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As a set-up for this story, you might have to read my review on A
Chinese Ghost Story first ...Heartbroken from losing the beautiful
ghost Xiu Hsing (Joey Wong Tsu-Hsien), poor bill-collector Ling (Leslie Cheung)
returns to his hometown, to find everything changed to the worse: First he
almost falls into the hands of a bunch of cannibals, then he is arrested for a
crime he didn't commit & about to be decapitated. Only thanks to a
´half-crazy cellmate (Ku Feng) can he escape, but unfortunately his path takes
him - & Taoist priest Autumn (Jaky Cheung) whose horse he accidently
steals, to the Righteous Villa, which is positively haunted. The first bunch
of ghosts who attack them though prove to be not ghosts, but Windy (Joey Wong
Tsu-Hsien again) & Moon (Michelle Reis), who want to rescue their father
Lord Fu (Lau Siu-Ming) with a bunch of rebels - & they confuse Ling with
elder Chu & think he is going to give them helpful advice - which he does
by some odd coinidence. Furthermore, Windy positively is the splitting image of
Ling's ghostly lover Xiu Hsing, & he falls in love with her even though she
is betrothed to somebody else, , while Moon immediately falls in love with
Ling. After the girls & their companions are gone though, Ling &
Autumn encounter the real, giant monster of the villy, & it takes all their
efforts - & a big portion of misplaced magic - to chase the monster off (or
does the monster chase them off ?) However, as soon as they are off, Windy
& Moon & their rebels return to Righteous Villa, & Ling sees it as
his dutry to come after them to warn them of the monster, if possible defend
them - which he isn't all that good at. & even Autumn, who has come back
too, seems to be no match for the monster. Then though prison transport
carrying Lord Fu & led by master swordsman Hu stops by, too, & though
their enemy, Hu helps them get rid of the monster. After the fight Hu,
impressed by the bravery of his adversaries, decides to take their side &
persuade the High Priest (Lau Shun) to show mercy to Lord Fu ... Little does
Hu know though that the High Priest is really an evil demon who, after having
heard his plea for mercy, sends Hu away, kills most of the rebels & makes
Lord Fu, Moon & Autumn his prisoners. & while Ling & Windy, who
have miraculously escaped, go fetch Buddhist Priest Yang (Wu Ma - see part one
for his background, too) as a back-up, Hu traces down & frees the High
Priest's 3 prisoners, even if the ensuing battle first costs him his arm, then
even his life. In a showdown, Ling, Windy, Moon, Autumn, Yang & Lord Fu
all fight the High Priest, who soon turns out to be a giant tentacled flying
demon, & Autumn & Yang even land in the demon's stomach before taking
it apart from the inside - a feat which Autumn does not survive - & thus
ending his existence. But is the ending happy ? Despite Windy & Ling
having discovered their love for each other, Windy is going to marry somebody
else, & Ling can only helplessly watch her wedding procession ... But of
course, in the very last minute of the film, it seems that Windy has decided
otherwise, left her own wedding & rides off with Ling ... Despite
the fact that this sequel is no match for the original A
Chinese Ghost Story, as it lacks a real coherent storyline & the
love story seems little more than a rehap from part one with much of the magic
missing, this sequel is still a charming movie of its own. A fast moving plot,
good effects & action-sequences, brilliant set-pieces & above all great
characters & competent actors handling them make this one an entertaining
film.
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