When he contacted the Chinese embassy, staff told him to take cover and promised to come and rescue them. After three days, he was on a Chinese naval ship and felt lucky, especially seeing some other nonresponsive governments abandon their citizens.
His translator also wrote in his journal, "Thank you my country, because of the strength of our country, Chinese can finally have dignity!"
Too much heat
Among these voices of admiration, some expressed concern that the Chinese masses can be so easily stimulated by such on-screen nationalism and sometimes their actions are overheated.
Weibo movie critic Tengjinshu wrote a post saying that she received abuse after admitting she hasn't seen Wolf Warriors 2 because she doesn't like this kind of film. Some called her an idiot, telling her to "scramble back to Japan" because her Weibo username sounds vaguely Japanese and that she's not worthy of judging a "great Chinese film."
"The individual heroism in Wolf Warriors 2 isn't the type depicted in American hero movies. His heroism doesn't exist alone but reminds us at all times that he's powerful because he's got a powerful country behind him," wrote Wang Wusi, an independent blogger.
Responding to these controversies, lead actor and director Wu Jing said in recent interviews that he thinks many are being too harsh as they don't hold American films to the same standards.
"Only when our country is strong can individuals be better off. There's not only Captain America, but also Chinese heroes … China has sent the most UN peacekeeping forces, why can't we film their passion and their stories? There can only be more and more Wolf Warriors stories," he said.
A working model
Whether or not people think it is a good thing, patriotic and pro-government films have been increasingly common in recent years, many of them becoming pretty popular.
Their style has been carefully tailored to fit the tastes of the younger generation, many of whom have long mocked TV shows that portray Chinese soldiers and citizens with godlike fighting abilities in the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression (1931-1945) and belittle the Japanese.
A couple of scenes have been perpetual laughingstocks on the Internet. One of them has a farmer tearing a Japanese soldier in half with his bare hands, another shows an officer praising a soldier for shooting a Japanese soldier from 800 kilometers away.
But the recent "mainstream" films are different. The characters are portrayed with more humanizing characteristics, they curse, they sometimes break rules, but one thing stays the same, they still fight furiously for what they deem to be the right cause, and through that, the message is still sent to the audience. The remaking of The Taking of Tiger Mountain and the recent The Founding of an Army both show this trend.
Chen Shan, a professor at the Beijing Film Academy, told the Global Times the popularity of the film shows the younger generation is searching for their own meaning of life and their interests are different from the last generation, represented by famous director Feng Xiaogang, who grew up through a chaotic time.
"The new generation grew up during a peaceful era, and they are searching for their life's purpose and values - what keeps them alive - and one of them could be patriotism," he said. "As participants and observers of the movie industry, we are all attentive to what are new hits and trends and I think it's bringing many changes to the Chinese film industry."
Directors, producers and even cinema mangers have realized it's a huge market. While a lot of Chinese military films and TV dramas set during World War II focus on a China that is struggling to defeat invaders, "Wolf Warriors 2 shows the strength of today's China around the world, which makes people proud," Yuan Haibin, a cinema manger in Beijing, told Global Times previously. He expects the movie to keep earning cash for the cinema in the days to come.
