A Better Tomorrow II (Yingxiong Bense 2, 英雄本色2)
Director – John Woo – 1987 – Hong Kong – Cert. 18 – 105m – Workprint cut 140m
The first half **
The second half *****
Workprint cut *****
To continue the franchise, Chow Yun-fat returns playing the brother of his character in the first film, a New York restaurateur – 4K Restoration is out on 4K UHD and Blu-ray from Monday, 28th September
There’s something hugely endearing when Chow Yun-fat appears here, playing the brother of his character in the first film, insisting his name is not Mark but Ken. Nevertheless, he has on hand his late brother’s coat, with a few holes from bullets, to don in the closing scenes. Mark can’t possibly return having died at the end of the first film, and yet, to all intents and purposes, he’s back for this sequel!
The film as it appeared in release prints feels like little more than an excuse to have another big shoot out with Chow Yun-fat and others at the end, and you can feel Woo struggling as he tries to find a way of getting there without completely losing interest.
(Update: for struggling read; struggling with the editing required to get the film down to 105 minutes for cinema release.… Read the rest