Verdict
Summary
Done in the usual Chinese self-serious approach of gung ho heroism, Wolf Pack is only distinguished by its slick style and hip characterizations, and unfortunately for fans of movies like The Wild Geese, The Dirty Dozen, and The Expendables, this movie has no real imprint of its own, fading into the ether of well-lit commando flicks with terribly wooden acting, too-trim heroes, and a cadre of bad guys whose motivations are vague at best.
Plot:
A team of mercenaries kidnaps a field surgeon to help them on their latest missions.
Review:
Ke Tong (Aarif Lee) has just failed as a tactical field surgeon on a mission of aide somewhere in the Middle East, but his life is turned completely upside down when a team of crack commandos – mercenaries for the Chinese government – kidnap him, whisk him away to a very dangerous situation where he must extract a piece of shrapnel from a warlord’s skull in less than ideal situations, and when he performs the surgery successfully, they get him out of there (under a lot of heavy gunfire) and insist he join them on their next missions, despite the fact that he feels like a prisoner. After a botched escape attempt, Ke Tong is presented with an option by the commando leader (played by Max Zhang) that he can’t refuse: He can continue working with the team and learn how and why his father was killed, and he can make a purpose for his life by becoming the latest member of this motley team of tough guys (and one gal), all who go by movie names like Fly, Fireball, Monstrosity, and other monikers that more or less describe their function in the team. Ke Tong becomes Handsome because the others more or less regard him as useless, and he invariably gets everyone into bad situations when he allows his humanity to overrule his sense of survival in several tactical situations where hostages are on the line. A climax at a sprawling oil field has the team desperately trying to save lives in a do-or-die dash for survival.
Done in the usual Chinese self-serious approach of gung ho heroism, Wolf Pack is only distinguished by its slick style and hip characterizations, and unfortunately for fans of movies like The Wild Geese, The Dirty Dozen, and The Expendables, this movie has no real imprint of its own, fading into the ether of well-lit commando flicks with terribly wooden acting, too-trim heroes, and a cadre of bad guys whose motivations are vague at best. I’m a sucker for movies like this, but this movie is sometimes sloppily and not so coyly assembled with unimaginative action and fight scenes, silly tech jargon and moments that belie belief such as when the team unleashes a squadron of micro drone mosquitos, and split-second decision making by the team that clearly serve the momentum of the action rather than allowing the movie to surprise the audience in any way. There’s nothing new or inventive about Wolf Pack, and it’s too soulless and empty to feel genuine. From writer / director Michael Chiang.
Well Go USA’s new Blu-ray edition of Wolf Pack is out now and comes with some trailers and English subtitles.
