Film Review: Wolf Pack (2023) by Michael Chiang

The early scenes succeed in creating intrigue and tension between Ke Tong and his abductors.

Modern Chinese action cinema seems to be slowly adding a political worldview alongside the usual patriotism that can often be found on display. Like the Reagan era Gung Ho Americana, it can often be a bit much for audiences outside the local market. With “Wolf Pack” we once again see involvement in international affair, through a team of mercenaries that potentially are on the wrong side of the law, the set up promises something a bit different. The question is, does it deliver?

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Ke Tong (Aarif Rahman) a trained surgeon, is kidnapped by Diao (Max Zhang) to assist his team on a raid. These seeming mercenaries however, have a closer connection to Ke Tong who initially appears as may have the answer to his father’s death. As he spends more time with them, the truth begins to emerge and the team face a conspiracy that could have dire consequences for millions of innocent people.

Sadly, “Wolf Pack” is weighed down from a poor script that manages that rare feat of being both overly complicated plot-wise and offering very little in character development. We learn very little about our central protagonists other than essentially a few lines. This in turn impacts the performances. Aarif Rahman particularly suffers with a role that requires him to act like a pouty teenager for the majority of the running time. Given he is supposed to be the audience focal point, his Ke Tong is very unsympathetic and often irritating. Max Zhang fares marginally better although he appears to have been given a single line of direction, “act enigmatic”. Aside from a brief scene with Jiang Luxia’s Monstrosity and a scene between Bombshell and Ke Tong, there is barely any character progression. The result is that we become observers to the action as opposed to becoming involved in it.

Which is a pity as what action there is in the feature is pretty solid. Most of it will feel familiar to regular watchers of the region’s action cinema but it’s well framed and shot. The editing is very quick, which keeps the pace up nicely. Michael Chiang. in his first feature, clearly has a handle on where to position the camera and it never feels cluttered.

When the action stops, the other script flaw becomes highlighted. The plot is rather convoluted and appears to be split in two. For the first half, there is an air of mystery about the group and whether they are good or bad. The opening sequences as Ke Tong is kidnapped and required to perform an improvised surgery on a warlord’s brother captures the interest instantly. This is soon resolved however and the central story kicks into gear.

Like any modern Chinese action movie we need a brief heroic moment around the Chinese flag to hammer home the patriotism. Slow motion also is the preference just in case we miss the point. This unfortunately strips away some of the tension, leaving us with a confused narrative around gas lines that throws in more stretchily drawn characters as we head towards an explosive climax. What we are left with is another action movie where only the Chinese soldiers can save the day, at the risk of international disaster, while the early promise slipping into a by the numbers plot that becomes less interesting the more it continues.

“Wolf Pack” unfortunately does not live up to its early promise. The early scenes succeed in creating intrigue and tension between Ke Tong and his abductors. Alas, the longer it progresses, the more this fades until it becomes rather dull with only the spurts of action succeeding in bringing it to life. Sadly one to file in the could have been better folder.