This review may contain spoilers
I can’t speak high enough of the young girl who played the FL. Incredible!
Yang Enyou is a Revelation. It would be an absolute travesty if Yang Enyou (who plays the young orphan, Zhang Xiaoyu) does not become a global megastar after this. Her performance is truly, unbelievably brilliant. In a genre often dominated by stoic fighters, she brings a raw, visceral vulnerability that anchors the entire film. You don’t just watch her pain and anger, you feel it in every single frame she occupies. She goes toe-to-toe with martial arts veteran Xie Miao and in many scenes, completely steals the spotlight. Her ability to convey that level of soul-crushing grief and white-hot rage at such a young age is nothing short of a masterclass in acting.The only reason this isn’t a perfect 10 is that it is occasionally very difficult to stomach. Even for a gritty revenge thriller, the level of violence directed at a child is extreme. Seeing a young girl get gang-beaten, kicked, strangled and even poisoned is incredibly heavy and may be too much for some viewers. While it successfully fuels the fire for the eventual revenge, those specific scenes are undeniably brutal.
The sequel manages to surpass the original by adding a profound emotional core. Watch it for the top-tier action, but stay for the legendary performance by Yang Enyou. If this is the start of her career, the sky is the limit.
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