. Guangzai’s girlfriend Xiaolv (Wu Qian), who works in the command centre’s communications, reports to Tan Bing something suspicious that happened during the mission, helping it to fail. Meanwhile, Zheng Zhongsheng tracks down his old friend, maverick warrior Skunk (Jiang Haowen), and the pair set off to find Tai Lai.

REVIEW

Shot five years ago (Feb-Jun 2017) on a reported budget of HK$450 million, Warriors of Future 明日战记 is a Hong Kong-led attempt to make a mecha movie that has ended up looking utterly generic. Creatively produced 监制 by and starring Gu Tianle 古天乐 [Louis Koo], a major mecha fan who wanted to give his home territory its own example of the genre, the production marks a functional but uninspired directing debut by Hong Kong VFX specialist Wu Xuanhui 吴炫辉, who previously worked on titles like The Warlords 投名状 (2007), Taichi Zero 太极1 从零开始 (2012) and The White Storm 扫毒 (2013).

Cast with big local names, but with a totally uninteresting script by Hong Kong’s Liu Haoliang 刘浩良 (Kung Fu Jungle 一个人的武林, 2014; Three 三人行, 2016; Caught in Time 除暴, 2020) and frequent Mainland collaborator Mai Tianshu 麦天枢 (Kung Fu Jungle; Three), Warriors lumbers from one VFX piece to another as the actors phone in their performances. After first playing in the Mainland, where box office (RMB662 million) was surprisingly robust without being spectacular in any way, the film went on to co-open the Hong Kong festival on 15 Aug before being released in the territory 10 days later to become the highest-grossing Chinese film of the (Covid-hit) year there, taking a very nice HK$50 million-plus in its first two weeks. [Total Hong Kong take was HK$82 million.]

Underscored by a heavy eco-message, the story takes place on an Earth ravaged by war and pollution in which the latest disaster to hit mankind is a huge meteor that spawns a massive Triffid-like monster. The military launches an operation led by ace flyer Tai Lai (Gu at his most wooden); but when that fails due to sabotage by person or persons unknown, it’s a race against time to save Tai Lai and his crashed crew before a hard-faced colonel (Liu Jialing 刘嘉玲 [Carina Lau] at her most imperious) unveils her scorched-earth Plan B. Other big names that pop up include Liu Qingyun 刘青云 [Lau Ching-wan] as Tai Lai’s military pal and superior, Zhang Jiahui 张家辉 [Nick Cheung] as a desk-bound general, and ubiquitous character actor Jiang Haowen 姜皓文 [Philip Keung] as a crusty old maverick who escaped from a Mad Max movie. The players, largely in robot-like combat suits or other military duds, look like they don’t believe a word of the computerised dialogue. To try to provide a human angle, there’s the soppy and very predictable story of Tai Lai and his late daughter/lookalike.

The best that can be said about Warriors is that it keeps moving, with an unflabby running time (unlike many Chinese VFX-athons) of just over 90 minutes. However, the deadly dull plotting and characters aren’t helped by an overall grey, cold look – only occasionally pierced by warmer colours – in the widescreen photography by Hong Kong action/horror specialist Wu Qiming 伍启铭 (aka Wu Wenzheng 伍文拯; Once Upon a Time in Hong Kong 金钱帝国   追虎擒龙, 2021). Staged okay by veteran Huang Weiliang 黄伟亮 [Jack Wong], the action is largely set amid urban rubble. The VFX, whether by design or not, have a computer-game look, with jerky running and jumping – which pretty much denotes what kind of audience the film is aimed at.

The film’s original production title was Virtus 矛盾战争 (literally, “War of Contradictions”). The final Chinese title means “Chronicle of Tomorrow’s War”.

CREDITS

Presented by Shenzhen Film Studio (CN), One Cool Film Production (HK), Media Asia Film Production (HK), iQiyi Pictures (CN), Beijing Unimedia Film & TV Culture (CN), Tianjin Maoyan Weiying Cultural Media (CN), World Universal Culture (CN), Shanghai CMC Pictures (CN). Produced by One Cool Film Production (HK).

Script: Liu Haoliang, Mai Tianshu. Photography: Wu Qiming [Wu Wenzheng]. Editing: Huang Hai, Lu Zhihao. Music: Chen Guangrong [Comfort Chan]. Art direction: Mo Shaozong [Alex Mok], Lin Weijian. Costume design: Zhang Zhaokang. Sound: Sarunyu Nurnsai. Action: Huang Weiliang [Jack Wong]. Visual effects: Cao Zhisheng, Liang Weijie, Guo Tai.

Cast: Gu Tianle [Louis Koo] (Tai Lai/Tyler, District B16 aerial-combat unit leader), Liu Qingyun [Lau Ching-wan] (Zheng Zhongsheng/Johnson, District B16 military commander), Liu Jialing [Carina Lau] (Tan Bing, colonel), Jiang Haowen [Philip Keung] (You Dalang/Chouyou/Skunk), Xie Junhao (Chen Cangsong, research scientist)), Wu Qian (Xiaolv, communications officer), Wan Guopeng (Guangzai, communications officer, Xiaolv’s boyfriend), Zhang Jiahui [Nick Cheung] (Li Sheng/Sean, District B16 general), Cheng Xiaoxia (Sisi, Tai Lai’s daughter; Panpan/Pansy, girl in ruins).

Release: China, 5 Aug 2022; Hong Kong, 25 Aug 2022.