Kill Zone 2 on Blu Ray is typical gonzo kung fu melodrama

Well Go USA

Ten years ago a Chinese martial arts movie was released in the US as Kill Zone and was a sort of typical Hong Kong martial arts cop drama. One of the characters was an assassin played by Wu Jing and another was an inspector played by Simon Yam. The movie was pretty successful in Hong Kong, although not so much elsewhere. But that’s enough to warrant a “sequel.”

Kill Zone 2 is a spiritual sequel more than a direct one, with Wu Jing and Simon Yam returning but playing entirely different characters. Wu Jing plays Kit, a Hong Kong narcotics officer who goes undercover to take down crime boss Mr. Hung (Louis Koo). In typical convoluted fashion, Mr. Hung needs a new heart to live, and is trying to get it from his younger brother (Jun Kung). At the same time, Hung is working with sex trafficking and is linked to a Thai prison.

In that prison, the warden Ko Chun (stuntman Zhang Jin) is involved with Hung’s operation, and there’s a new guard on staff. This is former Thai police officer Chatchai (Tony Jaa) who’s trying to pay for his daughter’s medical bills. Tony Jaa is an amazing martial artist, Zhang Jin is impeccably graceful and violent, and Wu Jing is a great martial artist in his own right. So you know that there will be some amazing fights down the line. And there are.

The drama gets a bit melodramatic at times, dealing with dying relatives, drug addiction, and sex trafficking. This is a weaker part of the movie, as some of the actors aren’t quite up to the task of the dramatic moments. But Wu Jing isn’t bad for a martial arts guy, really. The storyline is kind of over the top and occasionally ridiculous, but it’s all the setting for the action scenes.

And those action scenes are great. Huge brawls, intricate duels, violent uprisings, there’s some good diversity of action here. Tony Jaa is amazing as always, but I hadn’t seen Wu Jing in anything; he’s pretty good. I have to say though that I loved the character of Warden Ko, who had a brilliant style that stood out, and a style and grace in his movements that seemed unreal. He was great.

Overall, this isn’t one of the best martial arts movies I’ve seen, but it’s pretty good. If you like the sort of Hong Kong kung fu cop drama (guns aside, this isn’t John Woo style), I’d expect you’ll enjoy Kill Zone 2.

The video is a 1080p High Definition, 16×9, 2.39:1 presentation. In general, it’s a very good transfer and there are some beautiful shots in this movie deserving of that. The sound is Stereo/5.1 HD Surround Sound and DTS-HD Master Audio. Subtitle options include English, Cantonese, Mandarin, and Thai, with a dubbed version in English if you prefer. The audio is similarly done well, all those foley sounds of violence beautifully hitting your ears as you watch people get pounded.

The Blu-ray also includes the following special feature plus a few deleted scenes:

“Making of” – This is a few short videos on the story, fights, and vision of the movie. Nothing particularly amazing, but it’s a fun little insight into some of the behind the scenes stuff. For example, in one sequence, Wu Jing got kicked five hundred times over the course of filming. That’s dedication.