When Let the Bullets Fly first appeared in 2010 it felt like a breath of fresh air. Lighting up the box office and drawing a decent response from critics, Jiang Wen’s (director, writer and star) fast-paced dark comedy flew through China’s recent past in a whirlwind of crass entertainment. The same cannot be said for sequel Gone with the Bullets, switching the action from the countryside to 1920s Shanghai. Inexplicably competing for the Golden Bear at the Berlin Film Festival, I can only conclude it’s on the slate to make a weak year look better in comparison.
What seemed an impressive achievement last time out now screams vanity project. Jiang Wen is Ma Zouri, the best fixer in town. Asked to turn a large pile of cash from new to old money, he does so by launching a massive beauty contest won by his partner Wanyan (Shu Qi). When she dies, he becomes the number one suspect, setting off a frantic quest to clear his name.
Gone with the Bullets spares no extravagance along the way. Dressed up like a gaudy stage musical, it’s as if a child has gorged on Haribo and thrown up over the screen. High on those E numbers, Wen holds himself in check for the first few minutes before launching a frontal attack with the beauty pageant. Conducted with irrepressible razzamatazz, the film explodes in an orgy of dance numbers, singing routines and cheap parlour tricks.
None of it makes much sense. When he’s finished parading his beauty contestants/prostitutes, the mistaken murderer plotline commences, jumping through numerous strands, none of which are worth watching. Wen’s so eager to move onto the next gag, he forgets to provide any reason to pay attention to the present.
It’s not as if the jokes are any good either. Most consist of crude slapstick, barely above the standard on a digital children’s television station, and often worse. Unless you find over-amplified cracking sounds as someone bends over, Wen pretending to knock a tooth out with an orange, or double takes so wide they barely fit on the screen funny, there’s little to enjoy. The darker elements are also muted, focussing instead on Wen’s ability to clown around. A physically accomplished performer he may be, maintaining interest for two hours is an ask too far. There’s a reason each episode of The Chuckle Brothers only ran to a few minutes in length.
Gone with the Bullets may resemble a whirlwind blowing through town, but it also manages to blow itself away. Wen’s attempt to dip back into Chinese history with dash and humour fails on all counts. Unless you’re the kind of person who enjoys watching things go down in flames, its best to keep well clear.
Director: Wen Jiang
Writers: Wen Jiang (screenplay), Junli Guo (screenplay)
Stars: Zhang Wen, Zhiwen Wang, Huang Hung
Runtime:140 min
Country: China, Hong Kong, USA
film Rating: 
