If there is a movie that is comparable
to the 2002's Zhang Yimou epic - Hero, Swordsman 2 is a movie that matches it
from on paper to the all-star cast. In fact made in 1991, Swordsman 2 also
questions the idea of 'who is a real hero?'. With an all-star cast during the
early nineties of Brigitte Lin, Jet Li (at the height of his fame), Michelle
Reis, Rosamund Kwan and a bunch of well known HK stars with minor roles. It is
also comparable to Hero in terms of box-office takings, in fact Swordsman 2 is
Jet Li's highest grossing HK film and Hero is Jet Li's highest grossing film in
China which broke numerous of records. The action director of Hero is Swordsman
2's Director - Ching Siu Tung who although is not as artistic as Zhang Yimou is
right up there in terms of the visual and mind-blowing display. Despite being a
sequel to Swordman played by Sam Hui, Swordsman 2 is better than its predecessor
in nearly all departments. Although, Sam Hui plays the womanizer, drunk, best
swordsman with great success, Jet Li is right up to par in terms of his acting
and when combining with action, the role is really his. This is even more
shocking as Jet himself say by playing Ling, it was a role that he could not
relate to in real life which turned out to be one of Jet best performance in his
entire movie's career. Brigitte Lin plays the role of Dawn even better as she
played a man who turned into a woman. The chemistry between Lin and Li is also a
highlight of the film and eventually creating a response from the viewers about
whether their love is possible. Surprisingly, Li chemistry with both Michelle
Reis and Rosamund Kwan seems natural and believable and the performance of Reis
provides some much needed comic relief. Fennie Yuen is also another star that
shown great presence in her minor role and performed especially well. If you
come into Swordsman 2 expecting lots of fists to fists fight, then you will be
disappointed as this is a wuxia film, with people flying around. The absorbing
fist is a cool invention and well used in this film with the help of some
mind-blowing special effects despite made 12 years ago. With all-star pretty
girls, presence of Jet Li, direction of Hero's action director Ching Siu Tung,
and produced by Tsui Hark, in a near perfect HK film which despite being a
sequel could well stand well alone. Whenever watching Swordsman 2 it always
reminds me of the great times that HK used to be and whenever hearing the theme
song 'Laughing Swordsman' put a smile on my face. If there is a film comparable
to Hero, then Swordsman 2 is right up there plus comedy.
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