Director: Lo Lieh
Year: 1980
Country: Hong Kong
Alternate Titles: Hong Wending san po bai lian jiao, Fists of the White Lotus
Genre: Kung-Fu
Plot:
With the evil priest seemingly defeated, the twin brother (Lo Lieh) orders the assault on the recently released associates who killed his brother, but only Hung Wen-ting (Gordon Liu) and Mei-hsiao (Kara Wai) escape his evil clutches. Forced into hiding, they eventually find a special refuge where he begins training to take on the evil cult but his training shows him to be severely underwhelmed and barely escapes with his life. Returning back to the sanctuary, she finally decides the time is right to teach him another technique to merge with his style in order to seek revenge which leads into a final battle against the dastardly leader.
Review:
This is an exceptionally enjoyable and worthwhile sequel. Much like the previous effort, this one offers up a lot of fun with the storyline offering up plenty of martial arts and kung-fu to the forefront. This one brings several stellar fight scenes here, from the numerous multi-man confrontations at the beginning including the ambush on the dirt road, a brutal battle at their home while trying to recuperate and a stellar sneak attack on the unsuspecting monks in a nice orgy of bloodshed. The one-on-one fighting here is just as good, which is to be expected with his brother Liu Chia-liang in charge of the choreography here which means the fights are fun, dynamic and filled with quality kung-fu. With the three fights between Liu and Lieh being rather enjoyable and the final brawl in particular containing some stellar suspense moments as they each have the upper hand beating each other when you can see him loosing faith in his techniques, the martial arts on display is quite appealing.
As well, the rest of the story is the usual fine time to be had with the revenge story. Featuring the usual story of a vengeful persona out for revenge against others for taking revenge on a figure close to them in the first place, this time it contains the twin brother of the priest from the first film seeking revenge for his death which results in the confrontation the second time around as the surviving revolutionaries are forced to learn another new technique in order to survive the experience. Although it's pretty commonplace to experience these types of simple stories which is what makes this one work so well. There's also some rather fun comedy on display, which mainly comes from the early sections where Wei-ting must perform womanly duties to learn the secret new technique as that requires him to both raise children as well as learn to knit and sew which is somewhat funny. There are some minor problems, from the film dropping many intriguing storylines for the training techniques to the hot-headed nature of the revenge that plays out which makes him do foolish ideas from time-to-time, but overall its not that big of a detriment.
The cast is fine and serviceable Shaw Brothers regulars. Chia-Hui Liu (or Gordon Liu) is fine as Hung Wen-Ting, who is basically the same as he normally appears in his usual efforts. Basically honorable, heroic and intent on justice for what's taken against him, there's very little difference here between him and any other character he's played. That's not to say he's not fine in the role, but it's not like he's stretching himself here. The director himself, Lo Lieh, plays the new bad guy, the evil Priest White Lotus and it looks obvious from the lack of screentime he had other duties. Basically getting involved in only three or four scenes, he doesn't do much but still manages to evoke quite an effective presence with his complete disregard for his opponents and menacing white-haired look. He works in the form of being an evil, nearly-impossible boss to overcome but that's really about it here. The biggest question mark is Kara Wai's character Mei-Hsiao. There's no real need for her to be pregnant since that removes a graceful and worthwhile fighter from the equation for much of the movie. Resigned to cross-stitch and look worried for most of the film, her training technique sessions showcase just what we could've had the whole time as she demonstrates plenty of athletic and gorgeous endeavors.
Overview: ****/5
While it has plenty to really like here in terms of fun martial arts confrontations and a nice bit of humor mixed into the proceedings, the fact that a few minor issues pop up do manage to hold this one down slightly. Give this a try if you're into the genre or a fan of the previous effort, although those not into this style should heed caution.
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