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"As long as there are people, there will be grievances"
Swordsman 2 is a film I’ve wanted to watch for a while now. Jet Li and Brigitte Lin? Sign me up! Not quite so fast Butterfly. As someone who doesn’t like Hong Kong slapstick humor, I discovered I would have to sit through nearly 40 minutes of it before the fighting and story really kicked in. Once the story and fighting began in earnest, I was on board.
After the betrayal in the first film, Ling Woo Chung and his junior sister Ngok Leng Saan/ The Brat are headed to meet up with their brothers and leave the martial life behind. Along his drunken way, they find themselves in the middle of a skirmish. Ling takes note of a beautiful woman involved. They travel on to the village where Ling’s lover, Ying Ying, lives to meet up with the others but find bodies instead and Ying Ying gone. Fearing she’s been kidnapped just like her father who is the head of the sect, Ling realizes he’s going to have to take a detour away from retirement mountain.
The first forty minutes were needlessly confusing and painfully slap happy. Japanese ninjas were wedged into the story and never properly elaborated upon. By the time the story set in and the characters settled down, I was honestly ready to check out, but I’m glad I stuck around. Brigitte Lin’s Invincible Dawn/Dong Fang Bu Bai was the best part about the film. She gave a complex and compelling performance, giving dignity to a character that was spoken about derogatorily due to a physical and mystical sex change which to make matters worse, left her not only without a penis but as a (gasp!) woman. Any time Invincible Dawn was not on the screen, the film suffered for it.
Dawn wanted to rule the country and make her people powerful and respected. While she was a villain, the sect leader she’d imprisoned was equally as bat sh*t crazy. Ling may have wanted to get away from it all but trouble was going to come calling no matter where he went. Jet Li was at his best when Ling stopped pouting about not having enough wine and got serious about dealing with the baddies. I’m not sure I bought him as a romantic lead, fortunately Brigitte was more convincing and I could forgive anything for her.
The fights were mostly swords and creative uses of sewing needles. Mystical skills were also utilized. Spinning, jumping wire-fu, undercranking, and blurred camera work often shot in the dark was dizzying. Some of it worked for me, while other times it felt like overkill. Speaking of killing, the bodies stacked high, at least what was left of them. I don't know if it was the style or the film has degraded but it had that gauzy effect where I worried I needed to have my glasses prescription checked.
Other than the first 40 minutes and the homophobic and sexist jokes, I enjoyed the last hour of the film. Again, largely due to Brigitte Lin. Swordsman 2 is a popular film from 1992 and I’ve always been upfront with not caring for this brand of humor so I’m sure others will have a much better experience with it than I did. If you enjoy older martial arts fantasy films and/or the stars, this is one to try.
7 March 2026
Housekeeping note: My 1200th review!
Trigger warnings: SNAKES. So many snakes in so many gruesome ways. I had to FF in a few places. Decapitations, dismemberments, exploding bodies, bodies and horses cleaved in half. Eye injuries. Suicide. Buckets and buckets of blood splashed and sprayed. Rats. Sexual content but suggested more than shown.
After the betrayal in the first film, Ling Woo Chung and his junior sister Ngok Leng Saan/ The Brat are headed to meet up with their brothers and leave the martial life behind. Along his drunken way, they find themselves in the middle of a skirmish. Ling takes note of a beautiful woman involved. They travel on to the village where Ling’s lover, Ying Ying, lives to meet up with the others but find bodies instead and Ying Ying gone. Fearing she’s been kidnapped just like her father who is the head of the sect, Ling realizes he’s going to have to take a detour away from retirement mountain.
The first forty minutes were needlessly confusing and painfully slap happy. Japanese ninjas were wedged into the story and never properly elaborated upon. By the time the story set in and the characters settled down, I was honestly ready to check out, but I’m glad I stuck around. Brigitte Lin’s Invincible Dawn/Dong Fang Bu Bai was the best part about the film. She gave a complex and compelling performance, giving dignity to a character that was spoken about derogatorily due to a physical and mystical sex change which to make matters worse, left her not only without a penis but as a (gasp!) woman. Any time Invincible Dawn was not on the screen, the film suffered for it.
Dawn wanted to rule the country and make her people powerful and respected. While she was a villain, the sect leader she’d imprisoned was equally as bat sh*t crazy. Ling may have wanted to get away from it all but trouble was going to come calling no matter where he went. Jet Li was at his best when Ling stopped pouting about not having enough wine and got serious about dealing with the baddies. I’m not sure I bought him as a romantic lead, fortunately Brigitte was more convincing and I could forgive anything for her.
The fights were mostly swords and creative uses of sewing needles. Mystical skills were also utilized. Spinning, jumping wire-fu, undercranking, and blurred camera work often shot in the dark was dizzying. Some of it worked for me, while other times it felt like overkill. Speaking of killing, the bodies stacked high, at least what was left of them. I don't know if it was the style or the film has degraded but it had that gauzy effect where I worried I needed to have my glasses prescription checked.
Other than the first 40 minutes and the homophobic and sexist jokes, I enjoyed the last hour of the film. Again, largely due to Brigitte Lin. Swordsman 2 is a popular film from 1992 and I’ve always been upfront with not caring for this brand of humor so I’m sure others will have a much better experience with it than I did. If you enjoy older martial arts fantasy films and/or the stars, this is one to try.
7 March 2026
Housekeeping note: My 1200th review!
Trigger warnings: SNAKES. So many snakes in so many gruesome ways. I had to FF in a few places. Decapitations, dismemberments, exploding bodies, bodies and horses cleaved in half. Eye injuries. Suicide. Buckets and buckets of blood splashed and sprayed. Rats. Sexual content but suggested more than shown.
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