Jackpot Island: Kumanthong Returns

This film begins where its predecessor left off with the young woman named "Soi" (Hoang Yen Chibi) noticeably pregnant and on the bus to Saigon. Not long afterward, she gives birth to twins--one male and one female. The scene then shifts to a few years later with Soi engaged in the practice of black magic while her two children secretly watch from outside the doorway. It's during this time that a fight between Soi and her father takes place which ends up in a fire that engulfs the house and kills the two of them with the twins barely managing to escape. The scene once again shifts to several years later with an attractive young woman named "Linh" (Sam) going on a small cruise with several of her friends to an island off the coast of Vietnam. As it so happens, this is not the first time she has visited this island because, during her last visit, she ended up hurting her leg during an accident. It was also during this time that a young man very close to her was also killed. Be that as it may, being somewhat crippled because of that event, Linh feels fortunate to have her adopted sister "Kim" (Hoa Hau Tieu Vy) with her as she has always looked out for her. Likewise, Linh's boyfriend "Tan" (Tran Nghia) is also on this cruise and the two of them are clearly excited to spend some time together as well. Unfortunately, what Linh doesn't realize is that the island harbors an evil presence which has been waiting for her for a very long time--and those closest to her have secrets of their own which will only make matters even worse. Now, rather than reveal any more, I will just say that this film started off well enough but, as it progressed, the story diverged into 2 or 3 different subplots which detracted from the overall movie experience. For example, the argument between "Long" (Tran Phong) and "Cuong" (Minh Du) went on much longer than necessary and actually eclipsed what should have been the primary horror element. At least, that's the way it seemed to me. In any case, I was rather disappointed with this movie, and I have rated it accordingly. Below average.

Now, I don't actually think I've seen the first movie here, so whether or not I am missing out on anything important to fully understand the storyline told in "Jackpot Island: Kumanthong Returns", I have no idea. Nonetheless, I opted to sit down and watch this 2022 Vietnamese movie when I stumbled upon it.

As I had never heard about it, I had zero expectations to director Le Binh Giang, aside from knowing that the movie was a horror movie.

The storyline told in "Jackpot Island: Kumanthong Returns" was adequate enough for what it turned out to be. However, as lifelong fan of the horror genre, then I have to admit that director Le Binh Giang just didn't deliver an outstanding movie experience here. Sure, the movie was watchable, but it was hardly a memorable horror experience. And even for an Asian horror movie it was fairly bland.

The acting performances in the movie were fair. I wasn't familiar with the cast ensemble. But then again, I am not overly familiar with the Vietnamese cinema.

Visually then "Jackpot Island: Kumanthong Returns" was okay. It wasn't the best of CGI or special effects, but they served their purpose well enough.

If you enjoy Asian horror movies, then I would not really recommend you wasting your time, money or effort on "Jackpot Island: Kumanthong Returns".

My rating of "Jackpot Island: Kumanthong Returns" lands on a four out of ten stars.