Young and Dangerous 2 (1996)
Reviewed by: mrblue on 2005-09-27
The focus of the story switches from Ho Nam to Chicken in this installment as Hung Hing tries to forge ties with a powerful Taiwanese crime boss, who Chicken worked for (and whose girlfriend [Yau] he romanced) during his time of exile in Y&D1. Things get complicated at home in Hong Kong when a rival in the group (Wong) tries to push Ho Nam out of power.

The series takes a more serious turn in this installment. Since their experience in Macao, Ho Nam and his brothers are no longer wide-eyed young boys. They know being a Triad comes with its own set of special consequences. Chicken, in particular seems to have changed fairly dramatically; instead of laughing at a friendly priest's (Lam) advice, he begins to take it seriously, treating the "father" almost as a real father. The actors reflect this change in the lives of their characters. Cheng seems to have settled into the role of Ho Nam, taking the woodeness of the first movie and turning it into cool calculation, and Chan steals the show as the increasingly world-weary Chicken, who becomes torn between his two "families." And, of course, having Anthony Wong in a movie doesn't hurt either. Even though it's not a great performance, Wong creates a suitably sleazy villain that should please fans of his work. The only sore thumb in the bunch is Yau, who looks to be out of her element here, regulated to being nothing more than (very pretty) window dressing.

[review from www.hkfilm.net]