marloges

The first word that came to mind after the credits rolled was 'intense'. What started of as a classic samurai tale quickly escalates into something... else, to the point I'd call this a deconstruction of the genre.

The choreography of the fights was great and even though a lot of it was a bit shaky due to the digital camera they've used it always felt engaging to watch and really fast! My eyes barely kept up at some movements.

There area a few scenes I can't quite wrap my head around yet and I guess you could argue some of the acting was a bit over the top but none of that bothered me.

Due to the short length 'Killing' never has any real down time and keeps thrilling throughout, never losing it's momentum.

The ending sequence will definitely stick in my mind for a while...

As a fan of the original movie I was really looking forward to the sequel. Of course the fact that Ang Lee wasn't directing it made me sceptical, but I thought I should give it a chance. Turns out that the movie pales in comparison to it's predecessor in terms of fighting choreography and story.

BUT the visuals were pretty good, the film looks pretty fantasy-like (which could be a turn-on or turn-off for some people) and the movie had some great fights and nice character interactions. The best part about this movie is the return of Michelle Yeoh and also some parts of the original soundtrack which gave me goosebumps at some parts of the movie.

Donnie Yen was also a great addition, though I'd prefer Zhang Ziyi to be a part of it...

At the end of the day it's a good martial arts movie with stunning fight scenes and a decent plot. Compared to the first movie it's kinda bland, but hey, you can watch it for free if you're a user of Netflix, so that's a plus.

Just don't expect another masterpiece and you might enjoy this.