Casino Tycoon 2: Quick Takes

Come to think of it, I didn't REALLY, REALLY want to go into a sequel of a rather failed movie anyway but I did. Following in the footsteps of the successful first by having events unfold 20 years later, clearly Wong Jing must've felt pretty anxious to make a dopey movie again and while there's no rules in cinema saying you have to keep a straight line in whatever you do, Casino Tycoon fans need to be pretty forgiving if they're going to endure this mess. Watch Andy Lau's Hsin mostly feature in a serious gangster movie where power struggles of Macau casinos are at the forefront while past rivalries and romances also pop up to give Casino Tycoon II more melodramatic drive.

But Wong Jing is tired of the textured design and everyone being gloomy all the time so he decides to make proceedings akin to a melodramatic gangster comedy instead. Yes, see him disrupt any momentum he might've had by featuring Feng Shui-nutters, recycle the God Of Gamblers score, make multiple racist jokes come out of the mouth of respectable lead Lau even and the aging process of having select gray strands of hair being similar in all characters except Lau Siu-Ming's who seems stuck in a time warp. Wong lays flat on his back and directs in his sleep so there's no argument here apparent that we should care for the soap opera that unfolds. Hui Siu-Hung gets used frequently the excessive comedy way Wong Jing likes, dishing out VD jokes amongst other things and Alex Man is thoroughly annoying in his reprisal of a character that was actually likeable the first time around. Also with Michelle Reis, Remus Choi, Calvin Choi, Sandra Ng, Lee Shu-Kei, Kingdom Yuen and Joey Wong appears in a cameo.