Gone with the Bullets

Gone with the Bullets is set in 1920s Shanghai, where Ma Zouri and Xiang Feitian run a large-scale swindle. The two stage a lavish beauty contest, drawing the city's elite to the gala, but the unexpected crowning of an outsider sets off a chain of events that overturns the fortunes of everyone involved.

Jiang Wen directed and wrote the film, which followed Let the Bullets Fly in his filmography and came before Hidden Man. Jiang also stars as Ma Zouri, with Shu Qi as Wanyan Ying, Ge You as Xiang Feitian, Zhou Yun, Wang Zhiwen and Wen Zhang in supporting roles. Zhao Hai-Cheng and Albert Lee produced, and the production was a Hong Kong, Chinese and American co-production involving Columbia Pictures and China Film Co-Production Corporation, with a budget of 20 million USD.

Released in December 2014, the film runs 140 minutes and mixes action, adventure, comedy, drama and romance. Its reception was modest: on IMDb it holds 5.8/10 from around 2,000 votes, and on TMDB 5.9/10 from 77 votes. The small TMDB sample and the larger IMDb one point to similarly middling audience opinions rather than a broad divide.