Beystiman
It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.
Chirphymium
It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional
Dirtylogy
It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.
Francene Odetta
It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.
Comeuppance Reviews
Alan Yau (Yen) is an ex-cop on the edge. After being kicked off the force for his rogue ways, his wife files for divorce. This would help explain why he's on the edge. Leaving the law office after being served with divorce papers, he gets swept up in a violent robbery. During this encounter, he saves the life of lawyer Mary Chang (Kwan). (NOTE: these are the names of the two leads in the dubbed version that we saw. In other versions, presumably any subtitled ones, their names are Dragon and Mandy, not Alan and Mary.) Now on the run from amoral and unscrupulous gangsters, they go through many mishaps and misadventures, not to mention relationship woes. It turns out there's a complex money laundering scheme at play and a lot of money is missing. But Inspector Yeung (Khan) suspects Alan and Mary are involved, even though they're innocent. Meanwhile, the super-evil "Mr. Big"-type gangster boss Wilson Chow (or Waise Chow, depending on your international version), (Shou) wants the heads of Alan and Mary as well. So now they'll have to fight - and fight and fight - to prove their innocence. Can they do it? Tiger Cage 2 is pretty much an in-name-only sequel to the first film. Donnie Yen returns this time around, but as a different character. There's good news and bad news here: the bad news is that plotwise, this is a silly comedy. The plot and characters are not as good as the first film, and since they've upped the comedic elements, there are silly sound effects such as overly-exaggerated "eating" noises such as crunching and soup-slurping. Plus the dubbing, should you see the dubbed version like we unfortunately did, is very silly, especially the guy who dubs Donnie Yen. And, Rosamund Kwan plays the stereotypical "complaining woman" that fights and whines all the way through her adventure. So those are the negatives.The GOOD news is that the fight choreography is amazing. Perhaps even better than the first film. And that, after all, is the main reason anyone would watch Tiger Cage 2. There are non-stop, expertly executed fight scenes, and most memorably, there is a rockin' sword duel between Donnie and John Salvitti. Salvitti is a real-life friend of Donnie's, and he's appeared in such classics as Private Wars (1993) and Shootfighter II (1996). Michael Woods, who played a heavy in the first Tiger Cage movie, here returns as "Black Henchman". In fairness, Salvitti was "Caucasian Henchman." fan favorites Robin Shou and the great Cynthia Khan also get in on all the high-kicking, bone-breaking action, making Tiger Cage 2 a must-see for HK action junkies.Plus there are some great clichés at work, such as the climax in the abandoned steam factory, and the Prerequisite Torture of the hero. Granted, this time the torture is a bit more unorthodox, as Donnie Yen is tied to a stationary exercise bike's wheel and Rosamund Kwan is forced to pedal into his chest! Talk about feeling the burn! Hey-o! There's also the standard scene at the disco which we always like seeing. Speaking of which, the music in this movie is very enjoyable and keeps things buoyant.The strength of this movie, and Yuen Woo-Ping, are fight scenes. So concentrate on what this movie really is good at, and you will truly appreciate what Tiger Cage 2 has to offer.
vrlphoto
First off, apparently there at one point was a different exported version of this movie. I recently watched it on Neftlix and have verified that I watched the original edit of this film but with English dubbing. I wonder if some reviews are based off of the alternate exported version that has a completely different ending. You can see notes on IMDb for the differences between the two which are rather substantial but not without spoiling the ending. I suggest watching it off Netflix if you can. Anyway, I think this film was a lot of fun. Donnie Yen does it again with his amazing martial arts talent and action directing. The fight scenes were an awesome display of his abilities and very enjoyable to watch. I found the characters to be likable and those saying that Rosamund Kwan's character is annoying, well duh she's supposed to be a pain which is why she drives Donnie's character nuts the whole movie. I thought it made for good humor. This movie is from 1990 so it still has that 80's feeling to it but I didn't find it to be overly cheesy or anything. I actually liked seeing that Donnie wasn't a cop this time but rather a retired cop post divorce thrown into one bad situation after the next. Overall I found it to be a fun movie with really well done action/fight scenes.
ericthered01
There's only one good reason to watch this movie and it's to see Donnie Yen's fight scenes. The last 20 minutes of this film include some of Donnie Yen's best. The rest of the movie up until that point is mind numbingly bad. Cheesy music, bad dialogue, corny humor, and a razor thin plot. In fact, I don't think there was a screenplay written for this thing. I think Yuen Woo Ping just started filming fight scenes and the story was written on napkins in between takes. That being said, your kung fu movie collection will not be complete without the last three fight scenes in this movie. They are classic and almost worth the wait. Just skip ahead to that last 20 minutes and I promise you won't be missing anything.
drngor
Yuen Woo-Ping once again delivers another modern day actioner full of brutal martial arts action. In this movie, Donnie Yen and Rosamond Kwan are on the run from cops and drug dealers after they are framed for murder. Plot is insignificant in this film, however. This movie has a lot of great fights including Donnie Yen and John Salvitti fighting with swords and a fight with Michael Woods. These are classic fight scenes. The only problem is that in my version, Cynthia Khan fights Robin Shou for a few moments and then arrests him. I felt cheated. The movie was also a bit too vulgar and violent for my tastes. Anyone who likes martial arts movies should check this out.