A Better Tomorrow II (1987)

A Better Tomorrow II is another unnecessary sequel. It's up there with sequels such as The Hangover Part II and Home Alone 2: Lost in New York in the sense that it doesn't develop the characters any further and seems to only exist just because the original made a lot of money. But is it really that bad? Let's find out!The story here just isn't very good. There isn't enough focus on Ho and Kit and there's no emotional weight here. Instead, we focus more on a new character named Lung Sing who is a money counterfeiter and the mentor of Ho and... he's just not a very interesting character. He never deals with any dilemmas that we can relate to like Ho did so we just don't care for him. And Ho and Kit don't go through any arcs in this movie, they never learn anything or go through any personal problems so why should we care? The thing that made the original A Better Tomorrow great was that it was a real human drama at its core but still had great action in it. This film got rid of all the human drama in the first film and replaced with nothing but over-the-top action sequences and while they are a lot of fun, they can't carry the whole film.The way they brought back Chow-yun Fat was ridiculous! It turns out that he had a twin brother the whole time and somehow, Ho never knew about it even though it's clear in the first film that they've been friends for quite some time. Personally, if I was the writer, I would've just gone with Mark surviving all those gunshots somehow and just recovered from a coma but that's just me.Also, while I like Chow-yun Fat#2 overall, there's some scenes in here that just make him look like a d!ck. He tries to get Lung to eat when he became catatonic but instead of it looking sweet and compassionate, it looks kinda mean and cruel. He does it with so much force and anger, it's hard to see it as an act of friendship.I also didn't quite understand why did Kit have to die in this movie. In this film, he doesn't do anything wrong or make any mistakes so why does he have to die? I honestly don't understand what was Woo and Hark's intentions behind this decision. It comes off as a cheap attempt to get some emotions out of its audience and it just doesn't work as a result.So while I don't like the story in this film, I still think this film is very entertaining. As mentioned earlier in this review, the action is a lot of fun. They had a much bigger budget this time around and you can tell because the action is much more elaborate and explosive this time around. The gore is amplified, there's more jumping and sliding across the floor, more explosions, more adversity to the weapons(even using a katana at one point), and more slow-motion.The film is also well-paced with never a moment of boredom and like the original, the acting and composing is excellent. But while none of the actors do a bad job, none of them get to show off their acting abilities like they did in the first film because nobody goes through any arcs in this movie.There's also a really funny scene where Chow-yun Fat#2 deals with some a$$hole American who starts a temper tantrum over fried rice and it's just hilarious! Chow's sarcastic mannerisms here are comedy-gold!Overall, it's not a very good movie but it's entertaining in its own right and if you are a John Woo fan, you'll definitely be pleased with the action in this movie. I'm gonna give it a 5/10.

Viewers familiar with the Hong Kong box office champ might think a follow up would be redundant, but here's one sequel which, while almost identical to its predecessor, actually improves on it in every department. The new film follows the usual Hong Kong movie-making method of imitating and exaggerating Hollywood's most obvious formulas, and the result is a gangster thriller mashing every underworld cliché into one silly, blood-soaked melodrama. The original cast is back, including superstar Chow Yun Fat as the twin brother of one popular character killed in the earlier film, and the bigger budget means better production values, with a few scenes photographed on location in NYC. Also like the original Part II glorifies every code in the lexicon of machismo, and with (believe it or not) even more outrageous bloodletting: the body count in the Peckinpah-plus finale is astronomical. But the violence is exaggerated beyond comic book proportions, with no message to get in the way of the often exhilarating, purely escapist entertainment. Look for actor/director Peter Wang ('A Great Wall'), who makes a brief cameo appearance before (of course) being gunned down in cold blood.

After the movie 'A Better Tomorrow' became a big success around Hong Kong, a sequel was inevitable to happen. Most of the original cast return, including Chow Yun-Fat as Mark Lee's twin brother Ken.Taking place a few years after the events of the first film, we see how things are finally starting to look up. Ho is in prison but he's finally re concealed his relationship with his brother Kit, who has become a loving husband and soon to be father. But like the first film, things get bad real quick. Ho's former master Lung has been framed for murder and even loses his mind as his life gets worse. He's sent over to New York to keep a low profile and to be looked after by Ken who owns a restaurant and lives there. Meanwhile Ho and Kit are working together to end the triad gangs.This is where the problem starts. The first film revolved around Ho and the people around him, but this film spends way too much time with Ken trying to get Lung back to normal. Ho and Kit's plot seems to delve deeper into the main story ark, yet they never seem to get enough scenes. Ken is pretty much similar to Mark although he may be a little darker and you can tell he's only in the film because of Chow Yun-Fat's character was so popular in the last film.The film doesn't seem to make a huge continuation onto the first film either. Instead of being it's own story, it seems to just be an expansion of the first film, but not in a good way. We don't delve too much into the characters and they seem underused. The film is also known for having a sillier feel in a few scenes(Famous Rice Scene), but it didn't ruin the experience for me. These flaws are apparently due to disagreement between John Woo and producer/second writer Tsui Hark about the tone of the film, causing Woo to disown most of the film, except the end shootout. John Woo's original cut was around 3 hours and is rumoured to improve on some of the flawed moments. A version I hope will appear in some future release of the film.Now for the goods. The film seems to get noticeable better during the second half, beginning with the amazing hotel shootout. The film is well known for it's exaggerated violence and blood and the film doesn't disappoint. The action is a big step up from the first and some of the best ever filmed for its time. Chow Yun-Fat is once again cooler than ice, with his trademark sunglasses, trench coat, matchstick and dual pistols and may be one of the main appeals of the film. The Climatic assault on the triad mansion is one of the greatest shootouts and one of the greatest ending ever filmed. It's no wonder that it's the only thing Woo likes about the film. The amazing soundtrack returns and their are a few emotional scenes that actually work well.With many iconic scenes (The stairs scene being one), the film is a lot better than it gets credit for. The film is no masterpiece and doesn't compare to the first but it has its moments. Silly and flawed moments aside the film is actually quite enjoyable and as long as you keep an open mind, I think you'll enjoy this conclusion to the Better Tomorrow saga. Part 3 doesn't count!

This film broke off a potentially very creative relationship between Tsui hark and John Woo; and it certainly feels like more than one film Certainly, until Chow Yun Fat shows up, the plot is a little complicated, and a little unbelievable. Once Chow appears, the plot becomes wildly unbelievable, but one can follow it with amusement and interest. Ti lung must also be credited with turning in a strong and well-grounded performance, even when the script calls for him to get schmaltzy.This is also the film that salvaged character actor dean Shek from obscurity, he wanted to prove he could act, and though he over acts occasionally, he actually does pretty well, especially in the final gun battle.It must be said that throughout his career, John Woo has repeatedly attempted to grasp the essence of the 'battle of bloody porch' from Sam Peckinpah's "the Wild Bunch" and duplicate it - and he has always failed. that's because (to be honest) Woo is a believing Christian; and although raised in the Calvinist tradition, Peckinpah clearly does not believe. Woo simply cannot grasp the basics of Peckinpah's existentialism.Consequently, the final battle here, while a lot of gory fun, doesn't really make the point Woo clearly wants for it (which is a believing Christian's interpretation of the Wild Bunch), but - never mind. On its own terms, as I say, it's quite fun.As for the 'serious' story concerning the young undercover cop and his pregnant wife, I didn't believe it for a moment, and, frankly, didn't care. I'm afraid I'm not a believing Christian, either.