Prison On Fire 2: Reviews

Reviews Reviews:
Prison On Fire 2
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    by HK Film
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After achieving success with City on Fire and the original Prison on Fire, Ringo Lam's career hit a slump with a series of box office failures. With Wild Search and this sequel, Lam moved away from the dark tone which highlighted many of his earlier works. Though this movie involves the same protagonist as the first (Chow) and features similar themes, they are radically different in execution. Don't get me wrong, this is still a good film, but I really enjoyed the moodiness of this movie and prefer it over the somewhat sappy happenings in the sequel. The movie's basic plot has Chow being denied parole and then hatching a plan to escape with an old-timer (Chang) so he can see his son one last time. There's lots of melodrama and some overacting (even from the great Chow), but the movie as a whole flows really well except for a couple of bonding scenes between Chow and Chang which slow it down a bit. And of course, there's a huge, vicious prison brawl at the end. Big Chow or Ringo Lam fans will probably get more out of this movie than the average viewer, but it's still definitely worth a look.
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The Plot: Racial tension and gratuitous violence in the slammer. Triads from Hong Kong and the Mainland do battle at every turn, but Hong Kong native Ah Ching (Chow Yun Fat) and a Mainland triad boss (Chan Chung-Yung) form an unlikely alliance. One of the many silly subplots concerns Ah Ching successfully escaping from prison (!) so that he can visit his son in an orphanage.

Why Would I Like This Movie? An interesting spotlight on HK politics and racial tension, and an occasionally realistic glimpse of prison life. Some humourous lines. Ah Ching is an interesting and complex character, as in PoF: a new twist on the loyalty/betrayal themes of HK Cinema. The climax does get the adrenaline going. And finally, you do get to see Chow Yun Fat's butt -- and flabby, I am sorry to say, is the only word. :)

Why Wouldn't I Like This Movie? Gut-churning violence. If I had to pick one word to describe this movie, "exploitative," "pointless" and "gratuitous" would rank high on the list.

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The sequel to this action classic continues with Chow Yun Fat's role as a prison hard timer who escapes from prison for one day to meet his son. Not as good as the first installment, but boasts some terrific action sequences. See Prison on Fire first. HKFlix Rating: 5.5/10: (Arthouse Rating: 3/5. Entertainment Value: 2.5/5.)
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