Newly married, Fong Sai Yuk has joined the secret society of the red flower, seeking to over throw the oppressive Emperor and establish a new dynasty in its place. When a soothsayer declares that the leader of the society is actually in line to be Emperor but that he sees one of his closest friends will betray him, while another will intervene to rescue him. With this news, the leader sends a group of men to capture a box belonging to a rival, a box that holds the truth about his lineage. When the first mission fails, Fong is sent on a more covert mission to try and get the box however the internal conflict within the Red Flower society is great and the presence of Fong's mother isn't really helping his stature with his peers.
Having really enjoyed the first Fong Sai Yuk film I was looking forward to this film and, despite it being a bit less fun, it was an enjoyable film. The plot is a bit better than the first film and is easier to get into once it settles down from the first few minutes but it is more serious than it needed to be and it sucks a lot of the comedy out of it at the same time. This is a bit of a problem since the thing I enjoyed about the first film was that it was pretty freewheeling and funny, but it wasn't a problem to the point that I disliked the film just to the point where it didn't feel like it was being loyal to the spirit of the first film. It still does have the same sense of humour but it has fewer chances to come through despite still having enough laughs to do the job. Some are inspired lunacy (the chicken nerve freeze) but others are unintentional (witness, if you will, the hilariously fake horses they are seen riding in close up shots).
The action is fun but not as impressive as it could have been, with only some of the fights really being technically impressive as well as fun. Jet Li still has a good presence but, despite not being as well served by the material, he is still a good lead. However, as with the first film, it is left to Siao to produce a lot of laughs and the film noticeably lightens whenever she is on screen; yes she gets dragged into the darker side of the story as well but for the most part she is a funny without being made a straight 'comic' character (if you pardon the oxymoron in those words). Reis and Chuen-Hua are both good looking and pretty funny in their various roles and it adds a romantic thread to the film that it benefits from. The leader is pretty good but the main bad guy was a bit hammy and looked too weird to really be the cunning insider that the plot would have us believe he was. Everyone is OK but whenever Mother Fong is absent for any length of time it is very telling.
Overall this is a fun and silly film that will give some laughs intentionally and unintentionally. Those who enjoyed the first film will notice that this is weaker in several regards, but generally it delivers enough to be worth mentioning in the same breath. The cast try hard but the material isn't there often enough to back them happily Li is always a good presence and Siao is a force in regards comedy and action.
