If you have seen the previous film you will likely hate this one as a few of the important characters are mysteriously absent and the actors that play the remaining characters have also changed.
One of the other major detractors is the unnecessary inclusion of flashbacks to WW2 which are irrelevant to the story. The characters and what is going on in the flashbacks is not explained until the end and even then it is only VERY loosely connected to the main story which takes place in the 70s in Japan. Furthermore, the grizzly and VERY graphic nature of the flashbacks does not fit with the comparatively light tone of the rest of the movie.
Lastly the film is marred by a complete lack of explanation/resolution of important plot points such as the son who has a horrible disease. After all the trouble and side-plots that the characters go through to get the money for the kid's treatment, the movie ends without saying ANYTHING about what happens to the kid. There is also a whole side-plot about sailing out to Pusan to exchange some money which is also never explained. The same goes for why one of the main characters was arrested then suddenly released or what is with the woman and girl who visit him in prison???
