Stills from the Movie
Action scenes: Liu Chengjun is formidable, sound effects are excessive.
One-sentence review: It's enough to feast your eyes without engaging your brain; Zhang Zilin's beautiful legs and shoulders add a touch of sensuality.
Moral Rating: ★★☆ (Five stars maximum)
Because the first installment emphasized artistic temperament and academic style, Ding Sheng's directorial debut "Hard Man" ended with a meager box office of 7 million yuan. However, his grasp of rhythm and narrative methods were quite structured, thus providing an opportunity to collaborate with Jackie Chan on "The Warrior and the Little Soldier," allowing him to smoothly ascend to the ranks of directors whose films gross over 100 million yuan. Han Sanping, chairman of China Film Group, also recognized Ding Sheng's potential in commercial genre films. Despite the first installment not being successful, he still invested in bringing together Ding Sheng and lead actor Liu Ye for "Hard Man 2." Regretful that he hadn't made money for his boss in the first part, Ding Sheng worked extremely hard this time around, ensuring every bullet flies as intended.
"Hard Man 2" recently held a media screening in Guangzhou. As expected, it was just like what Ding Sheng (Weibo) said—without too much empty talk, the film's pace is exceptionally fast. The straightforward bank robbery, the chase involving climbing walls and scaling ladders, the exchanges of fists and feet, even including Miss World Zhang Zilin's sexy long legs and fragrant shoulders—all these elements of a typical police-thriller movie have been neatly packaged by Ding Sheng and presented. Regardless of whether they are flavorful or distinctive, at least on a technical level, the film has reached the standard expected of such movies. The director has also infused many reflections on social phenomena, hoping to add some weight of reality to this movie. However, in pursuit of so-called realistic action, the sound effects have been overly emphasized, making the continuous action scenes in the film seem excessively crude. Some audience members even felt discomfort. Moreover, the romance between Liu Ye and Zhang Zilin seems simple and less genuine due to its simplicity, causing their punches to metaphorically miss each other, just like bullets flying past one another.
"Hard Man 2" marks Miss World Zhang Zilin's cinematic debut. However, there is a difference between modeling and filmmaking. In the movie, Zhang Zilin's relationship with Liu Ye develops simply. Even with the interference from her brother, played by Joe Chen, she doesn’t need to express complex emotions. Compared with Liu Ye and Joe Chen, Zhang Zilin’s inexperience is evident on her face. Nevertheless, Ding Sheng hasn’t wasted this Miss World, favoring close-ups of her face, and naturally focusing on showcasing her long legs.
As for the earlier promotion of Zhang Zilin and Liu Ye's supposed large-scale passionate scenes, they were merely the director's initial idea, which didn't even pass through Zhang Zilin's approval. The bathroom scene where Liu Ye makes a mistake was shot conventionally. Therefore, both Director Ding and Zhang Zilin were very dissatisfied with that promotional tactic and specially clarified that there are no passionate scenes in the movie. However, the chest scenery in many of Zhang Zilin's shots, along with her exposed shoulders, still play their role as visual embellishments.
Many South Korean actors have come to develop their careers in China. Former King of Hallyu, Liu Chengjun, has found a new starting point on the big screen in China. In "Hard Man 2," the villain Black Brave portrayed by Liu Chengjun is very formidable. Being a third-degree black belt in Taekwondo, his kicks and punches naturally surpass those of Liu Ye and Joe Chen in action scenes. Combined with his good physique, he often bares his upper body to show off his abs, appearing larger than the other villain in the movie, known as the Sanda King, Liu Hailong. Some viewers even lamented that his arms are thicker than their thighs. The action scenes in "Hard Man 2" are all handled by the Jackie Chan Stunt Team. Overall, they are standard but the overly intense sound effects somewhat overshadow the main content, making it unsurprising that some viewers feel overwhelmed by the numerous fight scenes.
In "Hard Man 2," Liu Ye continues to play the retired soldier Lao San who persistently fights injustice. With fearless courage and a bit of foolish bravery, he once again captures the villains and wins the beauty. As an action movie, Liu Ye displays muscles rather than flab, which is relatively rare among mainland male actors. Since Lao San has slight intellectual disabilities, his action scenes are designed towards brute force, leading to Liu Ye's moves being humorously referred to by audiences as 'crab boxing.'
Romance: Passionate scenes as a gimmick, Zhang Zilin's inexperience.
"Hard Man 2"