REVIEW: Warriors Of Future (2022)
Long delayed and finally released, Louis Koo's sci-fi opus landed with a bang! And you know what, it was fun!
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Four years… five years? I think that’s how long this was in post-production. So long that it was shopped around to Chinese financiers to help with the costs, and then sold to Netflix! Let’s check it out.
PLOT
After a series of wars and over-industrialisation, the air on the planet is no longer safe to breathe. An alien plant called Pandora lands on Earth and immediately begins to colonise a section in Hong Kong called B16, home to over 5 million residents.
The plant has a positive side-effect - it can purify the air, removing the toxins and restoring it to a breathable level. An elite group of soldiers, lead by veteran Tyler, is sent in to plant a virus in Pandora that will stop its destructive growth while also cleansing the Earth’s oxygen.
However, things go wrong! Tyler’s partner Johnson joins him on the battlefield with help from an old exiled team member and a chubby faced youngster, as they come up not only against Pandora and her defenses, but a trio of robotic soldiers doing their best to ensure their mission is a failure.
Warriors of Future - more like Warriors of References. This is Hong Kong’s first real attempt at a sci-fi blockbuster thanks to the dedication of Louis Koo, the man single handedly attempting to save the Hong Kong film industry from irrelevance.
It’s no secret that Louis is a sci-fi nut - the guy has a warehouse in Hong Kong full of Iron Man statues and Star Wars memorabilia - and this has been his long time pet project, with this movie initially planning to release in 2020, then shelved due to the pandemic and subsequently has had Mainland Chinese investment money added, so chances are this final product is not his complete vision.
It’s clear where all the influences have come from: Terminator 2, Starship Troopers, Chappie, Iron Man, Captain America and Professor Xavier, District 9, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, War of the Worlds - I could go on.
And while not necessarily a bad thing, it means the movie lacks an identity of its own.
A lot has been commented about the visual effects of this film and for the most part they do their job really well. City skylines and destruction look great, as do the exo-suits and the robots Timora and Enigma. Where the effects really pale is when it's something organic. The Pandora plant doesn't look that impressive, and neither do those bug-roach like creatures the soldiers fight in the hospital. Otherwise, if you look past that, the effects here are great!
Performance wise you know what you’re getting with this cast, who have worked together in more movies that you can count on a dozen hands.
This means the chemistry is always there - something that's unique for Hong Kong cinema when you consider their output and limited talent pool. Louis Koo even smiles twice. It’s as awkward as anything when he does it, but at least he tries.
Issues with the child at the hospital and bickering lovers side-plots aside, the story is relatively easy to follow thanks to the fact the characters decide to narrate important plot points to the audience - very much taking cues from modern video games. Speaking of gaming, the influence of titles like Dead Space and The Last Of Us is also very apparent throughout the film.
The film sets itself up for a sequel, and hopefully it's not another painful 6 year wait for that. They’re heading into space, which should be exciting as we can see how Koo takes on the Star Wars and Star Trek franchises.
What are my overall thoughts?
Overall, I’d award this film no more than 3 stars. Solid action and effects keep the audience engaged, with a nice run time. The movie is let down by a lack of identity, generic characters and poor visual effects for the organic creatures. Worth a watch though just to see what a big-budget Asian sci-fi blockbuster looks like.
If you’ve seen it, what did you think?
Genre Sci-Fi Action
Director Ng Yuen-fai
Starring Louis Koo, Sean Lau, Philip Keung
Original Title 明日戰記
Country of Origin Hong Kong and China
Release Date August 5 2022