An innocent man is imprisoned because of mistaken identity, but his cellmate helps him to escape. Upon reaching freedom, he accidentally steals the horse of a Taoist magician. The 2 meet later at an abandoned temple that turns out to be haunted by a demon. Political rebels also show up and are trying to free the father of 2 sisters, 1 of which looks like the main character's lost love, Sui Sin. The main character, romantic interest, comic relief, rebels and demon all clash at the temple.
This was much slower than the first film in the series. The plot was also far more complex. An hour and 37 minutes is too short for something this cool, but there's still #3 left to watch. Even though there were too many characters with intertwining plot motives, I was actually able to keep track of them relatively well. I can't say much for translated dialogue, but there was a joke about the main character wanting to write on the hands of the sisters and them thinking he wanted to have sex with both of them. The sets were very similar to the first in the series. There was lots of darkness with colored lighting, mostly blue. The decrepit, old temple looked like it was actually old and falling apart instead of being designed to fall apart. Camera-work was very similar to #1 as well, but with much slower editing pace. The demon is not a spoiler. He happens pretty soon and was created quite well. His claws and fangs were obviously the most important part. We also had flying people and weapons and a stone stairway that split apart. There were also magic fire and freeze spells. The audio was easier this time because they slowed it down to a pace that I could read subtitles at. Style was similar to #1 of course. This has a 7/10 on IMDB, 3/5 on AllMovie and 64% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes. 65% average is still a failing grade, which I disagree with. It may not be everyone's cup of tea, but I liked this and see it as a valuable part of the series. I rate it adequate and can't wait to watch #3.
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