A Better Tomorrow 2: Cinema City Film Prod.
Rating: USA: Unrated

It’s doubtful that anyone could have predicted the impact Hong Kong action auteur John Woo’s 1986 film A Better Tomorrow would have on both Asian cinema and action movies around the world. What at first glance appeared to be little more than a melodramatic domestic drama with guns struck a chord with Hong Kong cinephiles and went on to not only become one of the highest grossing Hong Kong films of all time, but also launched the entire heroic bloodshed subgenre in its wake.

There are two primary reasons for why A Better Tomorrow became such a box office phenomenon: John Woo’s stylish and exuberant direction and Chow Yun Fat’s portrayal of super-cool criminal Mark Gor. Couple those two elements with a script that focused on dazzling gunplay and a story of two conflicted brothers (one a cop, the other in the triads) and Woo and producer Tsui Hark managed to tap into something that resonated with viewers tired of the standard Hong Kong kung-fu flicks of the time.

And while A Better Tomorrow certainly caused action fans worldwide to jot down the names John Woo and Chow Yun Fat as ‘guys to keep an eye on’, it was the 1987 release of A Better Tomorrow 2 that truly heralded the arrival of two new major talents on the international action scene.

The convoluted (and relatively unimportant) plot of the film revolves around more counterfeiting activities in Hong Kong. Young cop Kit (Leslie Cheung) has infiltrated the organization of Brother Lung (Dean Shek). The cops believe Lung is engaging in illegal activities and using his shipyard/wharf as a cover. However, Lung’s not the real crook—it’s his right hand man Ko who’s passing the bogus currency and maneuvering to take over the shipyard on his own.

Meanwhile, Kit’s brother Ho (Ti Lung) is still in prison, trying to escape from his triad past and go straight. The cops offer him an early release if he’ll work with them to infiltrate Lung’s organization. Ho’s unwilling to cooperate—until he learns that Kit is involved in the case and may be in danger.

To make a long story short, Ko’s men set up Lung, leading him to believe that he’s killed several men. Lung heads for America, where assassins attempt to kill him, and eventually winds up with restaurant owner Ken Gor (Chow Yun Fat, playing Mark’s identical twin brother this time out). Soon enough, Ken and Lung return to Hong Kong, hook up with Kit and Ho, and set about kicking some serious *ss in what amounts to one of the best action film climaxes ever captured on film (I’d say it is the best, but I think the extended hospital sequence in Woo’s Hard Boiled is slightly more impressive primarily because of its length and the fact that he keeps up the breakneck pacing throughout).

As you can see (and as any serious student of Woo’s films can tell you) tight plotting isn’t really an issue in Woo’s films. Instead, Woo chooses to concentrate on visuals, bombastic action set-pieces, melodrama, and recurring thematic material. It is the concentration on these aesthetic elements that make each Woo film immediately recognizable—and it is also why many of the Hollywood hacks who’ve tried to ape Woo’s style of filmmaking have failed so miserably. Giving a hero a gun for each hand does not a Woo-styled action film make…

The film’s most implausible moment revolves around the character of Ken Gor. As further proof that no one realized just how huge the first film would be, Woo and company killed of Chow Yun Fat’s Mark Gor character in the first film. However, when the movie was released, every man in Hong Kong was soon wearing a trench coat, shades, and chewing on a toothpick in imitation (in fact, the this would soon be called ‘the Mark Gor look’). There was no way that this character could return for a sequel, but there was also no way that they could make a successful sequel without the presence of Chow Yun Fat. Hence Tsui Hark concocts the ‘twin brother’ angle—arguably the hoariest cliché around. It’s a testament to Woo’s direction and Chow Yun Fat’s charisma that I find myself never caring that they’ve come up with a cheesy way to bring Mark back—Chow’s just too cool, and it doesn’t even matter after that first scene.

The film itself (which was rushed through production in order to capitalize on the success of the original, and remains the only sequel Woo’s ever done) is fairly rough around the edges—but when it works, it really works.

Fans of Woo’s elaborate and breathtaking action sequences have often referred to them as ‘bullet ballet’. It’s interesting to note that here, the first tightly choreographed scene isn’t a violent one at all—but rather an extended scene involving ballroom dancing (Woo would use a similar sequence in his 1991 romantic comedy action film Once a Thief). I can’t help but get the impression that Woo wants to make a musical at some point in his career—and judging from these two scenes, he’d probably be pretty good at it.

But, fear not action fans. You’ve come to see hyper-kinetic displays of violence, gushing blood, and bullet-torn bodies, and by God, that’s what you’re gonna get—it’ll just take a little longer than you’d expect to get to it.

There are numerous small (yet still impressive) action set-pieces in the first two acts of the film, but things don’t really pick up until the one-hour mark. Here, Woo launches a scene that would most likely be the centerpiece of an American action film, a shoot-out in a seedy New York hotel. It’s here that we finally get what we want—Ken picking up the guns (with some double-fisted action coming around the hour and four-minute mark) and blasting through bad guys like there’s no tomorrow.

This scene is memorable for it’s tight choreography, it’s steady pace, and it’s adrenaline pumping action—yet it’s also memorable for one image…Chow Yun Fat sliding down a flight of stairs on his back, gun in each hand, blasting a bad guy to smithereens on the landing above him. Woo and Chow would tweak this sequence in Woo’s Hard Boiled, but this was clearly the scene that inspired the one that came later.

However, no matter how impressive this sequence is, it pales in comparison to the finale—a balls out orgy of violence in every sense of the word. Ho, Lung, and Ken barge into Ko’s residence (all three men dressed in black suits, white shirts, and black ties—obviously an inspiration for the fashion sensibilities of Tarantino’s robbers in Reservoir Dogs), mow through hundreds of henchmen (using everything from guns, grenades, and a large battle ax all the way through to a katana), and look cool while doing it. Simply put, this a sequence that has to be seen to be believed—no amount of adjectives and descriptions here will ever do it justice.

It’s this cool glamorization of violence, coupled with the recurring theme of brotherhood before all else, and a highly defined sense of melodrama that makes Woo’s films so popular with men. Women may get swept up in fairy tale stories of romance and love, but truthfully, Woo’s films aren’t all that dissimilar—only they appeal to a far more masculine sensibility. There’s an ever-present element of modern day myth in these films—the same ones that color the westerns of men like Eastwood, Leone, and John Wayne, or the samurai films that were so popular in Japan. It’s no stretch to say that every man who watches one of these films wants to be Chow Yun Fat—he’s cool, he’s suave, and he’s one bad mother who can kill fifty men without breaking a sweat…what’s not to admire in that?

With Chow, Woo’s found the perfect external image of every man’s inner fantasy—including Woo’s own. Where Chow succeeds is that he’s a multifaceted character in these films—unlike Stallone, Schwarzenegger, and even Eastwood, actors who can nail the tough guy part of the equation, but derail when having to play the vulnerable side of the coin. Chow has no such problems, playing into the melodrama with ease, and even going as far as to shed a tear when one character dies near the climax. It’s this multifaceted approach—one part Schwarzenegger, one part Cary Grant—that makes Chow arguably the greatest action star in the world today.

As I’ve mentioned on several occasions, the film is very melodramatic—in fact, I think this is probably Woo’s most melodramatic film, which is truly saying something since all of his films feature several moments that threaten to carry over from dramatic to comedic. Because of this, it makes gauging the actors’ performances relatively difficult since they’re all called upon to gape openly in disbelief and make grand, screeching pronouncements at various points throughout the narrative. At any rate, everyone’s decent here (although I felt a bit sorry for Dean Shek—having to play mentally unbalanced in such a corny fashion couldn’t have been fun).

Anchor Bay has recently released both of Woo's ABT films (Tsui Hark took the reins for the third film in the series) on DVD—with mixed results. There’s no doubt that these versions are an improvement over the old Tai Seng DVDs (which were fraught with translation errors, bad subtitles, etc.), yet the total package isn’t as nice as you’d expect. The picture is decent (a little soft overall, with some rough spots that obviously came from a less than stellar source print), the sound average, and the subs adequate. There are still several bad subtitles—word choice errors, and I noticed a spelling error or two, but at least they don’t call Peggy ‘Pepper’ for 45 minutes.

The biggest disappointment is the lack of extras—you get the film, two trailers, and a very incomplete filmography for Chow and Woo on this disc—no commentary, no featurette, nothing. As far as Anchor Bay releases go, this one is pretty bare bones (and I could have sworn that the initial announcement for these discs stated that there would be Woo commentary tracks…) Still, flaws aside, this is the nicest version of the film currently available, even if it is a little underwhelming.

So, in conclusion, A Better Tomorrow 2 is a worthy follow up the original. It’s got more rough spots than that first film, but it’s also got several sequences where it really outshines the earlier movie as well. It’s an important film that ultimately signified that both Woo and Chow Yun Fat were serious players in both the Hong Kong film scene and in world cinema as well—which is supported by the fact that both have made the transition from Hong Kong to Hollywood (although neither has been allowed to do anything on par with their Hong Kong work—a true shame since Hollywood has enough action hacks like Michael Bay running around). While it’s certainly got some flaws, the good far outweighs the bad in my opinion. If you’re looking for solid action cinema, then A Better Tomorrow 2 belongs on your rental list.


Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Fit for Friday Evening