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★★★★★
17 November 2015
A movie review of SPL 2: A TIME FOR CONSEQUENCES. |
“I will not sacrifice other people’s lives to save my daughter,” Chatchai (Tony Jaa)
A martial arts movie that actually cares about narrative, rather than storytelling as an excuse just to link fight sequences, SPL2, bravo. The three good guys are kept behind the audience in terms of information revelation. Sometimes it is the reverse, we are drip-fed details tantalisingly. Keeping protagonists at arm’s-length, regardless of character morality/motivation, was utilised dexterously by INFERNAL AFFAIRS and its remake THE DEPARTED. One wonders why the technique is not used more often? (Arm’s-length here of course does not apply to being punched in the face.)
Those unfamiliar with the first SPL from a decade ago, KILL ZONE, do not worry, there is no link between the two. Even the overlap in cast is coincidence. It is unclear why this is billed as a follow-up (unless it is prequel, though that is far from obvious).
A martial arts movie that actually cares about narrative, rather than storytelling as an excuse just to link fight sequences, SPL2, bravo. The three good guys are kept behind the audience in terms of information revelation. Sometimes it is the reverse, we are drip-fed details tantalisingly. Keeping protagonists at arm’s-length, regardless of character morality/motivation, was utilised dexterously by INFERNAL AFFAIRS and its remake THE DEPARTED. One wonders why the technique is not used more often? (Arm’s-length here of course does not apply to being punched in the face.)
Those unfamiliar with the first SPL from a decade ago, KILL ZONE, do not worry, there is no link between the two. Even the overlap in cast is coincidence. It is unclear why this is billed as a follow-up (unless it is prequel, though that is far from obvious).
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People trafficker Hung Mun-Gong (Louis Koo) is the equivalent of a Bond villain: Wealthy, a physical defect and a formidable henchman. Clearly heinous, Mun-Gong requires a heart transplant, but has a rare blood type (one in 10 million). His brother is the sole option. Forcibly so. In an attempt to kidnap his sibling, an airport shootout between cops and baddies provides a significant body count. The scene is typical of the film: Combat sequences have the feeling of theatricality – artificial sets dressed to be a terminal, prison or clinic. They create an otherworldly, almost parallel universe vibe. (You would have to be super-powered to take the punishment offered and received.)
Hung is on the police radar. So much so that Hong Kong cop Chan Chi-Kit (Wu Jing) becomes a drug addict to go undercover. Chi-Kit ends up captured and languishes in a Thai prison, run by Mun-Gong’s lethal right hand, warden Ko Hung (Jin Jhang). Ko reminds of Mad Dog (Yayan Ruhian) in THE RAID: A one man army. When Chi-Kit instigates a prison riot to escape, Ko goes in sans body armour and the mob have no chance. It’s a scene that surpasses the opening of MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – GHOST PROTOCOL for its choreography and exhilaration.
Meanwhile honest prison guard Chatchai (Jaa) requires a bone marrow transplant for his 8-year old daughter, Sa, if she is to live. Chatchai does not realise Chi-Kit is the perfect match. Suspense hangs over as to whether they will find out in time. That Sa repeatedly dreams of seeing a portentous wolf, not out of place in ‘Game of Thrones’, suggests she might not make it. All this time Chi-Kit’s boss, Chan Kwok-Wah (Simon Yam), is searching for his missing colleague.
Having already established his action credentials with MOTORWAY, director Soi Cheang and his team deliver blistering fisticuffs. From warehouse human abattoir to a private hospital, the locales get coated in bodies; all the while Chatchai must wrestle the conundrum of love for a person conflicting with the greater good. SPL2 rivals JOHN WICK for martial arts flick of the year.
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