The plot basically re-treads the first film. The Japanese, led by the insidious Miyamoto (Lo Lieh, who must have been hard up for beer money to be forced into taking a role in rubbish such as this) are trying to kill the spirit of the occupied Chinese by destroying their kung fu schools. Chen Shan (Bruce Li) heads to Shanghai to check out his brother's grave, sees what the "nasty Japs" are up to, and proceeds to kick their asses into submission.

I'm not a big fan of the first movie, and its' sequel does nothing to improve on it. In fact, as you might expect, given that the first entry's main draw (Bruce Lee, natch) isn't here, things become worse. Bruce Li is a decent actor and martial artist, but he's not given a chance to display either of those skills here.

The film-makers were obviously trying to make him into Bruce Lee v. 2, but it doesn't work. There's one scene where Li does his best Bruce Lee imitation of The Dragon's legendary nunchaku skills. Instead of exciting, it comes off as cheesy and hollow, and is a perfect example of why this should be left in the bargain bin and not put in your DVD player.

Following the death of Bruce Lee, numerous movie producers decided to cash in on his popularity by churning out several so-called sequels to his back catalogue. The majority of these films rarely did justice to the originals but 'Fist Of Fury II' is one of the elite few that actually manages to maintain a degree of credibility. Despite lacking the physical presence of Lee, the film is primarily carried by an entertaining storyline which is essentially a retelling of the original. Although somewhat simplistic in theory, the concept of the little guy vs. the bullies is an easy theme to warm too and quickly has the audience cheering for the hero. This aspect is further enhanced by a decent performance from Bruce Li who does an admirable job with the material provided, even if he is still obliged to throw in the mandatory Bruce-isms. Added to this, the action on show is a notch above the standard chop socky affair as Tommy Lee throws in a number of differing styles and focuses on Li's obvious strengths in the kicking department.

Although still quite a way off classic standards, 'Fist Of Fury II' just goes to show that it is possible to make a "Bruceploitation" flick that is fun to watch. Through a combination of solid action and an uplifting storyline, this is definitely one of the best films to come out of this bizarre sub-genre and is likely to find favour with many fans of old school kung fu films.