Tiger Cage 2

Reviewed by FilmMining101:

The sequel to "Tiger Cage" (1988) elevates Donnie Yen into the main lead status and brings back some of the same actors into different roles with a few "wink wink" cameos for a good measure. The uniquely named... "Tiger Cage II" has nothing to separate itself from the action Hong Kong flicks of the 80s except being more humorous than its predecessor shaping it towards an R-rated Jackie Chan vehicle.

Donnie Yen carries the film on his shoulders showing a charismatic presence that will be perfected in the years to come taking your breath away when he is fighting well-known martial artists. Yet, perhaps from a western perspective, what elevates "Tiger Cage II" is seeing the beloved Liu Kang/Robin Shou shine in a truly villainous role flexing with martial art prowess when his American transition put some limits on; an office fight with David Wu's ... David is visceral and expertly shot featuring dazzling athletic stuntwork that demolishes the average US film.

While it might lack the lavish production values that Hollywood offers, 80s and early 90s Hong Kong cinema was notorious for its on-screen death defying and pain inducing stunts and "Tiger Cage II", a product of its time is no exception; people fly through wind screens, fall on side walks and staircases, enjoy contact style choreography, leap and twirl in the air like human kites using gravity to their advantage in spectacular fashion.

Yuen Woo-ping does a solid job as a director even if the paper thin story cannot keep up with the A+ kung fu fighting. From the get go, it is quite obvious who the bad buy is and the film becomes more of a collection of mini segments that are linked with the barest of information populated with glaring product placement which will make even Michael Bay blush. To be fair though, back then Hong Kong filmmakers only cared to demonstrate their ability to craft innovative action moments by attempting to outdo what had come previously through the addition of more outrageous and dangerous stunts.

Despite a running time of ninety something minutes (Hong Kong cut), "Tiger Cage II" is quite entertaining, a stark reminder of a bygone era filled with visceral, if not occasionally funny and pain inducing, thrills. Fans of martial arts flicks will eat this up and will enjoy the OTT (western) villain portrayals while patiently nodding their heads at the stunning but overblown damsel in distress that Rosamund Kwan plays. The uninitiated might have a problem but if you stay for the action, you won't be disappointed for sure.

We all agree that this movie has lots of awesome fight scenes, the story is good enough to justify the ass kickery...but what about the rest? I have only one complaint about this movie and i'm talking about Rosamund Kwan, i have nothing against her, but her character ruined the movie for me, always delivering some very lame (and annoying) humorous scenes (and i usually don't mind about the comical scenes in these movies), i seriously hoped that the villain (played by Robin Shou, yes, the guy who played Liu Kang in the Mortal Kombat movies) would have ripped her heart out.

Enough with the complaints...anyway, as i said, the film has lots of awesome fights (including one of the best sword fights ever filmed, featuring Donnie Yen and John Salvitti) and there are also lots of cool stunts.

Cynthia Khan has a small role in this movie (i know that there are some versions where she has an extra scene), it would have been a much better movie if they made her play the Rosamund Kwan role, Donnie and Cynthia would kick some ass together (maybe, it would have been better than "In the line of duty IV").

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.

I'll say it again: Tiger Cage II is simply the best modern day action movie from Hong Kong. This movie has it all to become a classic: martial arts, gunfights, an awesome swordfight, comedy, and good characters and stunts!! Don't be fooled by the title it has nothing to do with the first Tiger Cage!! Donnie Yen (The greatest, in my opinion!!), Robin Shou(from Mortal Kombat, but don't worry he fights extremely well in this movie) and Davis Wu star in this great action movie. The last 20 minutes of the movie are fights after fights: Robin against David, Donnie against John Salvitti, Donnie against Michael Woods, Donnie against Robin!!! The movie's is also extremely well directed by the Master himself: Yuen-Woo Ping. And Donnie, Yuen Cheung-Yan and Yuen Shun-Yee(two brothers of Yuen Woo-Ping) are in charge of the action sequences. Simply get this movie if you are looking for a great ACTION movie from HK...............................9,3/10

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)