Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In (2024) ‘Fantasia’ Movie Review: Brotherhood Expressed Through Bloody Knuckles and Broken Bones

Hong Kong has, for some time, been a hotbed of some of the most enthralling, consistently electrifying action cinema on the world stage. In recent years, however, the carryovers into Western culture have slowed down to more of a trickle, and not for a lack of viable releases, either. Perhaps it’s the ever-changing cinematic landscape that has sent American viewers gawking elsewhere—Korean and various Indian cinemas have contributed some films that have recently exploded on the stateside action market—or maybe it’s the shift in more blunt-force, John Wick-adjacent fighting styles that have moved tastes beyond the more classically graceful styles of HK combat.

In any case, “Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In” is here to ensure that nobody is likely to besmirch the good names of these indelible action icons, even if that means passing the baton over to the new faces that’ll run the show in their stead. Initially conceived to be a massive endeavor handled by world-renowned legends John Woo and Johnnie To, starring the likes of Chow Yun-fat, Tony Leung, Andy Lau, and Nicolas Cage (why not?), relative newcomer Soi Cheang (whose films have so far found great success within the borders of Hong Kong and China) takes the reins to adapt a story set in the real-life Kowloon Walled City, a once-prominent hub of lawless governance within Hong Kong, largely controlled by the triads.

The appropriately titled “Walled In” focuses on fresh face Raymond Lam as Lok, a refugee who stumbles his way into the Walled City after fleeing from triad leader Mr. Big (Sammo Hung, one of the idols here to pass the torch with a villainous touch). Finding his way under the loose mentorship of the makeshift city’s leader Cyclone (Louis Koo), Lok befriends gang members and fellow hustlers as he cements his place within this brotherhood and subsequently vies to protect them and the city as its tumultuous history sends the old guard into a frenzy.

Under normal circumstances, I’d say the plotting of an honest-to-god action spectacle wouldn’t need such a preamble—in fact, stuffing a film like “Walled In” with so much backstory could very easily risk kneecapping it as an overworked slog—but the miracle of Cheang’s approach comes in just how crucial that element of camaraderie is in cementing the project as a wholeheartedly compelling piece of action-drama. Just as Westerners were so quick to praise “RRR” as a bromance for the ages, so too does “Walled In” present a squad so lovingly assembled, with particular gravity afforded by what they represent for the greater field of Hong Kong cinema.

Connecting over the same wholesome activities that bond most friend groups for life (i.e., ganging up on a worthless woman-beater), Lok’s budding friendship with Shin (Terrance Lau), AV (German Cheung) and Twelfth Master (Tony Wu) anchors the film, not only in their willingness to fight and die for their bosses but their equal willingness to do so for each other. These young goons aren’t given any seismic individual character development, but thanks to Cheang’s caring touch, even a simple game of fixed mahjong between budding homies can communicate more chemistry than a thousand backstories about how John Wick had some vague history with Halle Berry or something.

The reverence for the masters is, naturally, a major component of that overlying thematic through-line guiding “Twilight of the Warriors.” Even if names like Sammo Hung, Louis Koo, and Richie Jen mean nothing to you (though they probably should if you want to call yourself an action aficionado), the film makes their authority felt in every frame. More to the point, the melancholy sensed as this older generation is clearly fading away makes that passing of the torch all the more bittersweet. That isn’t to say, however, that these seasoned masters will go out without a fight.

This brings us, of course, to the action itself and Jesus Christ… It should come as no surprise that the action sequences in a high-budget Hong Kong project are propulsive, kinetic, and entirely brutal, but the extremes to which Cheang takes “Walled In” transcend ragdoll physics and enter a realm of beatdowns beyond mere entertainment. With an energy that would make S. S. Rajamouli look like a disciple of Bresson, Cheang sculpts the Walled City into a claustrophobic yet endlessly sprawling playground of destruction, in which every jagged protrusion is just another weapon to be jammed into an opponent, and every busted wall is an invitation extended to an enemy’s collarbone.

To bring it all back to the bigger picture, though, none of this action would feel especially engrossing—particularly for as long as these scenes tend to last—if not for the sincere attention paid by Soi Cheang and his four screenwriters in crafting these generational dynamics. “Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In” joins a worthy pantheon of fabled Hong Kong action films, and it seems as though Cheang wants to go all in and make this a trilogy. Given the film’s overwhelming success in Hong Kong (as of this writing, it’s the region’s second-highest-grossing film of all time, domestically), one can only hope Cheang is afforded the opportunity to solidify this new generation of action stars into a status worthy of the predecessors that lit their torches in the first place.

Read More: 10 Great Action Movies Like John Wick Franchise

Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In (2024) Movie Links: IMDb, Rotten Tomatoes, Wikipedia, Letterboxd
The Cast of Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In (2024) Movie: Louis Koo, Sammo Hung, Richie Jen, Raymond Lam, Terrance Lau, Kenny Wong, Philip Ng, Tony Wu, German Cheung
Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In (2024) Movie Runtime: 2h 5m, Genre: Action/Mystery & Thriller

Where to watch Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In