Kill Zone 2

I came into this movie with high hopes having been a huge fan of similar movies such as SPL, Flashpoint, and many of tony Jaa's films.

I always felt HK action movies' plots were only there to connect the action scenes together. I've never been too impressed with any plot from an HK movie, and unfortunately SPL2 continues that trend. The plot relies on far too many coincidences to occur and often times, the characters motivations seem really questionable.

If you can ignore the flimsy plot, you'll be treated to some of the best martial arts action since the original SPL. There are 4 actors in this movie that can REALLY fight and their skills are well highlighted in several scenes. The choreograph and framing of the scenes was so well executed allowing the viewer to fully appreciate the skills of the fighters. There are a handful of memorable fight scenes in the movie but special mention has to be reserved for the final fight. It's quite a lengthy scene and is full of extremely satisfying action. I'd rate it on par with any scene in SPL1 / Flashpoint..

9 seems like a very high rating given the substandard plot but i've been itching for a good martial arts movies and even the latest Donnie Yen / tony Jaa offerings have left me slightly disappointed. SPL2 reminds me what i love so much about Martial Arts movies and I'm glad there is so much promising talent in Wu Jing, Andy On, and Zhang Jin to replace the likes of Donnie Yen / Jet Li / Jacky Chan.

I must admit that I was somewhat excited to finally get to sit down to watch "Kill Zone 2" (aka "SPL 2: A Time For Consequences" or "Saat po long 2"). But it wasn't before 6 years after it was released that I actually got to do so.

And I will say that this 2015 movie from writers Lai-Yin Leung and Ying Wong definitely boasts a rather impressive cast ensemble, especially if you are familiar with Hong Kong and Thai cinema.

But I am getting ahead of myself here. The story was fairly good, though the movie was oddly paced. It felt like the movie was much longer than it actually turned out to be. So director Soi Cheang didn't really manage to bring the movie safely to port in a wholly satisfactory manner for me. Sure, the movie was watchable, but it just felt prolonged and somewhat losing its momentum entirely a couple of times along the way. And that reflected poorly on the movie's overall enjoyment factor. And I will say that the writers actually set out to accomplish a bit too much, because the storyline was a bit too complex and didn't always had a clear red thread throughout it.

Now, there is a good amount of action and martial arts in the movie, which in itself actually adds a good amount of enjoyment to the movie.

As I mentioned earlier, then "Kill Zone 2" definitely has a great ensemble of casted actors and actresses, with the likes of Tony Jaa, Simon Yam, Jing Wu, Jin Zhang, Ken Lo and Louis Koo. So if you are familiar with Hong Kong cinema, in particular, then you are in for a good ensemble of well-established actors here.

Ultimately, then I felt like "Kill Zone 2" failed to really deliver all that it was setting out to do. Sure, the movie is watchable, but it ultimately was killed off by the pacing of the movie and a way too cluttered storyline.

My rating of this 2015 movie settles on a very mediocre five out of ten stars.

This movie is incredible. It's significantly better than the first (which I thought was awesome). There is much more action, done more creatively, shot amazingly. You can see everything, wide shots, and long takes. The action scenes are infinitely intense. You can't take your eyes off the screen.

But the thing that separates this movie is the story and characters. The story is phenomenal. It gave me The Departed vibes. I cared so much about the characters and their wellbeing. And the music was perfectly fitting.

This movie played with my emotions so many times. It knew exactly what it was doing. I knew exactly what it was doing. And I didn't mind. It did it so well. The emotional moments hit hard.

I would normally give it 8 stars and wait until the second viewing to confirm if it should be a 9, but I feel like some of the tension might be missing when I know the general outcome. As a first time viewing experience, I had a BLAST. I clapped in excitement numerous times (even though I watched it alone lol).

EDIT: On second viewing, it hit JUST AS HARD. I absolutely love this movie. Not only am I confirming 9 stars, I came close to bumping it to a 10, a rating I almost never give. I still might on third viewing.

(2 viewings, 2/16/2021, 7/9/2023)

I was super excited to watch this film after seeing the action packed trailer. Flying knees, elbows and shoot outs seem like a no brainer for any action fan. After the initial opening you will come to realize it isn't just any run of the mill martial arts film and you get a sense that they try to inject story behind the punches being thrown. The film itself is outstanding to watch but you cannot dismiss some of the flaws in storytelling, plot and pacing.

The story follows two main characters and many sub characters. Chai works as a Thai prison guard trying to support his ailing child suffering from leukemia. Kit is an undercover cop from Hong Kong investigating a black market operation of organ theft. Their paths intertwine and eventually they uncover the importance of how they need each other's help to save Chai's daughter Sa. It seems simple but how this concept is presented is a bit confusing. During the intro they focus on Chai and then switch to Kit. As you get invested in Chai's emotional desperation to help his daughter you get pulled away and presented with Kit's story and his own battle against his inner demons. Then sub plots with sub characters get their time to shine afterwards and the story loses its focus before fully developing the main characters. To make matters worse the director uses flash back sequences and the locations of Thailand and Hong Kong randomly jumps making you confused of the language change and locale. It can also be argued that Chai's character is a bit selfish as he seems only to care about saving his daughter at the expense of others. Kit's character is generally just recovering from his drug binge so neither character has a strong hold on the viewer. As a martial arts movie I generally don't take story too highly into account since your here mainly for the action but since a huge chunk of the run time focuses on plot it cannot be ignored.

The action can be brutal and some crazy wire work is involved but most of the choreography is realistic. You won't see people flying across roofs and running up walls and all the main combatants bring their A game. The fights are beautifully shot and the ending battle is one of the best I've seen. Some things that pull you away and can be quite distracting is that characters will often suffer injuries where you believe that they will be critically disabled, but those said characters will be in the next scene without any problems. It pulls away from the immersion and doesn't make sense when you knew for sure that person had died or should've died.

Kill Zone 2 also suffers from pacing issues. Some areas of the story can be very slow since they are trying to flesh out the characters. You can probably tell they didn't do a superb job of it and so for the first half of the movie you get a little action and a lot of dialogue. Then the movie starts to pick up and for the ending they kind of said eff it and threw non-stop action with very little story.

Kill Zone 2 has everything a martial arts fan can ask for. Story, top action stars and beautifully shot battles make it for a thrilling viewing experience. You just can't help but feel that this could've been a true classic if some the story plots were ironed out and connected you better with the main stars. The pacing may turn off action junkies for the first half but as the pace picks up it won't let you go.

An unrelated sequel that sees Wu Jing and Simon Yam returning in new roles. Actually "SPL 2" had a strong cast with all round solid performances. For me Louis Koo stood out as he simply oozed of creepy menace as the mastermind of the major crime syndicate in urgent need of a heart transplant that only his unwilling brother could provide, causing the ripple effect to what was to implode.

To start off I was kind of lukewarm, but steadily the characters and story, which heavy on context and definition began to grow on me and eventually come on big. There's no trying to connect the dots, as each thing is laid out in front of you in a careful, deliberate manner involving undercover police operations, organ trafficking, kidnappings, corruption and a sick little girl in need of a bone marrow donor. This leads to everything coming around 360 degrees in a real twist of fate when all these pivotal elements collide beyond their control and the usage of the action felt more in line with the story.

The action choreography on the other hand won me over from the get-go. No camera tricky, and few quick edits in what was technically flawless in the picturesque framing of the high risk stunts, bone crunching martial arts, or hyperbolic shootouts and lethal blade work. Each exhilarating set-up seemed to up the ante, although for me it peaked at the midway point with the prison riot. But still the ballistic showndown finale between Tony Jaa, Wu Jing and Zhang Jin is nothing short than spectacular including the backdrop where it takes place. In spite of some clunky story-telling, it's riveting HK action cinema