Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In 九龍城寨之圍城 (2024) Review: A Gritty Nostalgia of the Old-School Hong Kong Martial Arts and Triad Movies

At the time of writing, Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In has already amassed a whopping HK$50 million and still counting since its May 1st release in Hong Kong. With the subsequent international rollouts, I have been anticipating this movie since the project was first announced over a decade ago under the then-title Dragon City. The movie was set to star Donnie Yen with Derek Kwok of the award-winning Gallants (2010), Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons (2013) and As the Light Goes Out (2014) fame, served as the director.

Too bad it didn’t come to fruition and even though Soi Cheang eventually took over the project, it would be one of those greatest what-if trivia if Donnie Yen remains on board. Imagine the prospect of seeing him fighting against the bad guys in the crime-infested and densely populated Kowloon Walled City. This is especially true after Yen, who played Crippled Ho, appeared in Chasing the Dragon‘s most memorable action set piece within the confines of the Kowloon Walled City.

Adapted (the word “loosely” would be more accurate here) from Andy Seto’s manhua City of Darkness, the movie takes place during the turbulent 1980s Hong Kong era. The story follows young refugee Chan Lok Kwan (Raymond Lam), who steals one of the bags belonging to the triad leader Mr Big (Sammo Hung) after the latter has conned him over a fake ID. Kwan ends up fleeing into the Kowloon Walled City overseen by Cyclone (Louis Koo).

From there, Cyclone eventually takes pity on Kwan and allows him to stick around the Kowloon Walled City. He even gives him a job while Kwan becomes best friends with three young gangsters, two of whom work for Cyclone (Terrance Lau’s second-in-command Shin and German Cheung’s resident doctor AV) and Twelfth Master (Tony Au) from Uncle Tiger’s (Kenny Wong) gang.

When wealthy Kowloon Walled City landlord and triad leader Dik Chau (Richie Jen) finds out about a wanted person in Hong Kong who has to do with the turf war in the past, resulting in the death of his wife and son, he sets out to track him down at all costs.

Credits go to Soi Cheang and his production crew for painstakingly re-creating the Kowloon Walled City, originally demolished in 1993. Every detail from the nooks and crannies including the narrow alleyway, the overly dense buildings close to each other, and exposed pipes to the dark and dingy corners, it was a HK$300 million budget well-spent. Coupled with better-than-expected special effects, at least by Hong Kong movie standards, it’s definitely a lock for next year’s Hong Kong Film Awards nominations in the technical categories.

Kenji Tanigaki, who’s in charge of the action design alongside Cheang’s dynamic camerawork emulate the look and feel of a gritty action movie we used to see in the golden era of Hong Kong cinema. There’s a sense of visceral impact during the action set pieces as every punch and kick with the help of the impressive sound design accentuated the bone-crunching effects.

But as much as I appreciate the no-holds-barred action sequences, mixing grit with comic-book style, there are times I wish Cheang would slow down his camerawork, allowing us to admire the elaborate choreography rather than relying heavily on whip pans to mimic the speed and intensity of the fighting moves. And more so since Cheng Siu-Keung’s otherwise atmospheric cinematography and mostly dim lighting meant to complement the Kowloon Walled City’s shady surroundings, often get in the way of giving us better visual clarity in the action sequences.

The story itself — credited to Au Kin-Yee, Shum Kwan-Sin, Chan Tai-Lee and Lai Chun — treads familiar ground, exploring the typical triad-related matters that we have seen countless times before, particularly if you are an avid Hong Kong cinema fan. Perhaps the currently overwhelming Hong Kong box-office success resonates with the locals due to the movie’s strong nostalgia factor and so do the themes of brotherhood and above all, a sense of lived-in community between Cyclone, Kwan and everyone else within the Kowloon Walled City.

The movie has its few notable quirky moments, namely the scene where Kwan and the three young gangsters donning masks (one of which involved wearing a makeshift colourful eyeglass candy) while beating up a bully played by Chu Pak-Hong. As expected, the otherwise clichéd storyline offers subtle moments of reflection and metaphorical contexts (the flying kite scene comes to mind) related to the bleak and uncertain future of Hong Kong at the time.

Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In also benefits from an above-average cast, notably Raymond Lam’s engaging lead performance as Chan Lok Kwan while Louis Koo exudes a cool and calculated demeanour as Cyclone. Sammo Hung shows up in a worthwhile small role as Mr Big while Philip Ng has a field day chewing scenery as his gleefully over-the-top, right-hand man Wong Gau. Lam’s co-stars including Terrance Lau, German Cheung and Tony Wu all deliver solid supporting turns. The movie features Aaron Kwok in a charismatic cameo role as the fearsome killer.