Crime thriller. A direct continuation of the first part, in which John Woo has absorbed all the best. The finale of the first part made me very worried about the continuation, but watching it dispelled most of my doubts. And here's my brief opinion - an unnecessary continuation. I will single out all claims to this picture in a separate paragraph and explain how much, but for now let your humble servant dwell on the expressive merits of this hurricane criminal action movie.
So, here they are:
1. The story told - if you remove my main claim, then you can get pleasure from the story, but what can I hide, I myself was completely delighted with it. The film will again tell about two brothers, the elder Ho and the younger Keith, who must bring down another triad from the inside, which is engaged in the creation and distribution of counterfeit money. Of course, along the way there will be serious obstacles, disruptions to plans, unexpected news, and so on. The story is more dynamic than in the first part. The new characters that have appeared here are quite colorful and arouse lively interest, although their images and character are guessed almost instantly. Let's just say, if you love high-quality action movies with a good and well-written story, then you definitely come here!
2. Music - this time I remember the title theme, which runs like a thin string through the whole picture. This is a progress in comparison with the first part, where there were no catchy melodies at all. The rest of the tunes are good, but without revelation.
3. Hurricane shootouts - that's why it was worth spending time on this picture, since the quality of the shootings at John Woo has only increased. Extras - apparently invisible, blood - gushing over the edge, and this is not striking due to the scale, accidental victims of criminal showdowns - there, Macedonian shooting - there, the unreal coolness of the heroes - available. I'm not talking about the final skirmish, where the heroes endure an entire army. Maybe some of its moments are out of tune, but it still looks pretty realistic, since the heroes are injured. Against this background, the final shootout from the first part pales.
4. Drama - I don't know why, but the dramatic moments in this part hooked me much more than in the first one. Why this happened is hard for me to say. Maybe it's the script, or the actors, or something else, but the drama here is much better and stronger. I just have to come to terms with this fact.
Claims. First of all, the story ended in the first picture, and it did not require a continuation, since there all the points were placed in the right places. I expected another scenario from the continuation, but received a direct continuation. Praise the creators that they got out in a very elegant way and there were no logical holes. What can I say, in those old days they knew how to write scripts, from which the head would not go round. Secondly - some silly moments that seemed to me completely unnecessary, because from their contemplation you come to a stupor about the genre of this picture, because I am now watching a crime thriller! After all, exactly? That's for sure? Yes! Okay! Well, a few logical quibbles. That's all the claims that I have about the picture.
A little about the main characters:
1. Ho played by Ti Lun - a former bigwigs of the triad, convicted of crimes, but now - a Hong Kong police agent with a particularly important mission. This is still the same Ho as in the first picture, without any major changes. Tee still performed this role perfectly.
2. Keith played by Leslie Chun - Ho's younger brother and a Hong Kong police lieutenant, embedded in the triad with a particularly important mission. All the same stubborn and splinter in one place, which this time does not enrage with his stupidity, but on the contrary - makes only a good impression. Leslie did not disappoint this time either. Well done!
3. Ken performed by Chou Yunfat is the twin brother of Mark who died in the first part. The complete opposite of his brother, except for one thing - the thirst for justice and the ability to shoot. Chow struck me - he played a completely different hero, only occasionally Mark slipped. Bravo Chow! Bravo!
The last part remains, which takes place even before the events of the first picture. What did the writers do there? We will find out about this next time.
In the end, we have a good, but completely unnecessary sequel to the crime thriller John Woo, with hurricane gunfights, solid script, good music and excellent acting.
Review of A Better Tomorrow II
