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BLACK
MASK 2: CITY OF MASKS
AKA:
Black Mask II: City Of Masks
Year:
2001 Reviewer: Phil
Mills
When
Tsui Hark announced his intention to create a sequel to 'Black
Mask', mixed emotions went through the minds of the fans
who had witnessed something of a wasted opportunity in the
original. Jet Li playing a Kato style superhero was a
mouth watering prospect but sadly it was spoilt by some
excruciatingly obvious wirework and the cut 'n' shut style of
shooting the action. Perhaps though, a master like Tsui
Hark could atone for his sins and create a sequel that
exploited the franchise to its true potential.
B
City has become one of the most thriving cities for televised
wrestling thanks to its larger than life heroes that take on
the guises of animals. However, when one of them goes
berserk and physically turns into an Iguana it is up to the
masked vigilante known as Black Mask (On) to save the day.
In doing so, he also stumbles across an underground plot to
splice human and animal DNA together in an attempt to create
the ultimate warrior. The leader of this little venture,
known as Moloch, also sees potential in Black Mask and decides
to inject him with Tiger DNA to see what he can produce.
This leaves Black Mask with three pressing dilemmas; stop this
operation, remove the animal DNA from his system and try to
resolve his original problem of experiencing no pain.
All in a days work for a superhero like Black Mask, or is it?
When
you start watching 'Black Mask 2' the first question you have
to ask yourself is why it's main star is billed last in the
credits? A few short minutes in and it all becomes
clear; 'Black Mask 2' is little more than another uneven
attempt by a foreign director to appeal to an international
audience. I hate to be so condemning but Hark doesn't
even try to disguise the fact and clearly cares more about his
assembled cast of American ex-wrestlers than he does about his
leading hero or, god forbid, the plot itself. The
whole package is reminiscent of a Saturday morning kids show
(arguably with slightly more violence I'll admit) and much
like these shows, suffers from the same faults. The
acting is relatively poor, although adequate considering the
overall quality, and the story could have easily been wrapped
up within thirty minutes but these are designed to be fillers
in what is supposed to be a visually stunning film.
However, the effects pale in comparison to it's Hollywood
counterparts and the action (as I'll explain in a moment) is
not up to scratch to allow the film to leave a lasting
impression.
It
used to be that when you saw Yuen Woo Ping's name listed as
action choreographer for a film you could at least be sure of
some explosive fight sequences but since his success with 'The
Matrix' this has not always been the case. Obviously
impressed by Hollywood's obsession with the lazy computer
aided approach, he has felt compelled to move away from his
traditional methods of using old school kung fu or
semi-realistic wire fu, in preference of over-the-top computer
generated feats. This sorry fact has never been
more apparent than in 'Black Mask 2' in which you often wonder
whether it was even worth hiring actors at all as the majority
of the kung fu is so clearly created by computer. Of
course, the harsh truth about this approach is that no matter
how advanced the effects are it never looks as realistic as it
would if a stuntman or the actor themselves performed the
moves. As if this alone isn't bad enough, when you look
at the little actual choreography which is utilised here it is
of such a poor standard that it just seems like a case of
going through the motions and as such is totally uninspiring
or exciting.
'Black
Mask 2' could be seen as Hark's interpretation of what appeals
to a global audience or perhaps he just watched far too many
episodes of 'Power Rangers' before production but whatever he
had in mind it certainly fails to supply the goods. Is
international success really so important that it guides these
once masterful directors to create such drivel or have we have
we just seen the last of original Hong Kong inspired cinema?
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