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The Story
Naturally, this movie is a sequel to the "Once
Upon A Time In China". As such, it is only fair by comparison
to the original. The plot is rather weak (certainly weaker than the
original), but the martial arts action is pretty good. Hey, that's why
we're here, right? Martial arts and action fans will be thrilled when
they see Jet Li's numerous fight sequences, including the "shadowless kick".
I was pretty amazed with his handling of the pole during the stick fighting scenes.
As in the first movie, there is that unmistakable and unique Chinese humor of the undying
romantic bond between Jet Li's character and his "Aunt 13".
Dr. Wong Fei- Hung (Jet Li) makes a trip to Canton with
his "Aunt 13"
(Rosamund Kwan) and assistant Leung Foon (Donnie Yen) for a medical
conference where he demonstrates the art of ancient Chinese
acupuncture. Little did they realize that Canton is in the midst of
turmoil caused by the cult terrorist group, The White Lotus Clan, in their
campaign of violence against all foreigners. Wong becomes deeply embodied in the middle of a revolution between pro-democracy
rebels and anarchists. Forced to take a political stance, Wong does
his part to preserve both the Chinese culture and justice. He fights
the White Lotus Clan to the death. (And guess who wins?)
If you're a die-hard Jet Li fan, by all means, don't miss
this sequel. If you're a martial arts fan, the fight sequences are
good, so it's worth renting. But if you're an action fan looking for a decent
plot, then this movie might not fill the bill. If you do watch it
though, I would recommend viewing it in the original theatrical version in
Cantonese (with yellow English subtitles), as opposed to the English-dub
version. And as in my review
of the original, I will say that Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment did
the right thing in making the original theatrical language available on this
DVD. (Thanks, CTHE.)
The Extras
"Once Upon A Time In China II" contains a minimal
set of bonus
material:
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English-dubbed version: though it's nice that CTHE
included this option, I would recommend the original theatrical version
in Cantonese. I think that's how all foreign films should be
watched. CTHE lists this item as a "bonus feature",
though normally I wouldn't call it that.
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Filmographies: for director Tsui Hark, Jet Li,
Rosamund Kwan, and Donnie Yen
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Bonus trailers: for the feature film, Once Upon A Time
in China trilogy, "Crouching
Tiger, Hidden Dragon", and "Miracles" (starring
Jackie Chan)
Video & Audio
The image quality of this anamorphic
widescreen DVD is only fair, since it is badly marred by film specks and
dust. This is particularly true during the opening credits. The colors are
fairly accurate and
saturated, while shadow detail is good. Overall, the video
transfer is OK considering this film is about nine years old. The Dolby
Digital 5.1 soundtrack is well balanced, though the surround sound
channels are not aggressively used.
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Associated equipment used in evaluation: Sony
DVP-S7700 reference DVD player, Sony
KP-61V45 61" rear projection TV (4:3 screen aspect ratio), Sony ES
STR-V444ES A/V receiver, NHT 2.1 as left/right main speakers, NHT 1.1C center channel speaker, NHT
SuperZero as surround speakers, Monster Cable M-series S-Video cable MSV-500, Monster
Cable Interlink LightSpeed 100 (Toslink) optical cable, Monster Cable XP speaker
wires, and Sony MDR-V600 studio monitor headphones. Our home theater equipment was calibrated
with the Video
Essentials DVD.
Be sure to check out our Top 10 DVDs of the year
2001 and our list of this year's Oscar winners on DVD.
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United We Stand
