Leofwine_draca KILLZONE 2 - original title SHA PO LANG 2 - is a belated sequel to the Donnie Yen-starrer of the early 2000s, not that it has anything to do with that movie. As a film, it's a mixed bag, with a little too much influence from mainland China to be truly successful. The film is mired down with bad direction (from the guy who did NEW BLOOD, a similarly poorly-directed B-movie) and a rather convoluted storyline that mixes in a corrupt prison warden with a plot involving illegal organ harvesting and the like. Truth be told, none of this is very interesting, so it's a good job that a top cast helps to make the tired material work. Wu Jing is typically dynamic as the hero of the hour, but my money's on Tony Jaa as the main man here, and it's great to see him delivering hard-knuckle action once more. Further along in the cast list, veteran stars Simon Yam and Ken Lo elevate the work by their presence, Louis Koo gets an odd little incognito role, and Zhang Jin's big bad is spoilt by an excess of wirework. Still, the action scenes are generally dynamic and exciting, although there's not enough of them. Jaa battles Jing in a couple of fun fights, there's a big bus set-piece, some prison brawling, and then an extended bout at the climax. None of it is fantastic, but it passes the time well enough and lifts the spirits a little. A shame about that unresolved literal cliffhanger ending, though.

IkhwanArif I'm guessing a lot of hate for the movie is coming from western audience (although I'm reading Slavs like it). First, the good news. Hong Kong movies are infamous for mediocre and derivative stories. SPL 2 is an attempt to be more, and I think it succeeded for the most part. Was the narrative unnecessarily convoluted? A little bit, but the overall motivation somewhat justified the plot. It can feel long-winded but not insufferable.The action is top class. Tony Jaa, Wu Jing and Zhang Jin all displayed some real top class martial arts choreography that would humiliate feeble Hollywood action sequences. The reason is, Hong Kong movie industry understands pain and violence; every hit an actor gives or receives is expressed with realism through their motion and their countenance. Every facial feature is captured so that the audience can see that our hero/villain is suffering, and we love it. Special mention must be made to the Knife Assassin for a great knife scenes in the stairwell and his fight with Wu Jing at the hospital reception. In fact, the best thing about SPL 2 are the bad guys. Zhang Jin is just delicious as the Chief Warden of Thai Penitentiary, portraying the final boss with great relish and panache as well as even learning Thai language to make his role more authentic. His final fight scene with both Tony Jaa and Wu Zhing, in an all white hall room with dramatic classical music playing, is masterfully executed.Yes, I also have to mention the really good stages and locations. Scenes from the airport, the prison riot in Thailand and the Hospital are all very well built and captured. All in all the production quality here is also solid. Now the not-so-good news.The pacing could've been better. The beginning and middle of the film was devoted to plot and if it wasn't for the action scenes, it would've been completely boring. The editing and screen write could've have been more polished, considering that they had a budget of USD 23 million, but like all Hong Kong films, they never take put in the effort to make a cohesive fluid narrative. Which is why I think many Westerners won't like this show, especially with IMDb's snobby, pretentious reviewers who think they are Roger Ebert. But screw 'em. The show is a good Asian action film, and Asian action films are like Marvel summer blockbuster films. You want to see people kicking butt, this is well recommended.

juanmuscle Scenes! Episode after episode festooned with the moist succulent cornucopia of everything that rules in film set against an redolent atmosphere with friends and toothfuls of the best wine. That is if you love daddy loves his most precocious adorable charming lil' daughter and you have two cool dudes that team up at the Right time to fight the most intense Asian Terminator, (who without a doubt is like a living Robocop/Matrix/Terminator dude around, and who no matter what action scenes he enters upon he takes his leave with scarce a drop of his own blood shed, and what is most bizarre his already perfect hair never, ever gets messed up)! Strange I know, but it is true, one has to watch to really appreciate all this ultra-cool stuff in this flix. What is wonderful is how it caters to almost all the characters giving them wonderful back story without really any flashbacks, just doing it with dialogue and emotions and feelings shared with the eyes in an all out remarkable interplay twixt good guys and bad guys, bad guys and supposedly good guys and good guys gone bad and brother against brother and Asian terminator against everybody! Just have to watch it and just sit bacx and enjoy this really , really , really fantastic flix!

ebossert Note: Check me out as the "Asian Movie Enthusiast" on YouTube, where I review tons of Asian movies.SPL 2: A Time for Consequences (2015) (Chinese Action/Drama).Tony Jaa has been on a streak of underwhelming movies lately. I have yet to see his collaborations with Dolph Lundgren, but I can say that "Ong Bak 3" and "Tom Yum Goong 2" were not up to his previously established levels of quality martial arts action. Thankfully, he's back in form here. Wu Jing's manager wasted his talents on middling films for the past half decade, but he's back on track as well. SPL 2 is here.I'm sorry, but you can have your Batman v. Superman movie, because Tony Jaa v. Wu Jing is every contemporary martial arts lover's dream come true . . . and it friggin' delivers! A drug-addict (Jing) and prison security guard (Jaa) try to save themselves and/or loved ones while trapped within a black market organ theft organization. This film spends quite a bit of time developing the story and characters, and is mostly successful at doing so despite a few improbable coincidences. The performances are good all-around, and both leads give what is likely the best performances of their careers. But what about the action? Well, it's very impressive and plentiful enough to satisfy. The choreography is fast and precise, with only marginal use of wires. Watching Jing and Jaa fight within the same camera frame is both orgasmic and exciting.