Le Bras armé de la loi 2

Michael Mak directed this sequel, Long Arm of the Law 2 (1987), to his brother Johnny's Long Arm of the Law (1984), the first of all heroic bloodshed films made in Hong Kong. The first film is very gritty and fierce, and ends in one of the greatest and most incredible gun fight segments in the history of Hong Kong cinema. It is obvious, that I had high expectations on this sequel, Arm 2, and the fact is that I am definitely not disappointed. Arm 2 is not related to first Arm at all, but the story is pretty similar and involves mainland Chinese going to Hong Kong, rob something there, and go back to the mainland and never get caught. This is called the Big Circle and in this sequel, a three guys mainland group gets out of jail in Hong Kong and can return to home in mainland only, if they serve as undercover cops for some time in order to track down criminal groups and perhaps also another Big Circle criminals and thus help the local police. They agree and get an older undercover cop for assistance, and that's about the structure of this fierce piece of action cinema. This is perhaps little more polished than the first film, but it is still very bleak and brutal, to say the least.

Once again, the action scenes are totally unbelievable and full of fire and mayhem. The action is not as plenty as in the first Arm film, but what's there is equally brilliantly staged and shot. The usual elements of the "heroic" genre are all there since betrayal and honor are the key elements that relate the characters and also eventually become their destiny. There are no happy endings in these films, since the world they depict is not too happy either. Johnnie To's and Andrew Kam's ultra over-the-top The Big Heat (1988) is very apocalyptic and infernal piece of mayhem cinema, and it has really dark vision of world and life, even though the ending is somewhat "happy" in The Big Heat. These Eastern films are absolutely unique and perhaps impossible to equal by any other country and its cinema.

Long Arm of the Law 2 is often little confusing as there are many characters and something's going on all the time, but that is again usual in these films, which open more on each viewing. Long Arm 2 has incredible rage in its action scenes, and there is one particularly brutal and horrific torture scene that is even more brutal than any scene in the first Arm film. These Arm films are very rough stuff even in Hong Kong standars, and fans of tamer actioners won't probably like these bleak and gritty true-to-life action thrillers. These films don't offer entertainment nor funny moments and characters to identify with; these are serious and horribly realistic depictions of life and humans' morals and values in this kind of world. I think Long Arm of the Law 1 and 2 are equally brilliant pieces of action cinema, and they both are almost similar in their merits, albeit part one is the grittier one.

Long Arm of the Law 2 is a 9/10 masterpiece of mayhem action cinema, and these films will without a doubt remain as the greatest films in the heroic bloodshed genre, among some other efforts and masters in the field. Mak brothers prove that there's also other great talents than Tsui Hark, Ringo Lam and John Woo.

Some speculate that this sequel is equally as good as the first but I must disagree. This sequel is more so just a standard HK action film at best. Not saying that is was bad by any stretch of the imagination, it does nothing to innovate the genre in anyways shape or form. Still it's a fun happy violent movie with plentiful bloody gun fighting action and a coherent enough story about these 3 guys who are trying to infiltrate the "O Gang" to take down some ****. And at some point in the movie, you'll be greeted with a very awful and gory execution scene when some gangsters chop off a guys head while being hung upside down. WEEEEEEEE! WHAT FUN!!! :D

Recommended to HK action film lovers at best.

No pun intended - and this is no Infernal Affair. I am not sure if you know that movie (or the trilogy of films to be more exact) and maybe it is not fair to compare them in the first place. But we do have people from both sides of the law ... changing lanes and professions ... in some sense I reckon.

While this is a sequel, it is in name only. Well you also have some of the same actors - even sort of reprising their roles - well their characters. Because this is not based on the first movie nor are the actors playing the same person. Still there is a recap in front of the movie to bring you up to speed if you want to. Characters are almost as unlikable as in the first one ... which you may like or not.

There is one torture scene that is quite ... out there ... and I have to admit, hats off to the actor ... he did not mince his words ... or whatever else may have been coming out of his mouth ... if you know, you know.

Good stunts and action - and another weird ending ... that I reckon works ... it had to end like this, right? Not based on anything "true" like the first one was!

The second of the four-part series, although each film tells a separate story. This one is about three cops from the mainland who illegally travel to Hong Kong and end up going undercover in the gang world. Alex Man is their handler and gives a typically all-out performance. The story here is a little slow and long-winded at times, lifted by solid acting from the assembled cast members including Elvis Tsui. It finally springs into life for the excellent climax, but overall the first film is still better.

These 3 actors do such a great job in this movie. It would have been completely stale without them. Ben Lam is the 4th co-star, and he does a good job, but there was nothing about his performance that made him stand out like the other 3 actors. Elvis Tsui, Ben Lam and Yuen Yat Chor are in prison for fighting for their freedom. They are given a job as undercover gang members and in return they will be able to get their passport and finally have their freedom. They meet up with Alex Man who is basically their superior, though he ends up being friends with them more than their superior. There is one conversation between Elvis Tsui and Alex Man that is a really great scene. Just 2 guys talking, except these are 2 actors putting everything they have into their performances. If there were more great scenes like this it would probably be a 10 star movie. But unfortunately this is a Hong Kong movie, and there's just too many things wrong with it. For one, I wish there was more action. There's hardly any at all. And the main thing that bugged me was that the scenes don't flow together well. One scene never seems to lead into the next.

So, if you are a fan of Alex Man or Elvis Tsui, then you may want to take a look at this. Like I said Yuen Yat Chor gives a good performance, but I doubt there's many people that will watch a movie because of a supposed good acting performance from him. I just don't see it happening. And one more thing I have to mention is the torture scene. It's another great scene that stands out in this all too average movie. I don't want to give anything away, so just be on the lookout for it. It's definitely one of the most brutal and realistic torture scenes I have ever seen in a non horror movie.

The picture quality on the Megastar DVD is a little above average and the subtitles are decent.