So duk 2: Tin dei duei kuet

(2019) The White Storm 2: Drug Lords CRIME DRAMA/ ACTION THRILLER

Co-written and directed by Herman Yau that has the second film that is unrelated to the first "White Storm" movie except by only title. Even Louis Koo character is different who's name and perhaps persona is different that he played on the first movie. In other words, the second film can still be watched without the first one even being watched at all.

The synopsis opens with Yu Shun Tin (Andy Lau) girlfriend leaving him as a result of his gangster lifestyle. And is ordered by his boss, called Chief/ Yu Nam (Kent Cheng) to pick up a guy name Dizang and he turns out to be the same actor played by Louis Koo, who played as an undercover narc, So Kin-chow in the first "The White Storm". Louis Koo is a total different character in this one. This time he plays a gangster, Dizang aka Fung Chun Kwok who owns a few nightclubs and sells drugs, mainly coke. It appears, some of his guys have been dealing on the Chief's turf. And the Chief wants Dizang to put a stop to it, forcing Yu Shun Tin to punish him severely by removing some of his fingers, putting a strain on their long time relationship. The movie then jumps 15 years later, and Yu Shun Tin goes on his own, and is involved in a new relationship. This time it is with a speaker, Michelle Chow (Karena Kar-Yan Lam) and has become a successful investor, and is also involved in the narcotics bureau, while Dizang continues to do what he does which is to continue to produce drugs and dealing. Yu Shun Tin then receives a letter that the previous girlfriend who had left him at the opening, now tells him she has cancer is going to die that the last pregnancy she had, that the person she had a child was actually her son named Danny. And has apparently took the wrong path and is is an addict. Leading to the both of them to cross paths again, for it is just a matter of when.

As a action fan of 1990's movies I give this a pass and a slight improvement over the first movie that is full of way too many dramatic scenes that motivated me to use the mute button. There is at least 2 or 3 action sequences that I thought is worth watching- one after the 30 minute mark during the drug bust raid by the police. Actual car crashes and stunt men can clearly be seen, rolling off of cars and so forth, and the final car chase toward the end that led to an obvious CGI subway crash that would have costed a lot of money had it been an actual subway car that was used.

All the leading actors in this movie did a great job. Unlike "The Invincible Dragon (2019)" that turned out to be a nothing-is-right big laughable joke, this movie about the Hong Kong drug cartel on the contrary, turned out to be everything-is-right serious and decent enough to be tagged as a "Pretty Good Movie" in 2019. The screenplay, the scenarios, the plots and the dialog are all quite mature, the casting, the acting, the directing, the stunt as well as the special effect, the editing, and the subtle soundtrack....all of them, one word: GOOD.

I saw this for the first time today after freshly remembering the first one. The plot gets tedious n the film is not at all engrossing like its predecessor. There is no likeable or memorable character. The shoot outs n the car chase sequence is badly edited. The film starts like Deathwish 4 but goes downhill. While the first one has good suspense n tension, this one gets boring. The ending is also a meh.

The plot is thin, the characters are facial, and the emotions are pale. All the backgrounds are clearly explained by a few lines, and even a one-second picture is not willing to be shaped. Except for violence, all the supporting roles are redundant. This script is estimated to be over and over again, and it has not been polished.

Six years ago, The White Storm was a surprise hit that I remember very positively with its profound characters, exotic locations and gripping plot. I didn't expect a sequel to ever come around and the similarities between the movies are indeed rather shallow. In terms of quality, the first movie is largely superior while The White Storm 2 - Drug Lords is only just good for genre fans.

Fifteen years ago, reckless Jizo got his fingers cut off by his colleague Tin after he betrayed the Ching Hing Gang by running a secret drug business in his club. Jizo left the gang and swore to have his revenge as he eventually became the biggest regional drug dealer. Tin on the other side became a philanthropist and tycoon who supported numerous projects fighting drug abuse. In present day, Tin loses his estranged son to drug addiction which further fuels his hatred for drug abuse. Jizo on the other side wants to see hin former gang vanish and former colleague suffer and attempts to expand his drug business even further. After the two enemies clash at the funeral of their former boss, their conflict escalates frantically. Jizo tries to go after Tin's wife while Tin publicly offers a bounty to assassinate Jizo. Police chief inspector Lam gets caught between both sides and tries to prevent that Hong Kong becomes the bloody battlefield of the two men's bitter rivalry.

The White Storm 2 - Drug Lords convinces on a few levels. The breathtaking and brutal action scenes should be enjoyed at your local cinema. The body count is particularly elevated and the film is quite graphic even by genre standards. The sound and special effects are captivating and intense. The two lead characters and their backgrounds are interesting enough to keep the audience watching until the end.

The movie however also has several flaws. The plot is an extremely thin tale of revenge that justifies massive violence. The film entirely focuses on extremely negative emotions which makes it hard to emphasize with any character. The morally debatable movie at times feels like a Rodrigo Duterte propaganda flick as the protagonist openly idolizes the pitiless anti-drug campaign of the president of the Philippines.

In the end, this sequel was rather unnecessary as it never equals the creativity, depth and emotion of the first film at all. You may like this movie if you are looking for a particularly brutal action-thriller but its message is too bland and debatable to make it artistically relevant or even recommendable beyond faithful genre fans. Give the first movie a try and ignore the sequel.