SINNUI YAUMAN II isn't bad at all, but it's disappointing. It isn't as funny, exciting, touching or visually inventive as its predecessor. The device used to reintroduce Joey Wong into the story is just plain wrong; if they didn't want to bring back her original character ( I have to admit they probably couldn't) they should have come up with a new love interest played by a new actress. Limiting Wu Ma to such a brief appearance limits his chemistry with Leslie Cheung, which is one of the things that made the first film such fun, and there's just about no one else here, except Cheung, who has as much charisma. It is a novel way to bring back the two actors, but it's a letdown.
As for Cheung himself, he just isn't as disarming here as in the original; he doesn't fit his character as well. There's also what seems to be some kind of political allegory near the end that doesn't fit the rest of the story - maybe you have to be more familiar than I am with China to appreciate it? Oh, maybe I'm griping too much; it has its good moments (especially a scene concerning a slowly 'thawing' monster)...just not nearly as many as 1987's SINNUI YAUMAN. It waters down the impact of that jewel a bit, and frankly, I wish they'd taken all the good stuff in this film and used it on some entirely different project.
As for Cheung himself, he just isn't as disarming here as in the original; he doesn't fit his character as well. There's also what seems to be some kind of political allegory near the end that doesn't fit the rest of the story - maybe you have to be more familiar than I am with China to appreciate it? Oh, maybe I'm griping too much; it has its good moments (especially a scene concerning a slowly 'thawing' monster)...just not nearly as many as 1987's SINNUI YAUMAN. It waters down the impact of that jewel a bit, and frankly, I wish they'd taken all the good stuff in this film and used it on some entirely different project.