If you`re like us and missed the previous installment, The Four 2 is a wuxia flick centering on four constables with super powers: Emotionless (Crystal Liu Yifei), Iron Hands (Collin Chou), Life Snatcher (Ronald Cheng) and Cold Blood (Deng Chao). There`s a plot to overthrow the emperor- courtesy of a guy called Lord An- and a badly constructed murder mystery, but frankly, it`s just a vehicle for watching the Divine Constabulary bust out their martial arts moves.
The Four 2 fails on so many levels that one almost feels guilty for pointing them out. Its fundamental problem, however, is that it just doesn`t work as a separate entity. A good sequel should expand on the characters and plot of the original, without having to depend on it to be understood. If you haven`t watched its predecessor, The Four 2 will feel like playing a game of Scrabble in ancient Babylonian.
It doesn`t help that Gordon Chan spends most of an hour detailing a murder mystery that not only meanders on for too long, but also cheats the viewers of any sort of logical payoff. It also has the singular merit of possessing the most infuriating cop-out seen in any storytelling medium. Yes, even worse then `he woke up and it was all a dream`.
Frustrating as the movie is, we wish we could say something nice about The Four 2, but even the decent choreography that`s on display in its frenetically incoherent second half is marred by hokey visual effects and cheesy superpowers. One of the Divine Constables` awe-inspiring powers involves growing fangs and trying to bite his foes to death. We`re guessing that his version of kryptonite involves a rolled up piece of newspaper and the admonishment: `Down boy! Down!`.
Based on its own merits, there`s hardly anything to recommend about The Four 2. If you haven`t watched Gordon Chan`s original The Four- or read the original novel by Wong Swee Oan- this one is going to be even harder to appreciate. Unfortunately, this particular number ends with a cliffhanger, which means that there`s probably at least one more installation in the series. Let`s just hope that Gordon Chan gives up before The Four 4, which we predict will be as laughable and repetitive as its title implies.
Summary: Stop. Please.
RATING: 1 out of 5 stars
Raphael Lim