Wu Xia 2 the Code is a 2019 science fiction action film directed by Johnny K. Wu and starring Ben Zgorecki among others. It's a fun genre flick for anyone interested in some entertaining high-octane action.
Johnny Wu has previously directed Wu Xia: A Martial Arts Tango back in 2016, but that was a short movie. This one is a sequel that is feature-length and thus much more memorable and providing more story than just action. The story follows this group of fighters who want to bring back clean air to Earth. They are the Five Elements and their dynamic is one of the driving forces of this entire movie.
Ben Zgorecki as Cloud is clearly the most interesting and best developed of the bunch, and he probably received the finest action pieces out of all of them. But others are also memorable themselves with the most interesting addition being Crystle Paynther Collins in the role of Water. She's great without a doubt.
The villains are also pretty good, but the heroes are better developed overall. The main attraction when it comes to this movie and what is now basically a franchise has to be the action and it is undoubtedly a lot of fun.
Although the movie was clearly made on the cheap and the action is reminiscent of all those B-movies in the action genre, especially coming from the nineties, there is no denying their entertainment value, which is quite big. For any martial arts fan, the movie is bound to satisfy in spades as it has a lot of action set pieces and the mix of the number of people in involved as well as different locations made for a lot of necessary versatility and diversity of fights. The choreography is above average, and very much respectable for a movie that isn't a major Hollywood blockbuster.
Wu Xia 2 has such memorable and fun action that it's a shame that the storyline isn't as strong. Undoubtedly, the science fiction elements are great and especially the VFX and various gadgets are well realized and so is the film's ecological theme that is the focal point of the whole movie plotwise. However, the plot overall ended up being too simplistic and the action overtook the storytelling way too many times, thus the storyline ended up being just okay and serviceable.
Consequently, Wu Xia 2 is a movie for action fans first and foremost as the SF elements are underutilized and clearly not the film's biggest selling point nor is it its focus. There are some interesting plot points here and there, including some twists, but for the most part the action is the star here as the choreography is so good and the diversity of the various action scenes is the highlight. The movie is also very well edited, quite well paced and solidly directed, though the cinematography and the score could have been a bit better overall. But for anyone interested in a smaller action film, Wu Xia 2 is surely a good option, especially for the fans of the original short movie upon this one improves a lot.
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