SPL 2: A TIME FOR CONSEQUENCES
Director: Pou-Soi Cheang
Stars: Tony Jaa, Jing Wu, Simon Yam
Thailand and china combine with SPI 2 with viewers coming out as the victors.
If you have not had your fill of the action that Tony Jaa delivers and your interested in seeing more Jing Wu then SPI 2 is definitely worth a watch. When Hong Kong police officer Kit (Jing Wu) goes undercover for the arrest of crime lord Mr Hung (Louis Koo) he is eventually betrayed and sent to a prison in Thailand. There he meets Police Guard Chai (Tony Jaa) working to raise money for his daughters operation. The two must come to rely on each other as the prison is revealed to be a front for Mr Hung’s operations.
Lets get the problems of the film out of the way first. The plot is messy and combines undercover investigation into the organ trade with prison breaks and twists along the way. The plot tries to pack too much in at any given time but suffers from the many twists it continues to layer upon itself. SPI 2 desperately wants to leave an impression of dramatic moments as much as the fight choreography, which unfortunately it fails to do.
The writing is lazy in areas relying on the antagonists being bad for the sake of being bad just for the heroes to overcome, which lets the actors down. There are moments where the actors shine while not fighting but the script continues to make their motivations and everyone around them paper thin. These instances can sometimes make the viewer count down to where the film really picks up again, the fighting of Tony Jaa and Jing Wu. However there needs to be a reason for these martial artists to do what they do best and the storyline while flawed does it’s job in setting up the main characters motivation for their scenes.
And you will not be disappointed.
If you liked SPI well then SPI2 is a better action film all throughout. This is mainly a sequel in name only and manages to combine flashy fights with easily followed entertaining choreography that will leave all viewers having a great time. Where the film stumbles when wanting to raise the stakes of each heroic character the action scenes vastly improve the film overall.Tony Jaa never seems to disappoint in any film he lends his talents and working the film around his exploits are what makes SPI2 stand on it’s own legs. Jing Wu is a fantastic to watch and has great chemistry both fighting and acting alongside Tony Jaa. These are the moments where SPI 2 steps out of the shadow of a thinly veiled sequel of the Donny Yen & Sammo Hung original. Tony Jaa and Jing Wu elevate the film to the point that when they are not on screen the picture suffers for it.
So often action films want to achieve dramatic purpose blended with entertaining fights. Though SPI 2 does the latter very well it is a shame that the moments when serious acting is required the script becomes lazy. It could of gone down as a great action film but instead it has great action in an otherwise average film. It is definitely worth a watch and if your thirst for action is high than there is probably no greater new film to watch than SPI2
SPI 2 is a BUY
-Elliott
