Yashua Kimbrough (jimniexperience) Second installment of A Better Tomorrow , with more bloody shootouts and highly explosive finale -------------------- Ho is released from jail to help his brother with an undercover operation: a new counterfeit ring has sprung up in H.K. and Ho's former mentor Lung is suspected of being the ring leader. As the brother get close to Lung they discover he is not the leader, but the victim of money sharks trying to take over his legitimate business. After a staged killing in the ballroom, Lung is now wanted by police and hides in New York for things to settle down. Ko, his biz partner, orders for the murder of Lung's family - sending Lung down a spiral of depression .Ken, twin brother of Mark and on run from Mafia, discovers hitmen are after his mentor and teams with him to avenge his daughter. They return to H.K. and join the brothers in taking down Ko's operation.After the murder of little bro , the entire squad vows revenge by any means necessary for the stolen life's of their loved ones ...

MovieMaster95 After the movie 'A Better Tomorrow' became a big success around Hong Kong, a sequel was inevitable to happen. Most of the original cast return, including Chow Yun-Fat as Mark Lee's twin brother Ken.Taking place a few years after the events of the first film, we see how things are finally starting to look up. Ho is in prison but he's finally re concealed his relationship with his brother Kit, who has become a loving husband and soon to be father. But like the first film, things get bad real quick. Ho's former master Lung has been framed for murder and even loses his mind as his life gets worse. He's sent over to New York to keep a low profile and to be looked after by Ken who owns a restaurant and lives there. Meanwhile Ho and Kit are working together to end the triad gangs.This is where the problem starts. The first film revolved around Ho and the people around him, but this film spends way too much time with Ken trying to get Lung back to normal. Ho and Kit's plot seems to delve deeper into the main story ark, yet they never seem to get enough scenes. Ken is pretty much similar to Mark although he may be a little darker and you can tell he's only in the film because of Chow Yun-Fat's character was so popular in the last film.The film doesn't seem to make a huge continuation onto the first film either. Instead of being it's own story, it seems to just be an expansion of the first film, but not in a good way. We don't delve too much into the characters and they seem underused. The film is also known for having a sillier feel in a few scenes(Famous Rice Scene), but it didn't ruin the experience for me. These flaws are apparently due to disagreement between John Woo and producer/second writer Tsui Hark about the tone of the film, causing Woo to disown most of the film, except the end shootout. John Woo's original cut was around 3 hours and is rumoured to improve on some of the flawed moments. A version I hope will appear in some future release of the film.Now for the goods. The film seems to get noticeable better during the second half, beginning with the amazing hotel shootout. The film is well known for it's exaggerated violence and blood and the film doesn't disappoint. The action is a big step up from the first and some of the best ever filmed for its time. Chow Yun-Fat is once again cooler than ice, with his trademark sunglasses, trench coat, matchstick and dual pistols and may be one of the main appeals of the film. The Climatic assault on the triad mansion is one of the greatest shootouts and one of the greatest ending ever filmed. It's no wonder that it's the only thing Woo likes about the film. The amazing soundtrack returns and their are a few emotional scenes that actually work well.With many iconic scenes (The stairs scene being one), the film is a lot better than it gets credit for. The film is no masterpiece and doesn't compare to the first but it has its moments. Silly and flawed moments aside the film is actually quite enjoyable and as long as you keep an open mind, I think you'll enjoy this conclusion to the Better Tomorrow saga. Part 3 doesn't count!

Johnnycitystar I will admit I was expecting better from this film as lots of people say this film is better that the first one.The only reason people say that is because of the climatic Shoot-out in the end that last for about 10 to 15 min of nonstop action. besides the ending is the film any good? It's hard to tell I will admit I felt the film was a lot longer than the first film.It was too melodramatic and the whole Twin brother idea was very out of place.Though this film has some good scenes a Apartment shootout by chow Yun fat and A very memorable scene that involves Chow-yun fat and a bowl of rice.but let's get to the review.For those that don't know whoever has not seen the first film I suggest you don't read my review because it is full of spoilers.In the first film Ho(Ti Lung) and Mark(Chow-Yun Fat)were involved in a shootout with mob boss Shing though they killed him and his gang in the end, still both paid a price. Ho was sent back to Jail and Mark was killed in the end.Now the police want to make a deal with Ho. The police want him to get close to his old boss Lung(Dean Shek) because there's reasons to believe that he's been doing illegal things.At first Ho refuses but when he finds out his Brother Kit(Leslie Cheung) is on the case he changes his mind.Now Lung has been framed for murder and goes to new york to hideout.until his assassins find him and kill his daughter and his best friend in front of him.He goes insane and loses his mind.after what happened Ho goes to reminisce of the past and finds out Mark had a twin brother name Ken who also lives in New York.Ho contacts Ken and now Ken has to protect Lung from his assassins and other enemies.Now you think this already starting to get good until it gets to some melodramatic scenes that mostly involve Kit and Lung and I feel It's a waste of time because the sub-plots interfere with the pacing of the film but it's all worth it in the ending.as for character development it's decent but not as stand-out as the first film to me I felt the film was focus more on Kit than anyone else.The problems he's going through his life having a baby, his wife thinking he's having an affair and feeling guilty for the death of lung's daughter.Though he has mature too be honest the audience dosen't care.Ho before being the main character he has dropped to a supporting character.and someone that's bad.Also the new Character the guy That's on the cover of the DVD? Ken; He's not worth mentioning he doesn't stand out like mark did.to me it's just a fake mark.as for the acting it's sub-par but it could of been worse.First i'll start with Chow Yun Fat. what can I say about Chow-yun fat I mean he's a great actor but It feels like he's on cruise control in this film to be honest I feel like chow wasn't giving his all. Ti Lung I mean he gives his usual solid performance but it's far from noteworthy or even stand out as his performance from the first film.Leslie Cheung has improved in his acting to be honest he performance of the lot was one of the memorable performance from the film.Dean Shek was too over-the-top for me his insane scenes were bad and could of been a lot better I wish the film wasn't really focusing on him.but when's normal he gives a solid performance.overall just watch the ending to be honest I was going to give this film 4 stars but save the film from the ending and chow-Yun Fat's Rice scene.

roddick-1 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.