Full Contact

A sequel in name only to the action-packed TIGER CAGE, TIGER CAGE 2 marks a real highlight of the Hong Kong comedy cop/action sub-genre. Directed by Yuen Woo Ping - undoubtedly one of the best of the Chinese directors and martial arts choreographers - this sequel turns out to be better than the original and indeed might well be the best of its kind.

The film features an intensely likable Donnie Yen and an at-her-most-gorgeous Rosamund Kwan as a mismatched couple (a cop and a lawyer, respectively) who run foul of some sinister money launderers who use murder to keep their business private. The end up on the run being pursued by gangsters. Of course, what this inevitably leads to is an incredible amount of expertly-choreographed action and fight sequences. There are the requisite car chases and shoot-outs here, but the majority of the action is hand-to-hand combat, and boy is it blistering.

Yen is on top form as a physical fight and his bouts with various opponents are fast and furious. The plot is occasionally slightly muddled (and the dodgy subtitles on the Hong Kong blu-ray I watched hardly helped) but it doesn't matter as this is visual, visceral entertainment throughout. Michael Woods makes his third (and best) appearance in a Chinese film, the creepy John Salvitti is back from IN THE LINE OF DUTY 4, and Robin Shou makes a decent antagonist. Watch out for a surprisingly fine David Wu in support and a cameo from veteran star Lo Lieh as a gangster.

There's only one good reason to watch this movie and it's to see Donnie Yen's fight scenes. The last 20 minutes of this film include some of Donnie Yen's best. The rest of the movie up until that point is mind numbingly bad. Cheesy music, bad dialogue, corny humor, and a razor thin plot. In fact, I don't think there was a screenplay written for this thing. I think Yuen Woo Ping just started filming fight scenes and the story was written on napkins in between takes. That being said, your kung fu movie collection will not be complete without the last three fight scenes in this movie. They are classic and almost worth the wait. Just skip ahead to that last 20 minutes and I promise you won't be missing anything.

Watched this randomly and was so entertained. The action was well filmed and it was so fast paced it felt like 10 minutes. So many cool moments

Story was thin and predictable but the cast were entertaining even with the bad dubbing. I like Robin Shou as the bad guy, was what you want from a 90s action film bad guy. The sword fight with Donnie Yen and fake highlander was good too.

Overall if you want to see cool stunts and be entertained then this is the film for you.

No pun intended - this may be Tiger Cage 2 (international title), but you do not need to have seen the first one - there is no connection other than the title. And Donnie Yen, though he plays a completely different character in this movie. The tone is also way different - this is a lot "lighter" and has quite a few jokes in it. Donnies character really has some fun here.

Not everything is PC and I reckon the way certain things are handled will not be looked lightly upon ... or rather received through the lens of time. Sensibilities and all - some things were meant to be light jokes but the implications are way deeper than that. And yes you could hang the movie up on that - hopefully you are able to look past that. Not easy to do for some I know ... just try to enjoy the action and the comedy if you can.... otherwise you won't have a good time.

The plot is shallow and frankly quite tiresome (Donnie Yen and Rosamund Kwan spend most of the running time being chased by the police and the bad guys headed by Robin Shou, until they pick up some friends and decide to fight back), but the fight scenes are often creative (in one, Yen has to fight with only one hand because his other is cuffed to Kwan, so he ends up using her as a weapon as well; another fight takes place on a moving double-decker bus), and some of the moves and stunts are awesome (like when Yen jumps and delivers three kicks in mid-air before landing down, without the help of wires I think). As usual, the best stuff is saved for last, with Yen going one-on-one against firstly John Salvitti in a swordfight, then against Michael Woods (who could be described as a Black Hulk), and finally against Robin Shou (a brief but very fast fight). Rosamund Kwan falls somewhere between shrill and adorable, but mostly on the adorable side; I had seen her in a couple of other films, but I had never noticed before what a beautiful, expressive face she has. Oh, and Cynthia Khan pops up briefly, playing (presumably) the same character as in the "In The Line Of Duty" series (Inspector Yeung), but her part is essentially a cameo. (**1/2)