A Better Tomorrow II

For me, the greatest of the Hong Kong movies. Few things in cinema can match the simultaneous hilarity and pathos of watching Chow Yun-Fat, international movie badass, sobbing and stuffing rice down the mouth of a catatonic old man.

It's a heartwarming tale of a man overcoming a mental breakdown and debilitating trauma by re-learning how to stylishly gun people down. It takes a while to get there, but goddamn is the action good when it finally arrives. The bloody, explosive climax is up there with the best action Woo ever shot. A battle-ax and katana inexplicably entering the middle of the gunfight is just the icing on top.

The gun battle in the mansion at the end of this film is one of the finest ever filmed. Essential viewing.

This film is completely insane. My rational mind got blown up, shot to a pulpy mess, karate-chopped, stabbed, strangled, ran over, cut in half with a katana, bombarded with random food-objects and then finally, cried over in heroic rivers of manly sentiment. John Woo at his cheesiest, most operatic and utterly lovable.

The best tomorrow.

Might be the best movie ever made.

A classic if "Batshit" were a subgenre. Action becomes an end to itself, informing the plot and cadence beyond the point of self-parody - mutating into not simply a cacophony of bullets but of shooting stars, mystery twins, and fried rice. Any scene with Yun-Fat and food rivals the most megalomaniacal of Nic Cage - fully committing himself to lunacy. One of the characters goes insane and back again, just like us.

While the twin-brother idea is a little tired, the rest of this movie is anything but. Everything from the fried rice scene to Ho wrecking the gangsters with a katana -- I loved it!

This fried rice FUCKIN sucks!

While varying wildly in quality, ultimately this film --which made the Killer and Hard Boiled possible, thus revolutionizing the crime action genre-- is a very enjoyable romp with some very fun moments.

For fans of John Woo. Scenes strong. I liked the final gun battle in the mansion.

It's nowhere near as good as the first one, but the ending sequence is fantastic and there are few scenes in film history that make me laugh harder than Chow Yun Fat's fried rice scene.

Viewed July 14, 2020. Uneven, but occasionally dazzling.

Much more entertaining for me, along with much better tension. And of course the end battle scene is truly an action scene to behold. It's got grenades and even swords! Radical, radical!

A lot of the movie is a confusing mess, resulting from John Woo and Tsui Hark fighting over the way this movie would transpire. But if you stick around and stay to witness some of the most unintentionally hilarious and awful moments in Hongkong cinema history (APOLOGIZE TO THE RICE!) you will be rewarded with one of the greatest freaking finales in film. It's that good.

So much action it sometimes feels like a parody of a John Woo film rather than the real thing... and giving Mark a twin brother just so Chow Yun-Fat can come back is silly. It's worth it just to see Chow speaking English, though. Much like its predecessor this is a fun movie

77.500

Fantastic action from John Woo. Poor acting (aside from charismatic Chow Yun-Fat) and plot from John Woo.

Easily the silliest plot of any of Woo's Hong Kong films, but it took him no time at all in the wake of the original's success to develop his maximalist Heroic Bloodshed choreography to the full force of its expression. Some of the shootouts here, particularly the outrageous finale, rank with his finest setpieces.

Though to rate as it hardly qualifies as a comprehensive movie thanks to a lot of quarrels behind the scenes, but the final quarter is prime Woo, and the way there holds various joys, stemming from both absurdity and earnestness. One can only dream of what a masterpiece this might have been if Tsui and Woo had actually seen eye to eye.

"High octane action of the type Woo does the best."

I remember liking this sequel better than original, but now I would put it a few steps behind first part of this trilogy. It lacks the artistry of TBT, that redeemed all the overacting and melodramatics. Editing and flow of the plot is weird, I just couldn't get into it. I enjoyed it the way over-the-top films are usually enjoyed - in so bad its good way. Final shootout is great!

Very Great

Completely bonkers plot. So many things make absolutely zero sense. Why is Kit at an insane asylum? Why is Ken acting like his very pregnant wife doesn't exist? Wait, I thought Peggy was staying at Kit's house for her safety? And then we have Lung's cartoonish lunatic phase. And of course the famous fried rice scene. That said, the shoot-outs are gorgeous, and you gotta love it every time that awesome theme song plays.

Watch with the Engrish subtitles (if you speak English), especially the restaurant scene. Baller in every way.

Stupid but the end shootout was amazing.

Plot was a bit too soap-opera for me. Still, the action scenes were good and the rice scene was memorable.