7/10
Less action than part 1, but a deeper storyline, and as such, a much better movie...
31 July 2012
The first movie was actually quite good, but it is surpassed by this sequel in many ways. Where as the first movie was focused mostly on the action, part two is driven by a deeper and more thought through storyline, and that really made the movie stand out much more than the first one.

"Young and Dangerous 2" continues the story of the Hung Hing gang of the Hong Kong triad and their affairs in both Hong Kong and Macau. But this time the story extends to Taipei, Taiwan as well, as Chicken (played by Jordan Chan) becomes hired by the San Luen gang. Meanwhile Chan Ho Nam (played by Ekin Cheng) and Tai Fai (played by Anthony Wong Chau-Sang) are both competing to become the leader of the Causeway Bay chapter of the Hung Hing group. But some people are playing more than one side, and it ends up as a complex web of lies, deceit and double-play.

Again, as in the first one, "Young and Dangerous 2" has an incredible cast, with a great number of familiar faces from part one. Ekin Cheng and Jordan Chan do it quite well, as they also did it in part one, but the most outstanding performance in part two is without a doubt by Anthony Wong Chau-Sang. And people familiar with the femme fatale movies of Hong Kong cinema will be pleased to see Chingmy Yau in the role of Ting Siu-Yiu.

I really enjoyed part two way more than part one, despite it having less action than the first movie. The action scenes and sequences in part two was also better executed and the camera action during the action scenes was far superior than in the first movie.

And the tone down of action gave way for a really good character build, where you got to know more of the characters and got more submerged into whom they are and why they behaved the way they did.

All in all, a sequel that is well worth watching for fans of the first movie and fans of Hong Kong cinema in general. And my eagerness to watch part three has been increased steeply after seeing "Young and Dangerous 2".
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