This was a major disappointment because of its inability to live up to part one. And yes, I do understand it’s a sequel and sequels usually do not live up to the first installment. However, I would’ve expected it to surpass the first part even, considering its surprise success–even knocking out some of the so-called star-dubbed anniversary series, but I guess it could not. It had lost its essence to the humor and the cleverness of the cases. Though some parts or reasons could be typical because some murders could happen because of misunderstandings or other stuff in life, it was too much of a joke to have most of the cases too simple. It reduced their team down to brainless characters. It was too silly for its own good since part I was serious for the majority of the time, but it was just some characters behaving the way they usually did and felt like it was not weird. That was how their characters were and why we ended up loving them as the audience, witnessing their humorous moments–even during the most tragic cases. Sonija’s character became so goofy that made it a big joke. Though I really loved the chemistry between Roger and Sonija, making her too goofy at times killed it. She was supposed to be the serious one. (Yes, she did learn to relax with Roger around but not to the extent that she was jumping around when she found out she was back at D.I.E. A bit too overboard.)
The additional cast was not that bad since they were juniors and did not expect to strive 100% since they still needed to learn from their seniors. However, making Zac Kao somewhat like Kenneth’s character in the past was a bit too lame. The joke with the whole “Jackson” matter was over-killed. They did that for the humor in part I yet it was so subtle that if you weren’t paying attention, it was okay. But this time, they threw it in too many times that it was annoying. Him Law and Macy Chan were enjoyable at times since they were funny yet enough with it. Icy was a good addition too since she was an interesting character–totally different on and off work. I enjoyed her moments when she had to tolerate Roger’s smart mouth running. My only complaint was in adding the new characters, they had sacrificed Stephen and Mimi’s screen time again. (I meant together, not individually.)
Was I the only one feeling Derek was robbed again? The three Kwoks were supposed to lead the drama but somehow, I felt he just got knocked down again with the side stories. Yes, he was still the righteous guy who worshiped Bruce Lee, but somehow his character had lost its essence due to side stories. When I learned that Margie was not going to be in the sequel, I was really disappointed. But later, I learned about Derek pairing up with Nancy, I was getting my hopes up after seeing some photos of different scenes. I liked their chemistry in Face to Fate though it was somewhat tragic. So that was a reason to look forward to. But it seemed too trying in here to just rush Derek’s character off into moving on. Why didn’t they just make him wait for Margie since she would be finished with her studying later? They did not make Nancy’s character strong enough to take over–though they did try to emphasize matters at various points. I felt it was missing something. The whole idea with Derek moving on and trying to get over Margie made their get together in part I a big fat joke since there was no point in getting together because it did emphasize how he valued relationships and how hard it was for them to get together–with various obstacles. Now the whole thing again with a different girl? I wouldn’t mind if it happened again since no one was guaranteed to date one time and meet the one, but the story was just too trying that it became too much. Referring back to the last point, I would’ve preferred that Derek focus on his righteous acts and wait for Margie so they could increase Stephen and Mimi’s screen time together a bit more.
The cases? Things only got a tad more interesting around the last two cases. However, it was a bit repetitive with Derek’s mother’s family. It was like they were running out of things to do or they just wanted to let history repeat itself again yet they were trying to get clever. Although I only watched the first Saw movie, I could feel it was stealing the formula of the Saw movies. That was a bit disappointing. (Though we could say all psychos are nuts that way but having it down to the details with the pattern? Eh….)
Am I watching if there’s part 3? Probably but won’t have much hope. It’s just that the three Kwoks are so addicting to watch!
Posted (on Xanga): October 21, 2009
Re-posted: Saturday, April 3rd, 2010