Purely Joyful Movie!

A Brilliant Conflict

All that we are seeing on the screen is happening with real people, real action sequences in the background, forcing the eye to watch as if we were there.

While it is a pity that the story wasn't told with more visual finesse, this is trivial compared to our real-world problems. It takes a good movie to put that into perspective.

Not since the day I was introduced to the vomit inspiring cinema of Uwe Boll have I ever seen a movie so obnoxiously bad as "Black Mask 2". This is an abomination, a pretentious relatively high-budget production that makes the likes of "Plan 9 From Outer Space" seem like a masterpiece. Well at least mister Wood had passion for film-making, what does Hark Tsui have? A big salary for making crap? Probably.To sum up the storyline. "Black Mask 2" is a coughed-up roughly sewed together tale about a genetically enhanced crime fighter named Black Mask who battles a genetically enhanced group of pro-wrestlers that intends to set of a genetically enhanced bomb that will cause more genetically enhanced mutations. All in all it's a story (and I call it story only vaguely) about the classic comic book superhero-villain confrontation, with an added bonus of a lot of genetically enhanced stuff and some incredibly pathetic attempts of creating dramatic tension.I knew it wasn't going to be good. Hell, I was at least expecting to have a good time and watch some martial arts fighting and cheesy dialogue on the "so bads it's funny" side. But nothing could have prepared me for the shock of the film's actual content. To say that "Black Mask 2" is a bad movie is an understatement. It's farce. Like watching a full-blown out of proportions Power Rangers movie with costumes taken directly from it. Dialogue so putrid and disgusting that can make your ears bleed. Characters are shallow and devoid of any sensible reason to exist but to be kicked around by the main star. Tsui's attempts to create drama by adding the boy whose father has become a victim to the evil wrestlers's boss as a supporting character does even more to deteriorate the film's already low quality. We don't need drama when you're trying to make comic book movie with wrestlers in it!! Please remember that Mr.Tsui. The action choreography is as equally bad as everything else in the film. Filled with an insane amount of bad CGI it makes me crave for the days when Bruce Lee was alive and kicking, at least his movies had a feeling that you were actually watching a fight rather than these almost dance-like action scenes here."Black Mask 2" is not something I can recommend to anyone but the people I hate the most. It's clear that Hark Tsui wanted to make a cross-genre film by combining super-hero/martial arts/"drama" films. What he made in the end was something completely different, 100 minutes of visual torture that left a permanent mark as one of the worst films I've ever seen.

Not really sure if I like this one or not, so I gave it 5/10.There were some well choreographed fight scenes and some nice CG environments involved, but on the other hand there were some really poorly strung together stunts (where you could actually still see the safety lines attached to the actors) and some quite appalling CG work on some of the monster shots. The sometimes bad incorporation of some half hearted GC work really put the film down when they could have spent a little more time tidying up the film. One thing to mention as you've probably heard is that RVD is in this film, which is pretty cool, although he doesn't say an awful lot he seems to act better than expected. Shame they gave him such a stupid name really (The Claw) - isn't that what Jim Carrey was in Liar, Liar? You may also spot Tyler Mane (of X-Men fame) in there too. Andy On, does a fairly good job of taking over from Jet Li, but it's always hard trying to carry a sequel on your own, let alone carry on a sequel whilst replacing someone with a lot of Hollywood exposure. There was some pretty crappy acting in some parts, mostly from extras trying to react to what was on screen, but most of the main actors did ok (including all wrestlers). Overall, I'd say if you are expecting Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, go someplace else, if you want an entertaining light hearted attempt at the Super Hero genre (Green Hornett) then sure rent this out and have a laugh.

Reading the back of the DVD case sent me roaring with laughter! But this movie wasn't meant to be funny when watching it, now, was it? If you like cheese, try camembert, or Mars Attacks. but fortheloveofgod!, do not rent/buy or pirate Black (giggle) Mask 2.

Slight spoilers-Actual TV pro-wresting has become very boring, but this film takes the 'sport' to a whole new level. The wrestlers with animal powers, or the 'good guys' (as they are called in the DVD's scene listing) combine the power and drama of wresting with unique animal traits, that keep you glued to the action. But even if they didn't, Tyler Mane, Rob Van Dam, Traci Lords, and new comer Robert Mukes (both as humans, and in their animal forms) have such amazing screen presence you can't help but admire their performances.My only problem with the movie is that the wrestlers weren't the main story, or even the main good guys, or bad guys, the goal of the film seemed to be, to make them as neutral, or meaningless as possible, so that we as the audience focus more on the suffering of Black Mask.In the scene where the main bad guy tells the wrestlers that if they are scared they can always leave, but then holds out a million dollar check for each one of them, you can really see the character come through; Wolf (greedy, and makes rash decisions that in the end leave him angry at everyone but himself, which is why he is my least favorite of the group), Claw (he is emotionally strong when it comes to protecting other members of his team, which is why he can't seem to walk away from a bad situation), Snake (playing up on Robert Mukes's innocent looking face, snake is the weakest member of the group, both physically and emotionally).Chameleon and Thorn , however, do get a decent amount of time to reveal the inner-workings of their characters, as Chameleon spends the entire movie trying to find a way to cure her animal powers, and Thorn is loyal to the bad guys because he has already evolved his powers to the point where he can control them, therefore he has a level of self confidence not shared by any of the other wrestlers.As for the Asian actors, the main characters. I just fast forwarded though most of their scenes. This is a 7/10 movie, a must see, even if you love pro-wresting.