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Initial Thought: I saw this had come out and so I was kind of wanting to see it. I absolutely loved the first one. It was just so much fun and had many well known actors. Here I was disappointed to learn that the only familiar returnee was RZA. He hasn't really done too well in the last two films I watched of his The Protector 2 and Brick Mansions. Anyways I won't fully judge this until I have seen the whole thing.
Characters/Acting: We do get Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa here as the other highly well known actor. He is always fun to watch so hopefully he works his magic. There are only two other people who return from the previous film Gemini Male and Female, but they aren't really anyone recognizable. The acting here is supposed to pay homage to old Asian cinema which is supposed to be hilariously awful. Here though it's just cringe-worthy and way overacted. It isn't funny when you have to try so hard to seem like you aren't trying. Li Kung reminds me of a mix of Ip Man and Fearless, but not as much of a badass as the two. I don't understand why all of the Asian characters have actual Asian names except for Li Kung's daughter Innocence. What was the reason other than making obvious conclusions about her character? Also as a name in English it just sounds ridiculous.
Story: The fight during the credits was really awful. It did have a few decent things to it though. I really think the credits should have been done differently instead of interrupting the fight scene. It only made it look tacky. The choreography of some of the fight scenes is actually pretty good, but then other times it feels like they couldn't figure out what to do. The death scenes are really bad and feel as if no effort was put into it. One such scene is kind of a slaughter. It looked as if the dead bodies were just piles of flattened clothes instead of dummies. The plot is just so boring that most of the movie is filled with action scenes. There is nothing brilliant in the dialogue whatsoever. The ending was really pathetic although I did think the twist was pretty well done.
Directing/Writing: The director here is Roel Reine who is known for mostly making sequels to popular films. He seems to have a varying talent. His worst that I saw were Scorpion 3 and The Marine 2. While 12 Rounds 2 and Death Race 2 were average. He did however keep my attention with Death Race 3 and his original work Dead in Tombstone. I wonder what scale of his skill was put in this movie. John Jarrell who co-wrote this also did Romeo Must Die which I actually enjoyed. RZA returns to writing his sequel, but doesn't direct it for some reason.
Final Thought: This was a cheesefest, but not the kind that's enjoyable. It's simply nowhere near as fun as the first one. The acting is dull, the dialogue is pathetic, and the plot is way too simple. I found myself constantly looking at the time wondering this would end. The only good things here were a few of the fight scenes and Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa. There is one cool Mortal Kombat reference here I liked. If you loved the first one this will kill it for you. If you hated the first one then I would recommend you avoid this one. It just takes all that was fun in the first one and throws it all out the window.
