This review was original published as part of my coverage for TIFF 2015
An undercover cop and Thai prison guard fight to bring down a crime syndicate in Kill Zone 2. Kit (Wu Jing) is an undercover cop, who was assigned by his supervisor and uncle Wah (Simon Yam) to take down a crime syndicate run by Mr Hung (Louis Koo). Kit’s cover is blown and he is thrown into a Thai prison run by corrupt warden Ko (Zhang Jin). Meanwhile, Chai (Tony Jaa), one of the guards working at the prison, is desperate to find a bone-marrow donor for his sick daughter and ends up teaming up with Kit to take down the syndicate.
Kill Zone 2 is a sequel in name only to 2005’s SPL: Kill Zone. There is no real connection to the previous film, other the return of actors Wu Jing and Simon Yam, who are playing different characters than they played last time around. The film focuses primarily on the two parallel stories of wrongfully prisoned undercover cop Kit and desperate prison guard Chai.
One thing that can be said without a doubt about Kill Zone 2 is that is has some very excellent martial arts fight scenes, particular the film’s epic final battle. However, all this action comes at the end of a somewhat slow two hour crime drama, which wastes many of the talent that is in the film, particularly Simon Yam, who is almost reduced to being a punching bag. While Kill Zone 2 is worth checking out for the action scenes, the rest of the film is not too appealing.
★ ★ ★ | WATCHABLE
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