Jump to content

The Underdog Knight 2 (aka He Man) (2011)


Recommended Posts

  • Member

Liu Ye Leads "The Underdog Knight 2"

Chinese action film "The Underdog Knight 2," directed by Ding Sheng and featuring Chinese actor Liu Ye, is now filming in Qingdao, Shandong Province, mtime.com reports.

Liu Ye plays Laosan, the same role as in "The Underdog Knight" (2008). Laosan is a veteran who used to serve in the navy on a submarine. After leaving the navy, he trained hard in kung fu to stop bad guys in the city.

Laosan stands out among civilians as he always dresses in a military uniform and carries his favorite weapon, a red-tasseled spear.

In the sequel, Laosan starts a relationship with a girl instead of a secret admirer, as in the first film. Zhang Xinglin, who played Laosan's girlfriend in the film, is the 57th Miss World winner from the 2007 competition held in Sanya, China.

In "The Underdog Knight 2," Laosan fights international criminals to protect a national treasure from being stolen during an exhibition. He also rescues his girlfriend from kidnappers.

The first film was based on the true story of a veteran Chinese submarine sailor.

http://english.cri.cn/6666/2010/07/19/2482s583807.htm

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Member

Yes Yes Yes!!!!

Really happy to hear this. Ding Sheng is a new Director with real promise! I loved the first Underdog Knight - just so refreshing. My only concern was that the ending seemed to have some cuts to it? Perhaps the studio wanted the finale chopped down a bit.

Anyway I'm happy Ding Sheng has been used by Jackie Chan (and I think he's already announced they'll make a second film together too). I feel this guy has a lot to offer the Asian film market :smile:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Member
fiol, what DVD do you own of this? I never know which one to get with China DVD's :angel:

In china it has been rlsed in 3 different version (all with eng subs) by Zoke Culture.

1- D9 (the best version u can ask for. High video quality ,a good DTS and english subs (not burned in). Tons of extra (no subs here eheh)

2- D5 amaray (the cheap version, letterboxed, english and chinese s. burned in. I ve watched some clips on wallmart when i was in china, not that bad as video quality (better than a vcd))

3-D5 paperback (the ultra cheap version, same quality as the one on Amaray)

if u want the cheap version go for the D5, if u want the quality one go for the D9 (i've the latter).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Administrator
The first film was based on the true story of a veteran Chinese submarine sailor.

An enjoyable flick. Had no idea it was based on a true story. I'm guessing the sequel's not though, huh?! :tongue:

I know... but I thought that was a good one liner. :angel:

You are a funny SOB! :xd:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Member

today i went to the cinema, and watched this sequel

it's not related with the 1st one though. It looks like a western (not chinese) movie due to the location (Qingdao (china)) but the movie is outstanding!

the JC stunt team did a really good job here, at the end of the movie there are the outtakes.. they really got hurt filming this flick lol

Sung-junYoo has a really good body and great skills! Same goes for Enjun Jiao. Expect for the scenes involved Enjun Jiao and a girl where the wires where too much, the other fighting scenes were just awesome!

Watch it as soon as it gets released somewhere! (at the cinema here in china it didnt have eng subs)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Member

Most Western fans recognize director Ding Sheng for his Jackie Chan vehicles such as Little Big Soldier & Police Story: Lockdown but his debut film was the action comedy, Underdog Knight. This is the sequel approximately 3 years later. I've never seen the first one but this sequel continues with main actor, Liu Ye playing a Forrest Gump type character but with serious martial arts skills. Apparently, he's an ex-Army veteran who suffered some sort of traumatic brain injury in a diving accident and ended up mentally handicapped & ekes out a living as a bicycle parcel courier. He sees the world in simplistic terms of good and evil and has become something of a neighborhood vigilante involving himself against a group of vicious bank robbers and thugs.

Nothing really stands out about this film but it has a certain charm & comedic appeal. Especially Liu Ye's relationship with his girlfriend portrayed by former Miss World China, Zhang Zilin. It's almost worth watching this movie for her alone. She's a stunning beauty standing 1.83 meters tall. Another plus is Xu Dongmei who reunites with director Sheng from the aforementioned Little Big Soldier & The Bodyguard (not the Sammo film), she's excellent here in all too brief role playing a criminal mastermind who uses her parkour skills to elude the police. The main villain is played by Korean national, Steve Yoo who at one time was a rising Kpop star but refused to do his mandatory military service and fled to the US and subsequently became persona non grata in his homeland but has carved out a film career in Mainland China playing mostly villain or buff combat fighter roles. He certainly has an impressive physique and does well her playing the baddie bent on revenge using Liu Ye's girlfriend as a hostage.

So overall, I enjoyed this one. The fight scenes were okay for the most part with minimal jump cut editing & shaky cam, so the viewer can see the fights full frame and see what's going on. Worth a watch IMO.

 

 

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Member

I went back to check out the first film, Underdog Knight from 2008 and while I did like some things about it - namely, how they explained the origin of his disability and moved quickly to the story & didn't dwell on it, Liu Ye's relationship with the deaf boy, Smile and Anthony Wong making an appearance as a gang boss; I have to say that I still enjoyed the sequel more. The sequel was darker in tone and the action was more varied and the fight sequences were more entertaining.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

Terms of Use

Please Sign In or Sign Up