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[Oersted]

Also sequel in name only to Kill Zone 1, only thing they have in common is being asian action films. US release is at May 13th. Here is a trailer:

http://youtu.be/NUmGwgcZp54

Synopsis

When an undercover cop gets too close to revealing the mastermind of a drug syndicate, his cover is blown. Double-crossed and under a false identity, he’s thrown into a Thai prison, where a guard discovers the inmate – claiming he’s a cop – is a bone marrow match for his dying daughter…and his warden may have an even deadlier operation hidden within the prison walls.

Reviews

That the ridiculous story somehow hangs together — and is easy to follow for the most part — is a testament to Cheang and editor David Richardson’s careful construction; production specs are also strong across the board. Ultimately the story is secondary to the action, which rarely lets up and never lets viewers down. In a film overflowing with fighting talent, everyone gets their moment in the sun and it never feels contrived. Wu does some of his best work in his most memorable film so far, even though his performance falls a bit flat when he’s not throwing down. After making a splash in Ong Bak back in 2003 and then seemingly vanishing for a time, Jaa returns in fine form, proving he may be Hollywood-ready. The standout, however, is Zhang, wh blends imperiousness with high style for his dangerous warden. He’s so cool you know the fight takes a turn to his disadvantage only when a few of his impeccably placed hairs fall out of place. Ko is the kind of old-school badass action movies don’t have enough of these days. SPL 2: A Time for Consequences is also something a lot of action films too often forget to be: fun.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/review/spl-2-a-time-consequences-801496

Helmer Cheang and action director Li Chung Chi offer an impressive array of rock-’em-sock-’em setpieces — including a battle royale at a cruise ship terminal, and grand finale in a Hong Kong high-rise — and the performances, especially those by Wu, Koo and Zhang, are thoroughly attuned to the movie’s overall tone of fever-pitched martial-arts noir melodrama.

http://variety.com/2015/film/festivals/spl-2-a-time-for-consequences-review-1201615692/

In fact, Kill Zone 2 impresses all around. This is not an action movie made only in service of its action. If it sounds mawkish on paper, it’s arresting in practice thanks to affecting turns by Jing and by Jaa, a man not well known for his acting chops. That Kill Zone 2 demands he emote is a dangerous proposition, but he’s up to the task of getting us invested in Chatchai’s moral dilemma. Along with Jing and the myriad supporting characters littering the film (including Simon Yam, returning to the series after playing a totally different character in the first Kill Zone), Jaa is integral to making Kill Zone 2 work as a whole movie and not just as an action extravaganza. You’ll appreciate his thespian efforts even when the story hits “pause” so he can bowl over bad guys with flying knee knockouts.

https://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2016/05/kill-zone-2.html

Cheang, a protégé of genre master Johnnie To, swings for the fences, utilizing acrobatic camera movements, dramatic wide-angle compositions, theatrical lighting, and dazzlingly choreographed fights. Making the most of his stars’ athletic abilities while drawing on his early career in horror, he makes Kill Zone 2’s violence both thrilling and squirm-inducing. Throats get sliced, hands gets stabbed through, bones are broken; these are bodies being weaponized against each other, in other words. The overwrought, go-for-broke mentality sometimes pushes the film toward the soapy and the sickeningly saccharine, but also produces some of the best action scenes in recent memory: a riveting free-for-all shoot-out in the glass corridors of Hong Kong’s Kai Tak Cruise Terminal that could teach any Hollywood movie a thing or two about sight lines and intercutting; a prison riot handled like a Broadway ensemble number; and the climax, staged in a massive all-white penthouse, which pushes a movie with no shortage of visual metaphors into stylized abstraction.

http://www.avclub.com/review/kill-zone-2-ballsy-opera-martial-arts-glory-236601

Better still: Jing, Jaa, Yam, and Koo all bring an abundance of charisma and grace to already impressive action scenes. Action director Chung Chi Li ("Ip Man: The Final Fight") makes his cast look like stars as they bash, smash, and leap through various obstacles. Viewers may come to "Kill Zone 2" because they had hoped for something like "Ong-bak," Jaa's 2003 breakout star vehicle. But Jaa plays a good second fiddle here, and the film consequently feels like a real team effort. Jing looks especially good here in a performance that will make you remember his name. If you like action films, you need to see "Kill Zone 2."

http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/kill-zone-2-2016
As usual, lock if old

 

[Corpsepyre]

This has some really Kickass action scenes. There's one fight in particular that will blow you away that's right up there with the prison brawl in The Raid 2. Killer stuff. Jaa and Wu Jing are excellent here.

 

[Miker]

Apparently it's already available for streaming rental from Amazon, YouTube, etc for $7 in HD. Might be worth it if you can't find a theatrical showing.

 

[Amagon]

Great martial arts movie and probably the best movie Jaa has done.

Also, Max Zhang is the future!

 

[Oersted]

Added new reviews

 

[Ronin Ray]

That trailer got me hype. I can't wait to see this

 

[Auto_aim1]

Tony Jaa is incredible. Loved all his movies (Ong Bak 1, 2, 3 and The Protector 1, 2). Will definitely watch this movie.

 

[studyguy]

I didn't know Jaa was back to making films, I thought he was taking some kind of extended break.

 

[More_Badass]

Looks like my kind of movie

 

[HStallion]

Man looks like my kind of movie and the reviews seem pretty positive overall so I may be giving this a watch over the weekend if its already available to stream.

 

[soundscream]

Did Tony just knee a bus?

 

[Speculator]

I totally thought it was out already. Saw it on a plane ride from Shanghai last year. I really dug it! Strange to see Jing Wu (who was an antagonist in the last film) play a main protagonist in this one but he and Tony Jaa had really good chemistry.

 

[More_Badass]

Did Tony just knee a bus?

I wonder if he's still doing his own stunts

 

[Goliath]

Tony Jaa is incredible. Loved all his movies (Ong Bak 1, 2, 3 and The Protector 1, 2). Will definitely watch this movie.

I love stupid action movies and love Ong Bak 1, Protector 1 and even Protector 2 with all of it's flaws but Ong Bak 2, 3 were just too bad, even for me.

 

[gwailo]

I totally thought it was out already. Saw it on a plane ride from Shanghai last year. I really dug it! Strange to see Jing Wu (who was an antagonist in the last film) play a main protagonist in this one but he and Tony Jaa had really good chemistry.

It came out in Asia a while ago under its' original title Sha Po Lang 2 (SPL2). There is now a limited US theatrical release along with VOD.

I didn't know Jaa was back to making films, I thought he was taking some kind of extended break.

He has been working on XXX 3 (along with Donnie Yen).

 

[strafer]

What? They made a second one?

the first one with Donnie Yen is amazing.

 

[AquaWateria]

That bus scene though lol.

That actually looked hype.

 

[HStallion]

I'd love to see Tony work with some of the Raid guys Gareth Evans and the Raid crew some day. Muay Thai vs Silat!

 

[Lan Dong Mik]

Man, that trailer REALLY made me wish a new Raid movie was being made

 

[Grifter]

It came out in Asia a while ago under its' original title Sha Po Lang 2 (SPL2). There is now a limited US theatrical release along with VOD.



He has been working on XXX 3 (along with Donnie Yen).

I see now Jet Li has left that production due to health issues

 

[Tizoc]

Well i know how im spending my dinner time
Thanks for the heads up op

 

[Prime crotch]

Movie is alright, but it keeps the modern trend of Hong Kong action dramas of being both too long and too convoluted for their own good.
Jaa seemed to have packed on some weight on this one.

 

[Rooster12]

I watched this last year already.

First of all, the acting by the main cast is superb. Tony Jaa finally gets a real role instead of just "kung-fu superstar". Wu Jing's acting is great too. The villain is really cool as well, never seen him before anywhere...so I don't know if he's an actor or just some guy who can fight really well. But he was kicking ass for sure.

Now the downfall of this movie is obviously the story, it just sucks, it tries to be sort of like The Raid 2 but it's even worse than that. At least Raid 2 had some good directing, this one doesn't. It feels pretty generic.

However, if you're just here for the fights you would be satisfied. It's just a shame that good acting is wasted on a terrible story.

 

[MutFox]

I'll watch for the fights.
Will turn off my brain for best enjoyment.

 

[Corpsepyre]

Man, that trailer REALLY made me wish a new Raid movie was being made

Have faith.

We will see Blister before we get The Raid 3, and it's going to be awesome.

 

[Coolade]

Link to Rent/Buy on:
Youtube
Amazon

 

[mingo]

Thought it was a terrible movie and should not have been a sequel, buts it's own film. Kinda tarnished the first Kill Zone / SPL film.

 

[Cripplegate]

The villain is really cool as well, never seen him before anywhere...so I don't know if he's an actor or just some guy who can fight really well.

Both. He started as a wushu athlete and a stunt actor (he worked on Crouching Tiger). More recently, he was in Wong Kar Wai's The Grandmaster and won best supporting actor at the HK awards. The dude has amazing screen presence. Probably the most exciting new star in HK cinema right now. Apparently he has signed a 3-picture deal with Pegasus so he could be breaking out big pretty soon.

 

[Magnetic_North]

Wait wait

Is this a sequel to Killzone with Donnie Yen and Sammo Hung only with Tony Jaa instead??

If so I'm in!!!!

 

[mosaic]

Saw it on the big screen this weekend at a nearby arthouse. Enjoyed it for the acting, but actually felt shorted by the fight scenes... which were either too brief, too difficult to follow, or poorly shot. The 2nd-to-last scene that's in dim light made me cranky. I also felt like Tony Jaa didn't have enough to do... like his character was meant for someone else and not a headliner. Good thing the other protagonist and the villain were so fun to watch.

I didn't find the story tough to follow, but it was unnecessarily drawn out... and the jump cut at the end that basically defuses a certain-death situation was a real WTF.

I guess it's kind of a mess, but a likeable mess....

 

[vato_loco]

Gonna watch this. I loved Jaa in Ong Bak, liked him in Ong Bak 2 and cursed his name in Ong Bak 3. The Protector had amazing scenes but was forgettable overall.

Still one of the best martial arts actors out there, along with Donnie Yen.

 

[ItIsOkBro]

Wait wait

Is this a sequel to Killzone with Donnie Yen and Sammo Hung only with Tony Jaa instead??

If so I'm in!!!!

Seeing as how Wu Jing is there, it's probably a prequel if anything.

 

[RockTurtle]

I miss watching a good martial arts film, and i was hoping Tony Jaa would take the world by storm after Ong bak 1.

will watch this for sure!

 

[LordSparda]

Max Zhang is an absolute beast in this film. Guy basically takes on Tony Jaa and Wu Jing

Spoiler

simultaneously, and absolutely DEMOLISHES them. Had to take a rather contrived ending for them to actually "win".

One hell of a fight sequence, easily on par with stuff from The Raid 1 and 2.

Seeing as how Wu Jing is there, it's probably a prequel if anything.

Totally different story. Wu Jing plays another character, the good guy this time. Completely unrelated to SPL1 (the original Kill Zone) in any way.

 

[EYEL1NER]

I'll have to keep an eye out for a chance to watch this. The story sounds horrible and that it was given the name SPL 2 seems a bit off (Flashpoint already works well as a movie 'spiritually' related to SPL and it sounds like Fatal Move was good too). I am interested in seeing Tony Jaa actually act though and am sure there are some good fights in it. I haven't seen him in anything in a while too, outside of Fast 7; I didn't bother with Ong Bak 3 after the second one put me to sleep while watching but do intend to watch The Protector 2 sometime soon.
I'll give it a viewing. I'm glad to see positive impressions of a new stony Jaa movie. I like Simon Yam a lot too.

 

[Yautja_Warrior]

Sounds good, I enjoyed the first movie and the trailer looked pretty good so will be checking this one out when I can. Not watched too many martial arts movies in a while, really should get watching some more, so will probably start with this.