Poster for Wolf Warriors featuring actor Wu Jing (center) Photo: CFP

Nobody had high expectations for Wolf Warriors when it released on April 2, neither did the film hold large scale promotional events compared to other films released around that same time.

Because it seemed to many too much like a "patriotic education" film aimed at promoting "mainstream" ideals, Wolf Warriors was certainly less likely to create a craze among moviegoers, especially the young.

However, the box office results and feedback from viewers proved that the film had been completely underestimated. It made 100 million yuan ($16 million) over its first three days and broke 200 billion yuan on the fourth day, topping the Qingming Festival weekend (April 4-6) box office. Current totals for the film have surged to 433 million yuan.

The positive audience reception proved the film a successful trial example for contemporary military films in the Chinese film industry.  

Revitalizing a genre

Wolf Warriors portrays the story of an unyielding soldier named Leng Feng who is expelled from his company for not obeying orders and killing the brother of an international drug trafficker. However, Leng is then recruited by a special forces team called Wolf Warriors. After the drug trafficker and his mercenary army attack the team during an exercise in a remote forest near China's borders in revenge for the brother's death, the exercise soon becomes an all out war between the People's Liberation Army (PLA) and foreign forces.

Military films are nothing new to the Chinese film industry, but last time the genre created such a sensation was during the 1960s. At the time, China had just been through a war and the film industry was still in its beginning stage.

Military films tended to be like Tunnel Warfare and Little Soldier Zhang Ga, portraying stories that took place during The War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression (1937-45), or Heroic Breed, setting stories during the Korean War ( 1950-53).

"There's almost no one who is  touching upon the genre of contemporary war [in China], so we thought 'why don't we try it?' Most tough guys that audiences see are from foreign films," director and leading actor of Wolf Warriors, Wu Jing, told media during a press conference for the film. Studying martial arts since childhood, Wu has been an action star since 1995. With several major action films like Kill Zone under his belt, Wolf Warriors is the second time he has directed a film but the first to touch on the topic of contemporary war.

Wu explained that while he was prepared to make a film in this genre as early as seven years ago, many were against him, including producers and directors. The reason being that themes like patriotism and war are seen as being less likely to attract audiences, especially female audiences, a demographic that has become a driving force in the film market.

Wu is right about the lack of contemporary war films. Previously, such movies were produced by August First Film Studio, an old brand studio sub-ordinate to the PLA.

While the studio made many successful films during the 1960s to the 1980s, these films eventually lost their lustre due to their lack of elements seen in many other commercial films.

Military films from Hollywood, like Saving Private Ryan, Black Hawk Down, American Sniper have helped to develop audiences' tastes for military films over these years. Among all the reviews, one point expressed by many is that Wolf Warriors "shows a hint of Hollywood war films."

With the support of the Nanjing Military Area Command, advanced military weapons like real guns, rocket launcher and tanks also got a chance to appear in the film.

Polarized reviews

On media site Douban the film has a 7.5/10 score, with 24.3 percent of 22,659 users giving it five out of five stars and 38.3% giving it four stars.

While most audiences have expressed excitement in their reviews of Wolf Warriors, opinions from movie critics have been totally different.

Critics criticize its "lack of story," and "clichéd plot," while some disregard it for being too patriotic.

"The biggest problem is it lacks soul. Wu Jing's character is more like a brainwashed machine of the State, a heroic show off. It's actually scary it made several hundred million," well-known movie critic Dark Knight wrote on WeChat.

According to an article on entertainment site entgroup.com, before the film's release, many film industry insiders didn't fully agree with the patriotism shown in the film, and even suggested deleting a few close-up shots of the badges on soldiers' arms showing the national flag with the words "I fight for China" on it. The worry was that audiences might be repelled by such a patriotic showing. But Wu denied these requests telling people, "I'd rather lose at the box office than delete those scenes."

Although he had some reservations, Chen Hui, president of the producing company Heng Ye Film, chose to take a chance. "Everyone is patriotic, but previous films failed to ignite this emotion. It's a question of how to ignite such a feeling in an era that worships money."

Even though many obvious problems still exist in Wolf Warriors, but the market and response of moviegoers have made it an outstanding contemporary Chinese military film.

"We are used to seeing sweet talk and romance between couples and conspiracy among enemies, and have even tired of exaggerated, not-so-funny comedic scenes, but it's rare to see a film promoting patriotism right up front like Wolf Warriors," writer Zhou Zhiwei wrote in the article posted on Sina Weibo.

"Its success proves that China can also make mainstream blockbusters, and that there should be more. It has a unique meaning."