“Mr. Vampire 2” Theatrical Poster
Director: Ricky Lau
Cast: Lam Ching-Ying, Yuen Biao, Chung Fat, Moon Lee, Pauline Wong, Billy Lau, Wong Yuk Waan, Wu Ma, Stanley Fung Shui Fan, Hsiao Ho, James Tien
Running Time: 91 min.
By Numskull
“If you can keep your expectations tiny You’ll go through life without being so whiny.”
-Matt Groening, “Life in Hell”
One of the keys to living a happy life is to expect the worst. When you order pizza from a new place, expect it to taste like shit. When Wile E. Coyote is chasing the Road Runner, expect him to emerge victorious and feast on the defeated bird. When there’s a sequel to a movie that you really like, expect it to suck ass and generally be a disgrace to its predecessor. Then, you’ll be pleasantly surprised and relieved when the pizza tastes better than shit, the Road Runner continues to elude his/her/its predestined fate according to the food chain, and the movie fails to captivate you like the original did but still provides some amusement in typical sequel fashion.
The first Mr. Vampire is one of my favorite movies, ever…Hong Kong or otherwise. It’s not majestic, revolutionary film making, but it’s tremendous fun. It would be rather foolish of me to expect this sequel to live up to the precedent of quality set by the first film. Hence, I sat down to watch it fully prepared for it to pale in comparison. And it does, but, happily, not by as big a margin as I expected.
Several cast members return in different roles…in the case of star Lam “Unibrow” Ching-Ying (R.I.P.), he’s apparently a descendant of his character from the first film. Knowledge of what has previously transpired is somewhat helpful but not absolutely necessary, as Mr. Vampire 2 seems to be aimed at a bigger audience than its predecessor. The action has been relocated to the present day, and the undead marauders have a not-quite-definable quality that seems to place them closer to “vampires” as they are generally known in the Western world. I could have done without these changes, as the less modern setting and unapologetic “Asian-ness” of the hopping baddies from the first film where major contributors to its tremendous charm.
An archaeologist with two assistants, even more dunderheaded than last time (one of them sucks on toads…must be from Arkansas), uncovers a dead family. Not much chance of your average uppity Western P.C. type watching past the first few minutes…they tried to make the kid cute, but at the end of the day, it’s still a dead kid, y’know? Anyway, the adults run amok and a pair of chunky Chinese children choose to be chums with the kid.
Yuen Biao, a new face in the series, plays Lam Ching-Ying’s future son-in-law. It’s a role in which he doesn’t get to display much of his uncanny athleticism, but hey, it’s not that kind of movie. He has the bright idea of taking a photo of himself with the two adult corpses, and when they attack him, a jar of sedative gets knocked over and shatters. The liquid inside quickly vaporizes, and everyone in the room breathes the fumes and starts to move really slow (no, it’s not in slow motion…the people just move really slow). This scene goes on for way too long, but actually, there aren’t many scenes in the film to begin with…Mr. Vampire 2 can’t be accused of moving in a manner that’s too fast or choppy for its own good. Each scene takes its sweet time and the movie is thereby composed of easily definable chunks without getting dull or losing its sense of continuity. The only other scene (“chapter” would be a more appropriate term, but I don’t mean that in the DVD sense) I would say is too lengthy for its own good is the one where the kid vampire gets acquainted with the living kids. I’m tempted to say that the film would have been better off without him, but if that were the case, there would be a very real risk of it being too short and the story wearing thin too soon.
An interesting quote: “My master Sammo had Spooky Encounters. Now he’s met The Dead and the Deadly. As a result, he could suspend breathing. My name is Len Cheng-ying.” That last part, I’m assuming, is an alternate translation of actor Lam Ching-Ying’s name, and the reference to Sammo Hung’s films is due to the supernatural themes shared. The first Mr. Vampire’s “sticky rice” scene was obviously at least partially inspired by the “egg” scene in Spooky Encounters, but director Sammo Hung served as producer for Mr. Vampire and its sequel so he must have been cool with it. There’s also two guys who witness the adult vampires on the rampage…one says to the other, “Ever saw the movie Mr. Vampire?” This is followed by “It’s better than Mr. Vampire.”
No, it isn’t…but it’s good enough to appease fans of the original who don’t expect too much. Don’t think you’re obligated to watch this one just because you liked the first one, though…it’s not ashamed of cashing in on success, but it does aim to please.
Numskull’s Rating: 6/10
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