La Légende de Fong Sai-Yuk 2

THE LEGEND OF FONG SAI-YUK II (B-) continues the story of Fong Sai-Yuk and his mother helping the Red Flower Society work against their Manchu leaders. The leader of the Red Flower Society is secretly of the Emperor's line (therefore a threat to the Manchu Crown) and there's a sacred box being guarded by Japanese Samurai that houses this secret. The Red Flower Society tries to retrieve this box leading to a series of action sequences and in-fighting within the society. There are a few comedic sequences thrown in as well, mostly having to do with Fong Sai-Yuk's mother or love interests, and they don't quite work - even if they are better integrated into the story than most humor in films like this. The fight scenes here are consistently good and inventive. While none of them reach the heights of the first film, they are enjoyable and worth a view. The sequel is a step down from the first film, but it is still another enjoyable and quality film in a spectacular run from Cory Yuen and Jet Li.

Fong Sai Yuk 2 directly continues the story of the first film, but tries to take a slightly more serious approach to the real historical characters it portrays. As a result, it has a darker feel than the original. Nevertheless, it contains numerous very funny comedy sequences, as our hero has two girls fighting over him and his doting mother on his tail. The fight sequences are not as well staged, however.

This film looks really good on TV but not as good as the first part. The fight scenes are really impressive but I think the first part had more of them. The story continues from the first film which makes it good. This film contains some classic comedy. But I think the best fight in this film is at the end. The rest is ok. If you really liked part one this film is half good as the first one. So go rent this one if you want.

Jet Li, more visible from Lethal Weapon, 4 returns as the hero of the Fong Sai Yuk movies. This one is darker and more serious than the first yet is just as enjoyable.

It would be interesting to see this in Mandarain with English subtitles. The dubbed dialog is a bit odd, but not as bad as some I have seen.

The action scenes are in the Croutching Tiger vein, which instead of relying on solely on the physical abilities of the actors features of a lot of special effects.

Like Croutching Tiger, the women in this movie are quite capable of kicking butt.

Also like Croutching Tiger, it is a historical piece that could be 100 years ago or 500 years ago.

The guy who plays Dong, Fong Shi Yu's teacher, looks familiar, but the character is not listed on IMDB. Wonder what I've seen him in before.

If you like Jet Li movies, this is one worth seeing.