| The Chinese Connection II (1977) Cast: Bruce Li, Lo Lieh Well I hated the first movie, and I hated this one even more. This sequel picks up where Bruce Lee died heroically and now his brother played by Bruce Li is there to avenge the matter. Also the Japanese kung fu masters want to take over all of the Chinese schools and of course Li is the only who can stop him, though Lo Lieh is formidable opponent. Bruce Li and Lo Lieh are actually credible chopsocky stars (Never liked Bruce Le, Dragon Lee etc much though.) and really with the absence of Bruce Lee, Bruce Li, Lo Lieh, Jackie Chan, Gordon Liu and Jimmy Wang Yu were more than okay at headlining these type of movies but the problem here is actually the complete opposite of what was wrong with the first. This time there Isn't enough plot or story to make the fight sequences all that entertaining. There are only so many times we can find Japanese martial artists killing the Chinese and then Bruce Li coming to the rescue again over and over again. It's all repetitive and quite boring. Also you would think that Lo "Five Fingers Of Death" Lieh Vs Bruce Li fight would be epic and while it certainly is well choreographed and entertaining, it's the only entertainment I gathered from this tired film. Kung fu movies work only with ambition and finding the balance of story, they however never work when they are complete rip offs with nothing novel to show its audience. D.Jimmy Shaw * |