Royal Tramp 2 (1992)

Really Royal Tramp I, Part 2

The book on which Royal Tramp 1 and 2 are based (The Deer and the Cauldron by Jin Yong) was originally published as a serial in a Chinese newspaper, so the idea of splitting the story up into parts made sense.

As a result, this film is every bit as good as the first one, and I would strongly recommend buying both films. I would also recommend against watching this film first, since the two films really do make up a single story.

I don't think it will give too much away to say that in this film, Wilson Bond (or Wei Xiao Bo/Trinket Wei - translations vary) defeats his enemies, becomes supremely powerful, and marries all the beautiful women he has met. After all, that's the kind of movie this is, and that's the kind of character Wei is. (In the book, you can bet that any time he's introduced to any new powerful group, he'll be a leader of the group within the next 50 pages, and any time he meets a new beautiful woman, he'll be married to her in the next 100 pages. :-)

I also like that this film contains most of my favorite actresses from Hong Kong: At the end of the first movie, the Empress Dowager (played by the fabulously beautiful "Sharla" Cheung Man) was found to be someone else in disguise. That "someone else" is played in part 2 by Brigitte Lin, another of my favorite female stars. (I would have been happy to watch another couple of hours of the lovely Ms. Cheung, but at least we got a brief appearance from her at the beginning). This film also has Helena Law Lan (who bears a striking resemblance to Michelle Yeoh in this role) as the One-Armed Nun, Michele Reis, Chingmy Yau... Ahhh. If the plot weren't so good, I could just spend my time watching the pretty women.

I can't recommend this movie (or part 1) highly enough. This one is really a must for any fan of Hong Kong cinema, and a great introduction for those who aren't fans yet. October 31, 2001

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