Reviewed by: j.crawford Date: 05/15/2004 Summary: one of my favorite movies of 2000 My sojorn to this film began some time in May 2000 when I saw the vcd in the Chinatown shops. A few weeks later, I was lucky enough to catch director Kant Leung's Chinese Midnight Express 2 at NYC's now shuttered Music Palace. I was immediately fascinated with Mr. Leung and his films. In my early days at the University, I was fascinated, and influenced, by the philosphy of Emmanuel Kant. I was intrigued by a Hong Kong filmmaker who would choose 'Kant' as an English name. Although the featured stars are Josie Ho [Slow Fade, Purple Storm] and Kristy Yang [Portland Street Blues, The Storm Riders], Sexy and Dangerous II is a break-out film for Samuel Leung. This young actor has made a career in 'B' movies picking up roles that Sam Lee turned down in favor of bigger budget movies. He has the same rubbery, homely face that's used for comic effect. His character in this film is a triad doofus who's always in some kind of trouble. After his girlfriend's father sexually abuses her younger sister, Leung's 'Log' takes the rap when the older sibling slashes the old man's throat. This heroic action by Log opens a conflict between his triad boss [Tony Ho] and a rival boss [Michael Tong] that sets off the bloody final act. After seven months, I'm having trouble finding a way to explain why I like this film so much. There is something about the characters that I find fascinating and this comes through the quirky performances of several cast members. Kristy Yang is great as the scooter-riding pizza delivery girl with attitude. Tony Ho is completely over the top in his performance as the drug dealing bad guy. Frankly, the plot of the film is not that great; a fairly typical triad youth revenge story so popular with HK audiences. It is, after all, a sequel to a spin-off of Young and Dangerous. Much of the exposition of the story is done in two extended dialogue scenes with Samuel Leung and his 'girlfriend' as they walk the busy streets of Hong Kong. Shot 'cinema-verite', these are very forceful, compelling sequences when edited between the standard 3 acts of the unfolding melodrama. Working with a limited budget, producer Lee Siu Kei and director Kant Leung have crafted a very fine film. After numerous viewings, Sexy and Dangerous II is one of my favorite movies of 2000. copyright 2001 J. Crawford Reviewer Score: 9

Reviewed by: S.A. Winters Date: 01/22/2003 Summary: Sexy? Sure. Dangerous? I don't think so. What's going on? Why are movies becoming more tame, more timid as time goes by? Ten years ago this movie would have been full of action and grit. Now we get young love and drama. OVERALL THE MOVIE ISN'T BAD PER SE, but something called Sexy and Dangerous 2 needs to have a little more blood on the floor and less "love is in the air". So 4 chicks want to open a bar but they keep on getting screwed over by the bad triad guys so the good triad guys help out. Meanwhile, they each have their own individual problems to workout.Maybe they were trying to get more of a female audience for this one so the toned down the violence some. I liked the first one a lot, although these films are related by name only.Like I said, not bad, but not bad ass enough for me.

Reviewed by: duxty Date: 12/13/2002 Summary: Dont bother I borrow this movie on vcd thinking it was going to be like a female young and dangerous but i was so wrong. Nozzle, Pepper, Yee, and Cocky. Never seen these characters befor except Pepper. Even if i did i won't bother remembering. The characters are all so messed up. Some can't even act. Micheal TOng acting is good but his character was wrongly developed. He is better in TVB series. Nothing much to say since i only watch 1 disc of the vcd and didn't even bother watching the second half since it was so bad. NOT RECOMENEd

Reviewed by: ryan Date: 03/09/2000 Summary: A movie with a misleading name Did you still remember "Sexy and Dangerous"? It was a movie released after the huge success of "Young and Dangerous" at the box office in 1996. Now a new "Sexy and Dangerous" has hit the theatres with a limited release. Unlike the previous Y&D movies, this one is not produced by BoB & Partners. Will this film maintain the quality of the series? Four young women -- Nozzle, Pepper, Yee, and Cocky -- hang out together and dream of running their own bar one day. Their fight with the girlfriend of a triad boss named Dragon is resolved when Prince intervenes. A triad boss himself, Prince is attracted to Nozzle and uses Pepper to bring them closer. Meanwhile, Cocky's sister is raped by their father. When Cocky seriously wounds him, her boyfriend Log takes the blame. Even though Log is a triad member under Dragon, he is helped by Prince, and this further raises tensions between the two bosses . . . Even though "Sexy and Dangerous II" stars Michael TONG who appeared in the previous movies, this film does not have many ties to the prior series. From what we saw in "Sexy and Dangerous," one would assume that this film was going to be a female Y&D movie. Unfortunately, S&D2 does not fulfill one's expectations. The plot for "Sexy and Dangerous II" is very weak. The audience expects the story to be headed by Nozzle, Pepper, Yee, and Cocky. However, except for Cocky and Nozzle, the other characters remain vague and unestablished. From what is on screen, the audience knows that Nozzle is a girl who remains under the shadow of her triad boyfriend who died years before; Cocky is a girl with a broken family. However, we have no knowledge about the other characters. Unfortunately, this failure undercuts the ability of the women to remain the focus of the film. Since the female characters are so poorly developed, Prince becomes the only character who can lead the movie. He and Dragon become the main engine pushing the development of the movie. However, the filmmakers fail to provide enough description to convince of the audience of the building hatred between them. Perhaps the movie is too long considering its content. Indeed, there are too many pointless scenes. For example, there is a subplot between Cocky and Log. The purpose of this is to add some romance to the film, but the atmosphere is totally ruined by the dialogue. In addition, the set-up of the cameras is so poor that you can see passer-bys blocking the camera while Cocky and Log are talking to one another! Such poor production is unforgivable. However, the ending of the movie is the worst part of the movie. Since the conflict between Prince and Dragon is not convincingly developed, the ending is too abrupt. The audience is left with the impression that they have to do something senseless just to finish the story. The stylish cinematography during the fight scenes cannot veil the poorly choreographed sword fighting. "Sexy and Dangerous II" is a movie with a misleading name. The female characters and development are so weak that it fails to develop anything that could remotely be called "sexy" or "dangerous." Written by Ryan Law, from Hong Kong Movie DataBase, on 6 March, 2000.