Sequels are infamous for being inferior to their predecessors, and that notion may also be pretty utilized to the martial arts style. Nonetheless, it is essential to notice that there are literally a number of exceptions to this, so many who over a handful of the best martial arts motion pictures in cinematic historical past are second, third, and even fourth installments in a selected sequence.
Generally, there shall be an unbelievable entry in what would in any other case be a median martial arts film franchise. Extra impressively, there’s been a number of situations of sequels someway managing to equal and even surpass movies already thought to be classics of the style.
Among the many nice martial arts stars to have pulled this off sooner or later of their performing careers are Jackie Chan, Jet Li, Donnie Yen, and Jimmy Wang Yu.
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The Raid 2
It isn’t simple to stay as much as the usual of a movie thought to be the most effective martial arts motion pictures of the twenty first century, however The Raid 2 achieved that job, even when it stopped wanting beating out the unique. Iko Uwais’ second outing as martial arts skilled and police officer Rama leaned closely on the aspects of the primary film that made it such a significant hit.
Its skinny plot is its best weak spot, however that was by no means the central enchantment of the Indonesian movie; it is grand battle sequences with all their transferring elements and gratuitious violence have been the driving power of the film, and The Raid 2 doubles down on that, tying collectively much more spectacular set-pieces and gory ending strikes.
9
Ong Bak 2: The Starting
Ong Bak 2 is in the same class to The Raid 2, in that it is an incredible sequel, regardless of missing a memorable storyline. Serving as the primary installment of a two-part prequel to Ong Bak: Muay Thai Warrior, tells a fairly predictable story of a person’s quest to get revenge for the demise of his mother and father.
The choice to make it a interval piece makes Ong Bak 2 drastically totally different from the unique, however the change works properly for the movie, which advantages from the creation of a fully-realized world based mostly on historical Thai tradition. However, after all, what actually makes Ong Bak 2 so particular is its motion, as Tony Jaa’s dedication to avoiding wirework in favor of brutally reasonable battle scenes is taken to a brand new degree.
8
Kill Invoice Vol. 2
Boasting a strong 84% ranking on Rotten Tomatoes, Kill Invoice Vol. 2 was the second half of a standout, two-part love letter to old-school kung fu motion pictures from Hollywood director Quentin Tarantino. It does properly to wrap up the unfastened ends of the primary movie and demonstrates Tarantino’s deep understanding of the assorted underlying parts of the style.
Persevering with the journey of Uma Thurman’s character from the primary film and its embrace of the kung fu film style’s obsession with revenge, the 2004 sequel holds nothing in again with reference to bloody motion sequences and enjoyable Easter eggs, together with an unforgettable (and completely forged) cameo look from Gordon Liu as Pai Mei, the identical character that served because the villain of Lui’s Clan of the White Lotus.
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Clan Of The White Lotus
Apparently, Clan of the White Lotus itself is a sequel, albeit a loosely-connected one. Between 1977 and 1980, Shaw Brothers produced an unofficial trilogy of kung fu motion pictures about monks from the Shaolin Temple and their battle with the evil kung fu grasp, Pai Mei, who was performed by Lo Lieh in all three movies.
The three motion pictures in query are Executioners from Shaolin, Clan of the White Lotus, and Abbot of Shaolin.
The final of the three movies, which acts as a follow-up to Executioners from Shaolin, far exceeds each of its predecessors. As was the case with the final two movies, Lo Lieh shines because the insidious Pai Mei, whose huge confidence could possibly be seen as vanity if he did not have the martial arts prowess to associate with it.
Along with Lo Lieh’s show-stealing efficiency and a few humorous moments, Clan of the White Lotus does proper by all the good old-school kung fu film tropes, working in a well-written revenge narrative and a few enjoyable and artistic coaching sequences whereby the hero has to study a female method to martial arts to stability his extra aggressive fashion of combating.
6
John Wick: Chapter 2
The primary of three sequels to John Wick, John Wick: Chapter 2 sees Keanu Reeves’ titular character get double-crossed and chased by assassins after he completes a job within the hopes of strolling away from his life as a hitman. This premise opened the door for some well-choreographed battle scenes between Wick and Cassian (Widespread).
John Wick: Chapter 2 displays an evolution of the primary film’s signature gun-fu fashion, that includes all method of over-the-top and brutal kills as Wick plows his approach by way of his enemies at a number of factors within the movie.
5
Ip Man 2
After getting off to an incredible begin, Wilson Yip and Donnie Yen’s Ip Man film franchise obtained a robust second chapter within the type of Ip Man 2, which introduced in legendary martial arts star Sammo Hung as its martial arts choreographer, who put collectively a surprising tabletop battle between himself and Yen.
The battle between Hung and Yen was really simply certainly one of a number of vibrant spots within the film, which featured a well-developed forged of characters thrust right into a story about a number of Chinese language martial arts masters making an attempt to protect their satisfaction amid British management of Hong Kong, topped off with an incredible showdown that showcased the contrasting approaches between the West and the East.
4
As soon as Upon A Time In China 2
Ip Man 2 is not the one all-time nice martial arts sequel to contain Donnie Yen. One other is As soon as Upon a Time in China II, which was the second in a sequence of seven martial arts interval items, primarily led by Jet Li. The 1992 movie places Jet Li again within the position of real-life martial arts grasp Wong Fei-hung, this time defending his college students and family members from a villainous cult throughout a brief keep in Canton.
The franchise’s second journey for Wong Fei-hung expands on the attractive, historic world crafted by the primary film, full with extravagent wirework for Jet Li’s motion sequences, with each being totally different from the final. However the very best a part of all of it is Jet Li’s phenomenal battle scene with Donnie Yen, which is arguably the most effective ever filmed.
3
Police Story 2
Police Story is among the finest martial arts motion pictures of the Nineteen Eighties, and its first sequel is not too far behind it. By no means dragging, the 1988 Hong Kong basic options an intense – and likewise humorous automobile chase scene that units the tone for Jackie Chan’s each action-packed and comedic antics as he works to stop a bombing and rescue his girlfriend (once more).
Thanks partially to the latter plotline, Police Story 2 is ready to show extra of Jackie Chan’s dramatic chops than ordinary, and does so to the film’s profit. In fact, as a martial arts film, it by no means permits the principle character’s private drama to take over, balancing it completely with a slew of battle scenes and superb stunts personally carried out by the actor.
2
Grasp Of The Flying Guillotine
In 1976, Jimmy Wang Yu wrote, directed, and starred in Grasp of the Flying Guillotine, a direct sequel to The One-Armed Boxer, a film a few martial artist who has to take revenge on the staff of assassins who price him his arm and his kung fu college. Grasp of the Flying Guillotine pits him towards the blind grasp of two of the assassins he killed.
Grasp of the Flying Guillotine makes use of the grasp’s quest for revenge to ship a plethora of motion and thrills, from an epic martial arts match, brutal ending strikes ala Mortal Kombat, an over-the-top weapon within the titular “flying guillotine,” and one of many kung fu film style’s most menacing villains ever.
1
Drunken Grasp II
If there’s any martial arts sequel that may beat Wang Yu’s Grasp of the Flying Guillotine it is Drunken Grasp II, which has a robust case for being each higher than Chan’s first outing as Wong Fei-hung, and what’s extra, the actor’s single best contribution to the martial arts style.
Regardless of the unique’s iconic standing, Drunken Grasp II improved on Chan’s first time enjoying the character by giving him better emotional depth by exploring in earnest the very actual penalties of counting on the drunken boxing kung fu fashion and foregoing the extra conventional kung fu film ending seen in Drunken Grasp.
Drunken Grasp II’s personal legendary fame is owed not solely to its superior story, but in addition a noteworthy efficiency from Nineteen Seventies martial arts icon Ti Lung, and the abilities of all-time nice kung fu film director Lau Kar-leung.