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| Once Upon A Time In China 2 |
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  (8/10)
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Runtime: 112 |
| Public Rating: 5.92 (12 votes) |
Director: Tsui Hark |
MPAA Rating:  |
| Genre: Martial Arts/Drama |
Year: 1992 |
| Writer(s): Unknown |
| Reviewed by: Vadim Rizov |
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Schizophrenic and confused, Once Upon A Time In China none the less was one of the most succesful HK films ever and gave rise to a sequel. Fortunately, this sequel was all of one piece - a sustained drama where the fights take a while to get to, but one never sits in bored anticipation. Expertly acted and made, Once Upon A Time In China II is far less oblique than its predecessor, though far more explicit politically. It also features one of the few occassions where Jet Li is allowed to go absolutely nuts, and we are all better for having seen that.
Twenty years have passed since the first film, which is politically expediant for Hark; however, since the characters have neither visibly aged nor changed emotionally, such a time shift may be accepted only because in HK films we rarely deal with matters of pure logic. Although Master Wong (Jet Li) is still not wearing a Western suit, he is travelling to a Western medical conference in Canton to lecture on acupuncture. Unfortunately, the White Lotus Sect is operating in the same region, and they don't take kindly to all the foreign doctors in their area; nor, for that matter, do they tolerate Aunt Yee's (Rosamund Kwan) Western dress or camera. After nearly all the doctors (as far as we can tell) are killed by the White Lotus in an ambush, Wong must tackle them since, though he's also not a big fand of the Brits in his country, he doesn't believe in killing (the White Lotus creed: "Kill all the foreigners and we'll all live in peace.").
The film begins with a declaration which is more confusing than useful to a Western audience: some of the characters here are historical and some aren't, though all the events depicted are false. The real person here is Sun Yat-Sen, who really did want a Chinese republic. Hark's on his side, down to a "stirring" speech about honoring the martyr's blood (a real low-point). Hark's less interested in actual history, though, then in simplifying different points of view from inside China about British expansion to a managable manner within the framework of a kung-fu flick. Miraculously, it works.
The film begins as straight-out comedy and gradually gets tenser by degrees. The really big fights, astonishing ones, are saved for the end. They really are about ideas - political ones, not personal ones (see CTHD). Tsui opens with an astounding induction ceremony for the White Lotus sect, brilliantly and garishly shot. For once, it's a HK film which succeeds equally as drama and as fight film. It's a superior sequel. Simply put, it kicks ass.
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