I'll be honest right now...I'm a collector of Hong Kong action movies from the 80s and 90s and this film definitely didn't disappoint me one tiny bit! It was like watching 'In the Line of Duty IV' all over again. The plot is simple, but action director Yuen Wo Ping doesn't stay focused on plot for too long...he gives the people what they want to see and that's loads of gunfights, plenty of humor and fantastic fight choreography that hits dead center! In this actioner, Donnie Yen portrays Dragon Yau, a surly ex-cop with a short fuse who's had better days. He's a great police officer and he'd probably make it to police captain if his lone wolf behavior and blatant disregard for proper procedure didn't get him and the rest of the force into trouble. After numerous demotions, reprimands and suspensions, Dragon is kicked off the force and his wife has filed for divorce and claimed half of his property and his bank account (talk about rotten luck!) Just when Dragon doesn't think his day could possibly get any worse, it actually does: he witnesses a robbery in progress at the law firm where he went and after risking his life to save Mandy Chan (the lovely Rosamund Kwan), you'd think he'd get a medal or a request to come back to the force. But because of fright, Mandy assumes that Dragon was helping the bad guys and this enrages the burnt out cop. When he comes back to confront Mandy about her accusation, his problems get worse, but they soon become Mandy's problems when assassins kill her best friend Petty (Carol Cheng) and Mandy is blamed for the crime. Sighted as criminals by Inspector Yeung (Cynthia Khan), Dragon and Mandy are forced to flee, which becomes a bit of a problem since they're handcuffed together and Mandy is trying to fight Dragon as they attempt to avoid capture. As if that wasn't bad enough, they're being chased not only by the cops, but by Triad criminals who think they had something to do with the money that was stolen at the firm. Dragon and Mandy don't have a clue what's going on or why people are trying to kill them but when they encounter one too many 'close calls', they say enough is enough and prepare to fight back against those who have set them up and made their lives a living hell.
I gotta be honest, when the first battle began in the parking garage, I knew I was in for a treat and Donnie Yen shows us some of the solid, hard-hitting, high-kicking action that has made him famous over the years. The man truly does enjoy playing the hard-boiled tough guy who never runs from a fight and never backs down when trouble is near. I wanted to be like this guy so much when I saw his fighting abilities on screen and to this day, I still try to emulate some of his moves. Rosamund Kwan did a terrific job as Mandy Chan, the divorce lawyer who finds herself in an unpredictable situation and doesn't have a clue why people are trying to kill her and is plagued with guilt over the death of her best friend Petty. The situations with her and Donnie are just too funny for words as the two can't stand each other's behavior but learn to come to an understanding when they realize they can't survive without each other. Yuen Wo Ping also gives the two time to bond while they're on-screen, showing situations where they eat dinner together, have a beer or two and Dragon even teaches Mandy how to smoke. That was a very memorable scene.
Another interesting factor is that Dragon and Mandy aren't alone in this situation: they find an ally in the form of David, one of the henchmen who worked for Robin Shou's evil character, Waise. David has no intention of hurting either Dragon or Mandy, but he has to retrieve the money that was lost because his mobster boss, Uncle Chiu believes that someone at the firm ripped him off. Because Dragon and Mandy are suspects, David does everything he can to help them while still staying focused on his mission which is to retrieve the cash.
Speaking of villains, I was shocked to see Robin Shou playing the part of the bad guy in this movie! Robin's character was truly a wicked man with no qualms about killing innocent people to cover his tracks and he even has the help of Michael Woods and John Salvitti (Donnie's sparring buddies in real life) to help him in his mission to become top dog of the underworld. This character's fighting ability was completely different from the Mortal Kombat Liu Kang that I was used to seeing. Robin definitely made a name for himself with this role.
The fight scenes were amazing: plenty of raw kicking power, sword swinging action and gun-fights galore to keep you on the edge of your seat. The choreography for the scenes were right on point and I didn't see one mistake in the fights. Truly ground-breaking work.
Tiger Cage II was a fantastic modern day movie and I recommend it to anyone who's into modern day actioners, Donnie Yen, Rosamund Kwan and the choreography of Yuen Wo Ping. Truly a work of art!
I gotta be honest, when the first battle began in the parking garage, I knew I was in for a treat and Donnie Yen shows us some of the solid, hard-hitting, high-kicking action that has made him famous over the years. The man truly does enjoy playing the hard-boiled tough guy who never runs from a fight and never backs down when trouble is near. I wanted to be like this guy so much when I saw his fighting abilities on screen and to this day, I still try to emulate some of his moves. Rosamund Kwan did a terrific job as Mandy Chan, the divorce lawyer who finds herself in an unpredictable situation and doesn't have a clue why people are trying to kill her and is plagued with guilt over the death of her best friend Petty. The situations with her and Donnie are just too funny for words as the two can't stand each other's behavior but learn to come to an understanding when they realize they can't survive without each other. Yuen Wo Ping also gives the two time to bond while they're on-screen, showing situations where they eat dinner together, have a beer or two and Dragon even teaches Mandy how to smoke. That was a very memorable scene.
Another interesting factor is that Dragon and Mandy aren't alone in this situation: they find an ally in the form of David, one of the henchmen who worked for Robin Shou's evil character, Waise. David has no intention of hurting either Dragon or Mandy, but he has to retrieve the money that was lost because his mobster boss, Uncle Chiu believes that someone at the firm ripped him off. Because Dragon and Mandy are suspects, David does everything he can to help them while still staying focused on his mission which is to retrieve the cash.
Speaking of villains, I was shocked to see Robin Shou playing the part of the bad guy in this movie! Robin's character was truly a wicked man with no qualms about killing innocent people to cover his tracks and he even has the help of Michael Woods and John Salvitti (Donnie's sparring buddies in real life) to help him in his mission to become top dog of the underworld. This character's fighting ability was completely different from the Mortal Kombat Liu Kang that I was used to seeing. Robin definitely made a name for himself with this role.
The fight scenes were amazing: plenty of raw kicking power, sword swinging action and gun-fights galore to keep you on the edge of your seat. The choreography for the scenes were right on point and I didn't see one mistake in the fights. Truly ground-breaking work.
Tiger Cage II was a fantastic modern day movie and I recommend it to anyone who's into modern day actioners, Donnie Yen, Rosamund Kwan and the choreography of Yuen Wo Ping. Truly a work of art!