Sung Tse-Ho (Ti Lung) has landed in prison after the events of the first film. He is offered an early parole if he rats on his mentor Lung Sei (Dean Shek), who is believed to have taken over the Hong Kong counterfeiting business. Initially Ho is reluctant to accept the offer, but once again he sets out to protect his younger brother Kit (Leslie Cheung), who has gone undercover in order to expose Lung.
A Better Tomorrow II is cut from the same cloth as the first film. It has scenes of deep drama seamlessly intermixing with brutal and prolonged action scenes, all the while the character tote guns, wear long coats and look damn cool smoking cigarettes and wearing sunglasses. But, whereas the original film could be taken somewhat seriously and was rather somber in tone, this film decides that it would rather be as bizarre as it possible can be. It's simply one weird, uncomfortable and odd scene after one another, but whereas that would ruin a lesser movie, here it kind of adds to the film's appeal. It's a weird film, but in a good way.
Though yes, it is somewhat off-putting that they casted Chow Yun-fat once again. The way they introduce his new character is perhaps one of the strangest "What am I watching?" moments I've seen in a long time, but again, once you get over the initial surprise, it's actually kind of fun.
And on the technical side of things, John Woo doesn't disappoint. The action scenes are once again splendid to watch, all the character are easily identifiable and given enough development to shine. The plot is a bit more convoluted this time around, but it's still easy enough to follow that you won't mind.
All in all, A Better Tomorrow II isn't quite as good as its predecessor, but it's still definitely worth a watch if you're fan of John Woo and liked the original.
A Better Tomorrow II is cut from the same cloth as the first film. It has scenes of deep drama seamlessly intermixing with brutal and prolonged action scenes, all the while the character tote guns, wear long coats and look damn cool smoking cigarettes and wearing sunglasses. But, whereas the original film could be taken somewhat seriously and was rather somber in tone, this film decides that it would rather be as bizarre as it possible can be. It's simply one weird, uncomfortable and odd scene after one another, but whereas that would ruin a lesser movie, here it kind of adds to the film's appeal. It's a weird film, but in a good way.
Though yes, it is somewhat off-putting that they casted Chow Yun-fat once again. The way they introduce his new character is perhaps one of the strangest "What am I watching?" moments I've seen in a long time, but again, once you get over the initial surprise, it's actually kind of fun.
And on the technical side of things, John Woo doesn't disappoint. The action scenes are once again splendid to watch, all the character are easily identifiable and given enough development to shine. The plot is a bit more convoluted this time around, but it's still easy enough to follow that you won't mind.
All in all, A Better Tomorrow II isn't quite as good as its predecessor, but it's still definitely worth a watch if you're fan of John Woo and liked the original.