WARRIORS OF THE FUTURE (2022)
Tagline: None.
(Adventure, Sci-Fi, Crazy Looking Aliens and Plants) [PG-13]
Note: This movie did not get an MPAA rating, but I am pretty sure if it had been given a rating it would be an [PG-13]. Steaming services are giving it a TV-14 rating which is essentially a PG-13 equivalent. This was one of the highest-grossing films in Hong Kong for 2022.
The sky net is me, I am the sky net.
In this one, we are taken to the future where a giant meteorite lands in an area called B-16 and brings alien plant life to earth which is already struggling from a global ecology issue that is spreading disease and famine. When it rains the plant dubbed “Pandora” grows to a massive size and devastates whatever area it is in. Oddly it has the side effect of purifying the surrounding air. It doesn’t take long before alien creatures start showing up and wiping out military efforts to contain the plants. On what is deemed a suicide mission to try and alter “Pandora” to send it into hibernation allowing it to purify the atmosphere getting rid of the need for massive sky nets over cities. On this classified operation, Commander Sing Lee and his forces find themselves the target of an even larger treacherous conspiracy.
First off this thing has some really strong points.
1. The design work is immaculate. Not only do these plants look like nightmare fuel, but they are incredibly detailed and rendered really well.
2. The acting for the most part is pretty strong. Louis Koo is solid as Tai Loi. He is also known for being one of the producers of THE MITCHELLS VS THE MACHINES. Ching Wan Lau (best known for BLACK MASK) is good as Cheng Chung-Sang. I also liked Philip Keung as Skunk. He’s also referred to as “Cyclops”. Nick Cheung is also solid as Lee Sing.
3. The action sequences are intense just fighting these alien plants, but the aliens are bonkers looking. Maybe even more awesome than the ones we got in THE TOMORROW WAR.
Where this thing kind of drops the ball is in the following areas.
1. The acting from pretty much the entire female cast is pretty weak. I rarely ever say that, but it stands out in this one.
2. There are several inconsistencies. In one scene it is just pouring down rain during a helicopter vs. plant battle and the helicopter is knocked out of the sky. When it lands, not only is it dry, everything around it is dry as well.
3. Very few of the backgrounds are explained. It might have been nice to learn more about Skunk and some of these other characters. This thing is nearly 2 hours long and almost zero character development takes place. I did like Skunk, but we don’t really learn much about him.
Overall the score is fine but relatively subdued and the cinematography is great, I actually liked the plot for the most part. I do wish we’d gotten some better explanations regarding what is going on with the non-plant aliens. This one kind of goes in phases where we have giant alien plant problems, then we’ve got non-plant aliens, then we’ve got robots it’s pretty nuts. Not necessarily bad, just really nuts. This thing doesn’t really take any moments to breathe. As much as I love action, you have to really be prepared for nearly 2 hours of non-stop sci-fi action if you are going to watch this thing. It never slows down even though it acts like it might in a few sequences, it really doesn’t.
WARRIORS OF THE FUTURE is a bombastic big-budget sci-fi romp out of Hong Kong and it’s also a LOT of fun. I dug this one and I didn’t feel like it had as many holes as some of the reviews claim. This one gets a strong 5 out of 7.
GRAPHICS ARE THE PROPERTY OF ONE COOL FILM PRODUCTION LTD. AND ARE USED FOR REVIEW PURPOSES ONLY.
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