Casino Raiders II stars Andy Lau as the unfortunately-named Chicken Feet, a gambler training under the great Uncle Fan (Lau Siu-Ming). The two, along with the feisty Lin (Wu Chien-Lin), run a small casino and things seem to be going well until a duo of villains (Kelvin Wong and Anthony Wong) show up to try and steal a piece of jade from Uncle Fan that supposedly holds the power of the God of Gamblers. After Chicken Feet's brother, Kit (Dave Wong) is released from prison, the group bands together to take out Kelvin's fortune during the world gambling championship.

For a movie with "casino" in the title, there's surprisingly little in the way of gambling here. The majority of the movie is dominated by drama, with a few short action scenes (helmed by the great Ching Siu-Tung) thrown in for good measure. But the film works for the most part. Director Johnnie To wisely keeps Andy Lau's lines to a minimum, and Anthony Wong (complete with a porn star mustache) is fabulous as Kelvin Wong's evil sidekick. The climatic gambling scene is also handled well, and uses a Crippled Avengers-esque gimmick to nice effect.

However, To doesn't seem to be able to keep a clear focus in this production. At times, it's a Wong Jing expolitation flick, such as one scene where Dave Wong lops off his hand. The scene fits the story, but it's done in such an over-the-top manner that it becomes almost laughable. At other points, To seems intent on creating a John Woo actioner, complete with slow-motion shots of birds. Perhaps not coincidentally, Casino Raiders II uses Horace Wong (who shot many of Woo's Hong Kong productions) as the cinematographer. Also, To seems a bit complacent, using the same style of slow-motion combined with an Andy Lau ballad for several scenes, which got to be a bit annoying after the second or third time it's used.

Overall, though, the problems don't derail the proceedings, and Casino Raiders II ends up being a solid gambling/action picture. Even though it's not as close to the level as some of the classics in the genre like God of Gamblers, it should still fit the bill for fans of Andy Lau and/or gambling films.

Before this happens though Kelvin comes back into their lives looking for a jade piece. What jade piece you might ask? Well, it seems that before the God of Gamblers retired he gave away two jade pieces that would allow anyone who possessed both to become the greatest gambler of all! Kelvin believes that Uncle Fan has it and he has his right hand thug Anthony Wong (in a wonderfully nasty performance) attempt to get it.

This all leads to some tragic occurrences ... but that's just the beginning. Soon Kit is released from jail ... comes back to find that his wife is living with Anthony Wong and that his small daughter has been stowed with some relatives who have chained her up in a back room! To prove to Kelvin that he doesn't want to challenge him in the gambling arena ... he commits a horrific act of self sacrifice that leaves you stunned. And there are still lots of bad things waiting to happen. Monica Chan shows up from America on a mysterious errand and looks after Kit. As in nearly every film of this type ... there is of course the final gambling showdown.

Certainly, this is far from the lean and taut style that To perfected later in his Milkyway productions, but the film is engaging in a soap opera-ish/popcorn eating way. Andy gives a stoic and handsome performance with an unlit cigarette seemingly always dangling from his lower lip, Wu Chien-lien is lovely if somewhat annoying - but that one traumatic scene makes up for it ... but the story is all laid on with a very thick brush. The excessive number of characters and plot turns diffuse the emotional impact that the film should have had. Some other pluses are some nicely sung tunes from Andy (?) on the soundtrack ... and the limited action that is choreographed by Ching Siu-tung has two terrific moments ... one involving a car driving under two trucks and the other a boat flying onto a dock.