Wild City
| Wild City | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical poster | |
| Traditional Chinese | 迷城 |
| Simplified Chinese | 迷城 |
| Hanyu Pinyin | Mí Chéng |
| Jyutping | Mai4 Sing4 |
| Directed by | Ringo Lam |
| Written by | Ringo Lam |
| Produced by | Kenny Chau |
| Starring | Louis Koo Shawn Yue Tong Liya Joseph Chang |
| Cinematography | Ross W. Clarkson |
| Edited by | David M. Richardson |
| Music by | Dave Klotz |
Production companies | Beijing East Light Film Co., Ltd. Oriental Fortune Culture Beijing Airmedia Film & TV Co., Ltd. Zhujiang Film & Media Corporation Limited East Light Film Limited One Cool Film Production Limited iQlYl Motion Pictures (Beijing) Co., Ltd |
| Distributed by | Bravos Pictures (Hong Kong) Distribution Workshop (International) |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 105 minutes |
| Countries | Hong Kong China |
| Languages | Cantonese Mandarin Taiwanese |
| Box office | US$24.82 million[1] |
Wild City (迷城) is a 2015 Hong Kong-Chinese action film[2] directed by Ringo Lam and starring Louis Koo, Shawn Yue, Tong Liya and Joseph Chang. It was released on 30 July 2015 in China[3] and on 20 August 2015 in Hong Kong.[4] It is Lam's first feature film since 2007's Triangle.
Plot
[edit]Ex-cop T-Man works as a bartender and one night brings a woman home with him when she is too drunk to drive. The next day she is locked out of her car so T-Man's half brother Siu-hung, a tow truck driver, comes to help, but at that moment a group of men kidnap her. Siu-hung and T-Man pursue them separately and save Yun. They discover that Yun is carrying money that was intended to be used for a bribe. T-Man returns the money, but the gangsters continue to pursue Yun and end up kidnapping Siu-hung's mother Mona. They make a deal to exchange her for Yun, and T-Man enlists the help of his former police associates to help rescue his stepmother.
Cast
[edit]- Louis Koo as Kwok T-Man
- Shawn Yue as Kwok Siu-hung
- Tong Liya as Yun
- Joseph Chang as Blackie
- Michael Tse as George
- Yuen Qiu as Mona
- Sam Lee as Yan
- Philip Ng as Kwan
- Philip Keung as Kuen
- Alex Lam as Gei
- Simon Yam as Wong
- Jack Kao as King
- Marc Ma as Leung Ho
- Tam Ping-man as Big Boss
Production
[edit]In 2014, the Hong Kong newspaper Apple Daily reported that director Ringo Lam would return to directing with an investment from the Mei Ah Entertainment Group with production set to being in June.[5]
On the first day of filming, Lam collapsed due to a heat stroke. He stayed with the project to keep filming.[6] In 2014, the film's titled changed from Hustle to Wild City.[6] Louis Koo has stated that Lam insisted that the actors perform their own stunt work in the film to maintain realism.[7]
Variety reported that Lam was in post-production on the film by March 23, 2015.[8]
Style
[edit]Lam described Wild City as belonging to a "City Trilogy" along with the films City on Fire and Full Alert.[6] Lam described them as films that "are all set in Hong Kong and are about people who are lost in the city. In Wild City the theme is about the temptation of money, and how it seduces the protagonists, but also forces them to challenge the plutocracy."[6]
Release
[edit]The first trailer was released on 23 March 2015.[9] The film is distributed by Bravos Pictures locally, while international sales are overseen by Distribution Workshop.[8]
The film premiered at the 17th Taipei Film Festival on 10 July 2015.[10][11] On the film's release in China, it had had approximately 20.2% of all screenings over the weekend, and opened in third place, earning RMB57.4 million (US$9.25 million) from approximately 1.76 million admissions between Friday and Sunday.[12] The film made RMB88.0 million (US$14.2 million) over four days.[12]
Reception
[edit]The Hollywood Reporter stated that Wild City paled in comparison to Lam's films from the 1990s, noting that the "screenplay doesn't have the complexity and rich symbolism of Full Alert (1997) and Victim (1999)".[13] The review concluded that "the film is engaging enough to reignite interest in Lam".[13]
References
[edit]- ^ "Wild City - Box Office Mojo". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 13 May 2020.
- ^ Ciampoli, Tom. "Wild City (2015)". AllMovie. Retrieved 21 August 2015.
- ^ Kevin Ma (13 May 2015). "Well Go takes three high-profile genre films". Film Business Asia. Retrieved 14 May 2015.
- ^ "谜城 謎城 (2015)". movie.douban.com (in Chinese). douban.com. Retrieved 3 June 2015.
- ^ Ma, Kevin (28 February 2014). "Ringo Lam to direct new action film". Film Business Asia. Retrieved 11 September 2014.
- ^ a b c d Hendrix, Grady; Fukazawa, Hiroshi (9 September 2014). "Kaiju Shakedown: Ringo Lam". Film Comment. Retrieved 11 September 2014.
- ^ Hsia, Heidi (24 March 2015). "Louis Koo: Ringo Lam insists we do our own stunts". Yahoo! Entertainment Singapore. Retrieved 21 April 2015.
- ^ a b Lau, Shirley (23 March 2015). "HK FilMart: Ringo Lam Makes Comeback With 'Wild City'". Variety. Retrieved 21 April 2015.
- ^ "Ringo Lam's WILD CITY Teaser: Watch It And Believe". Twitch Film. 24 March 2015. Retrieved 26 March 2015.
- ^ "Wild City". Retrieved 27 July 2015.
- ^ Ma, Kevin (27 May 2015). "Khavn under focus at Taipei Festival". Film Business Asia. Retrieved 27 May 2015.
- ^ a b Ma, Kevin (4 August 2015). "New films fail to sink Monster Hunt in China". Film Business Asia. Retrieved 10 August 2015.
- ^ a b Tsui, Clarence (16 July 2015). "'Wild City' ('Mai Sing'): Film Review". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 29 July 2015.