Casino Raiders 2 (1994)

Has its moments, but not enough of them

Despite the numerology, 1993's Casino Raiders 2 is actually the second in-name-only follow-up to 1989's smash-hit after Lau and Tam co-starred in No Risk, No Gain - The Sequel to Casino Raiders but it's perhaps more notable for being that rarest of Hong Kong commodities, a poor Johnny To film. It's studio product, pure and simple, formulaic to a fault and suffers badly from an awkward series of flashbacks to clumsily fill in the back story of gamblers Lau and Wang Jie. For much of the running time it's a gambling version on the old Western staple about the famed gunslinger trying to turn his back on the past and lead a quiet life, with the inevitable showdown constantly avoided no matter how outrageously Kelvin Wong wrongs him. Things pick up around the halfway point when Wang Jie literally throws in his hand and the film briefly turns into another revenge action movie before another multi-million dollar poker game finale hinging on a less than impressive bluff. On the plus side there's Anthony Wong essaying the villain's perennially happy sidekick who takes genuine glee in his work (if he were a dog he'd be wagging his tail the whole movie) and To manages to throw in a couple of visually interesting moments, but it's a terminally average movie.
December 28, 2007

Very nice Hongkong Casino Movie

Do you like Cho Yun Fat? If so, you also will like Andy Lau. I like this DVD very much. Hongkong style casino movies have faithfulness, betrayal, and revenge plot. I think this one is better than original one. If you enjoy this, you also like "God of Gambler(Actor: Chow Yun Fat)" July 18, 2001

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