A BETTER TOMORROW II
(Chinatown Video)
Reviewed by Jonathan
Marshall
The Better Tomorrow series solidified the star status of then
Hong Kong based director John Woo (Face/Off, etc) and actor Chow
Yun-Fat (The Replacement Killers), causing HK boys to sport long
‘Mark-coats’ that Chow’s character had immortalised as
quintessential cool in the first film. The second instalment finds Mark’s twin Ken in
a New York restaurant, feted by kids looking for long coats so they too can join this
almost mythic pantheon. The bloodbath finale of A Better Tomorrow
left Woo with many problems to overcome before the violence
really kicks off, and indeed much of the dramatic appeal lies in the striking conflicts
that this produces. Former boss Lung is trying to go straight but after losing his
daughter becomes a gibbering wreck, the antithesis of Woo’s usually
unflappable heroes. To resolve his case, detective Kit must neglect his own wife and even
force his brother Ho to shoot him in order to allay any suspicions that they are working
undercover. The slow-mo, iconographic, explosion-filled gun fight in which Ken forces Ho
to struggle for his life again is as compelling as it is melodramatic, while the scene of
Kit naming his new-born daughter over the phone to his wife as he expires in Ken’s
arms is inspired.
The finale of ABT II however has a higher body count than even The Killer; where in The Killer, Woo dressed
the patsies in white so that their bodies become painted with blood, in ABT II the
white walls of the house are the canvas onto which the extras’ essence is sprayed.
The black and white suited style of the heroes anticipates Reservoir Dogs, and
the final tableau of the dead-yet-still-conscious Lung, Ho and Ken complacently staring
out from their massive armchairs at the destruction renders them in almost mythological
terms - gods of war. Unlike recent Siren re-releases, this version of ABT II is
marred by eccentric subtitling and poor sound, suggesting the tape is a re-dub into
Chinese. The soaring, over-the-top, anthemic sound track is particularly poorly served by
this. It is however hard to be sure whether this is how ABT II was in its
original release. Even so, this version is vastly superior to the embarrassing English
dubs formerly in circulation. While not as consistent as The Killer, ABT II is
a must see just for the finale. Only spaghetti Westerns like Django come close
with such epic mayhem.
© 2000 Jonathan Marshall
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