Shaolin, who loves to kill for sport, relishes the chance to taunt Yang. Yang decrees that Shaolin will be executed the day after, but Cao’s colonel Zhang Yi (Jacky Wu Jing) arrives, giving them one day to free his young master or else his army will decimate the city. Casually drawing blood, he reveals himself as General Cao’s son Shaolin. Trouble soon comes a-knockin’ when a mysterious man ( Louis Koo) patronizes Tieniu’s noodle shop in the dead of night. Reminiscent of “Rio Bravo,” the governing Republican forces have quit Pucheng for an expedition, leaving sheriff Yang Kenan (Sean Lau Ching-wan, “The Mad Detective”) and his small but loyal brigade to protect the civilians. En route, they are rescued from bandits by scruffy drifter Ma Feng (Eddie Peng). School teacher Bai Ling (Zhang Shuying) escapes to the neighboring city of Pucheng with her orphaned pupils, seeking refuge at a noodle shop run by her cousin Tieniu (Philip Keung). Early on, warlord Cao Ying seizes Stone City, prompting residents to flee as his private militia rapes and pillages. The setting is China’s Warlord Era (1916-1928), when military strongmen commanding armies of thugs ran rampant in the north. The film can be viewed as a 3D conversion in China.
If anything, the lukewarm response confirms that mainland audiences either prefer contemporary subjects or like their period films larded with fantasy and visual effects. Hong Kong action blockbuster director Benny Chan (“The White Storm”) gamely riffs on Westerns and samurai films, while Sammo Hung’s sinewy action choreography is a glorious throwback to the rustic vigor of Shaw Brothers films of the ’80s.Overseas buyers from multiple territories have responded favorably to “Call,” but its China opening hasn’t quite taken off. A dauntless sheriff and a roving bladesman defend a city under siege in “Call of Heroes,” a solid, muscular action period film with an apt if overstated political allegory.
0 kommentar(er)
