Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In Review

Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In is a Hong Kong action crime film that premiered at the Cannes Film Festival as a part of their Out of Competition Midnight Screenings.

Chan Lok-kwan (Raymond Lam) is a refugee who arrived in 1980s Hong Kong. After being screwed over by the Triads, Lok finds refuge in the infamous Kowloon Walled City. Lok ends up working for Cyclone (Louis Koo), the boss of the Walled City, and soon becomes embroiled in the criminal world of Hong Kong.

The Kowloon Walled City was a notorious district that developed because of a quirk of history. It was a former Chinese fort that the Chinese claimed sovereignty over, even when Britain was ruling Hong Kong. After 1945 the area became a safe haven from the authorities and was built up as a makeshift district where nearly everything was allowed. It fascinated many creatives over the years, from The Shaw Brothers, to Yu Suzuki, to Christopher Nolan. It makes for a great setting for a martial arts film.

Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In had two major favours, an outlandishly awesome martial arts film, and a serious crime drama. Seemingly these two styles shouldn’t have mixed but they managed to work together. The first opened in a gritty manner with Lok in an underground fight where the arena was covered with broken glass. It was a brutal way to start the film and the Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In wasn’t shy to explore darker subject matter. The Walled City was dark, cramped, and dank, and the tight, claustrophobic arena did make some of the fight scenes feel slightly like the action classic The Raid. This was a world of vices, as shown through a young character Fishball, a little girl who made dumplings, and with her Mum who was a prostitute who was a victim of a violent punter.

As a crime story Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In packs a lot of story in. The context for the setting was the British who agreed to hand Hong Kong over to the Chinese, leading to Kowloon Walled City’s days being numbered. It meant the area became valuable real estate and many factions wanted a piece. There was a plotline involving a high-ranking gangster, Chau (Richie Jen) who was looking for the son of the murderer who murdered his family. Being a crime film there were many characters vying for power and the antagonist of the piece was shifting. After watching the film, I found out one of the source materials was a comic book by Andy Seto and those origins were felt. The story was changing, like how a comic book could alter from issue to issue. There was a lot of backstory involving how Cyclone rose to power and his complex relationships with various character and characters that could make an awesome prequel.

Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In had a personal story through Lok. Lok arrived in Hong Kong he had no one but when he settled in the Kowloon Walled City he gained a sense of belonging. Cyclone acted as a father figure to Lok and Lok did gain a group of friends. The quadrate that Lok forms ended up becoming the protectors of the Walled City and acted as law enforcement. This dynamic did bring some levity to the film since they joked with each other. One strand of humour I liked involved the character of AV (German Cheung) since he was an underground doctor and connoisseur of Japanese pornography, leading him to understand the language.

Whilst Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In had a mostly serious tone, most of the action had a fantastical quality to it. Characters were smashed through walls and ceilings and were able to perform superhuman moves. One character was dying of lung cancer but he was still able to put up a fight. The character of King (Philip Ng) was an outlandish character because of his mullet, gawky clothes, and annoying cackle and he had supernatural powers because he was invulnerable. Ng played a character who audiences would love to hate. This OTT style to the action did give Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In a Kung Fu Hustle quality since it was also an OTT martial arts movie.

Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In was a highly entertaining martial arts film that was able to mix a gritty look, a complex crime story, and well-crafted action sequences. It’s a treat to fans of Hong Kong action films.