Having seen A Better Tomorrow 1 and thoroughly enjoying it, I was eager to see it's sequel. Even though not all reviews I had read of it were positive, I still thought I should give it a go. I found out that A Better Tomorrow II is quite different from it's predecessor.
Probably the thing that stands out as the most different is the style it has been filmed in. More advanced camera angles etc. plus the picture quality is better.
That may be an improvement, but most of the other changes are not so good. For starters, there a lot changes to do with the characters. Lung Ti's character "Ho", who was definitely the main character in the last film, is turned into a secondary character this time round, but he still does a good job acting. Lung Ti's top spot is taken by Dean Shek, who plays an old friend of Ho's. While good at times, I don't think he should of been given the main role. The rest of the cast do a good job, with the stand out being, of course, Chow Yun-Fat.
One thing that does stay the same is the fabulous shoot-outs. They are more bloody this time and more elaborate, plus there is also more of them than in A Better Tomorrow 1. Even though it changes around some characters, it still has a good John Woo story. Filled with drama, emotion and plenty of action.
Overall it is still a good movie. It does have some big changes, but it does remain an above the average action movie.
Probably the thing that stands out as the most different is the style it has been filmed in. More advanced camera angles etc. plus the picture quality is better.
That may be an improvement, but most of the other changes are not so good. For starters, there a lot changes to do with the characters. Lung Ti's character "Ho", who was definitely the main character in the last film, is turned into a secondary character this time round, but he still does a good job acting. Lung Ti's top spot is taken by Dean Shek, who plays an old friend of Ho's. While good at times, I don't think he should of been given the main role. The rest of the cast do a good job, with the stand out being, of course, Chow Yun-Fat.
One thing that does stay the same is the fabulous shoot-outs. They are more bloody this time and more elaborate, plus there is also more of them than in A Better Tomorrow 1. Even though it changes around some characters, it still has a good John Woo story. Filled with drama, emotion and plenty of action.
Overall it is still a good movie. It does have some big changes, but it does remain an above the average action movie.