Zhi zu wu shang II yong ba tian xia (1993)

User Rating:

5.0/10   

Director:

Johnnie To

Writer:

Kan-Cheung Tsang (written by)

Genre:

Action | Crime | Drama

Plot:

The Love and Animosities of three men... who will win in the end?

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Andy Lau	...	Chicken Feet
Dave Wong	...	Kit (as Wang Chieh)
Chien-lien Wu	...	Lin (as Wu Chien Lien)
Monica Chan	...	Kit's Ex
Kelvin Wong	...	James
Anthony Wong Chau-Sang	...	Pow
Chan Cheuk Yan	...	Yan
Siu-Ming Lau	...	Uncle Fan's Carer
Feng Tien	...	Uncle Fan
Kong Lau	...	King Kong
Kwan Yeung	...	Mr. Yeung
Sen Wong	...	Poker Judge

Also Known As:

Casino Raiders II (Hong Kong: English title)
Ji juen mo seung II wing au tin gwong (Hong Kong: Cantonese title)

Runtime:

Hong Kong:91 min

Country:

Hong Kong

Language:

Cantonese

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

South Korea:15 | UK:18 | Hong Kong:IIB | Singapore:NC-16

Company:

Win's Movie Productions Ltd.

Trivia:

Except for the title, the film is not related in any way to Wong Jing's original "Casino Raiders". Even lead actor, Andy Lau, is seen here playing an entirely different character.

Movie Connections:

Follows Zhi zun ji zhuang yuan cai (1990)

Soundtrack:

The Days We Passed By Together

Classic noir-Esq Casino drama served up Johnny To style!

Chicken Feet (Andy Lau) assists in running an honorable gambling den owned by the crippled Uncle Fan (Siu-Ming Lau) and his son Kit (Wong Kit). Having previously tried to shut down the gambling den and take over by paralyzing Fan and framing Kit for another man's murder, ruthless local Triad boss, James (Kelvin Wong) goes a step further by murdering Fan. Driven only by money and the pursuit of two valuable 'Jade stones', James kidnaps Kit's daughter so he will surrender gambling in order for James to win the upcoming Championship. Despite Kit's wish to live a life of peace, Chicken Feet finds the Jade Stones and along with his partner, Lin (Wu Chien-Lien) plots his own revenge against James.

The sequel to the 1989 Hong Kong Modern Classic "Casino Raiders" was never going to be as well received as it's predecessor, yet, despite the criticism that this merely cashed in on Lau's fast on-screen success, this is nevertheless an interesting film to look at.

Foremost, director, Johnny To takes a somewhat more 'poetic' perspective than Wong Jing did on the original, focusing more on drawn out character emotions which can, however, sometimes fall backwards on style. There are some exceptional scenes though, such as the lynching on the cruise boat, the fight on the docks at nighttime, and, of course, the final showdown between Lau and Wong. These emphasize To's ability to maintain consistency of plot without relying on visual spectacle, but still including subdued rich imagery.

The always impressive Andy Lau is brilliant yet again, and the entire support cast, particularly Wong Kit and Wu Chien-Lien give strong performances. Kelvin Wong, it must be said, is also thoroughly convincing as the cold-blooded James and gives, quite possibly, one of his best-ever performances.

In terms of fallbacks, the film does, at times, rely slightly too heavily on assumed prior knowledge, particularly on playing cards. Therefore, while an uninformed HK film fan might wait it out and try and keep up, the half-interested modest might give up completely.

Although not a criticism of the film itself, this (as well as "Casino Raiders") are LONG overdue for a DVD Re-Release. Particularly in the UK, I'd hope the Hong Kong Legends label will show interest; re-master the film, re-dub and re-subtitle (the Laser Universe label subtitles are pretty bad) and of course throw in a handful of interesting special features. So, Mr. Bey Logan, if you're reading this, put in a good word! And, hey, you can do the commentary track, too!