Before she escapes with her bodyguard during the cliff hanging end of Part 1, Princess Zhao Min (Janice Man) challenges Zhang Wu Ji (Raymond Lam) to go to Dodu if he wants to rescue the members of the Six Major Sects. Sure enoug,h this sequel kicks off with Zhang Wu Ji and fellow masters of the Ming Cult standing on a clifftop overlooking Dadu; he has indeed taken up Zhao Min's advice and is travelling to the Capital to free those poor Cult members who are being locked up in the Wan On pagoda.
The rescue mission is a success thanks to Zhang using his energy power to cushion those prisoners who jump from the burning pagoda but there are a few casualties. One of them is the cruel and shrewd Miejue (Jade Leung) leader of the Er Mei Cult, who manages to disclose the secret of the legendary weapons to her disciple Zhao Zhi Rou (Sabrina Qiu) while making her the successor. Meanwhile, due to her failure to stop Zhang, Zhao Min has her authority taken away by her father who then makes monk Chang Kun (Shi Yanneng) in charge of the operation. Nevertheless, the quest for the Dragon Sabre continues as Zhang and the trio of ladies set sail for Ice Fire Island. After a series of double-crossings and a kidnapping, they finally discover the secret behind the Heaven Sword and Dragon Sabre.
With this sequel, the filmmakers have an immense task of tidying up all the loose ends detailed in the original novel into one movie and the result seems rushed. The plot takes a serious turn and emphasizes mainly on the three ladies and their reasons for sticking around protagonist Zhang. Because of this, the other supporting characters are now being pushed aside and become window dressing.
For a start, indoctrinated by her late Master, the once gentle Zhao Zhi Rou now turns out to be a very calculating power-hungry Er Mei Cult leader who harbors a dark scheme. Still, Sabrina Qiu does a fairly decent job of portraying her changed character; unfortunately this twist happens too hastily to be entirely convincing. On the other hand, Janice Man's portraying of the playful Zhao Min flares much better this time around. In contrast, Yun Qian Qian plays a very quiet and restrained Xiao Zhao with a secret.
As written in the novel, Zhang Wu Ji is a young adult with great martial arts skills, but Raymond Lam doesn't come across as energetic and agile while portraying him. Additionally, his relationship with each lady gets very little attention and, at times, the production plays out like a television movie right down to the soft romantic background music being used.
Again the heavily CGI and wire assisted main action sequences are a total letdown and lack any emotional impact. Take the one that plays out on the Ice Fire Island where Zhang encounters three warriors. After he learns their fighting style, he makes two clones of himself to form a triangle which then spins around like a windmill. A classic case of failed special effects that do not enhance but make the action look silly instead. However, there is one well-choreographed fight scene in which Zhao Zhi Rou shows off her newly acquired “Chu Ying White Bone Claws” style which is too brief but still memorable.
Although Lam and his female leads play their parts fittingly well, this sequel definitely suffers due to the lack of superstar power like Donnie Yen and Louis Koo from the first movie. Also, as far as wuxia yarn goes, there is hardly any decent or impact action on display here, probably due to the limited budget. But at least we do get a watchable sequel even though it seems like it was rushed through. Instead of cutting corners, Wong and Keung probably would be better off aiming for a trilogy since there is more than enough material in Jin Yong's original intriguing and engrossing novel.
