“The Secret Rivals 2” DVD Cover
AKA: Revenge of the Gold Fox
Director: Ng See Yuen
Producer: Ng See Yuen
Cast: Tino Wong Cheung, John Liu (Chung Liang), Hwang Jang Lee, Blacky Ko Sau-Leung, Charlie Chan (Yiu Lam), Corey Yuen Kwai, Hsu Hsia, Chui Chung Hei
Running Time: 88 min.
By Milkcan
Ng See Yuen has somewhat redeemed himself for his sloppy 1976 film The Secret Rivals with this sequel that almost achieves a “recommended” status but unfortunately falls short – except this time the reason is not the fight scenes. Gold Fox, the brother of Silver Fox, is out to avenge Silver’s death and to collect a hidden stash of- yes, you guessed it- silver. John Liu reprises his role as our hero Shao Yi-Fei, and this time around he is partnered with Shen Yin-Wu (Tino Wong Cheung), the brother of Sheng Ying Wei (the Bruce Lee look-alike, Wang Tao, in the first film). Together they must fight to protect not only themselves, but the treasure as well, from the vengeful hands of Gold Fox.
A simple story is once again made abstruse in the hands of director Yuen as he continues to mold cliched ideas and tries to make something deep out of it. Even though he doesn’t drag the story on forever like he did in the anger-inducing Part I, or structure the story in small meaning-less segments as badly, Yuen still isn’t on the level of where he can handle such material. There are several minor instances where improvement seems to be occurring, but the audience is never allowed a moment of relief throughout a good portion of the first half. We’re forced to sit through the usual bad English dubbing, bad dialogue, and bad acting with those goofy, drawn-out evil laughs. It is even possible to say some of the characters here in The Secret Rivals Part II are not as intelligent as those in Part I. Gray Fox is a villain no one is intimidated by- he often forgets his goals, acts and speaks in silly methods, and seems to not want to participate in something he cares so much about.
I complained that the fight scenes in Part I were not long enough, and that the actors’ skills weren’t properly utilized. Part II corrects these flaws. Whether it be in training sessions (which the characters seem to participate in on more than plenty occasions), or in fight scenes (some involving multiple numbers of people), Yuen and his choreographers have given the audience more of what they were robbed of in the first film. Fights are not broken into short vignettes as much, but instead are allowed longer time periods for business to be taken care of. (Do not fooled though, several short lengthen encounters are still present). Weaponry has been added, and the choreographers make good use of this new concept. And on the subject of martial-arts skills, our heroes must first battle through a cast of grimy characters and groups of deadly fighters until reaching the fast-paced and uplifting finale, which, like the first movie, is the high note of the picture. The action sequences’ only flaw is that they re-use exact ideas from Part I, and this repetition may irritate some viewers.
It must be realized, however, that the best parts of the film only take place within the last 30 minutes of footage. Having said this, The Secret Rivals Part II is only worth a rental when there is nothing else in the video store to rent. It is a step above Part I, and perhaps Part III will be better, but it’s flaws do hinder the film to the level where it cannot be a recommendation (Although, you would be missing out on the return of that bold and grand theme song!).
Milkcan’s Rating: 7/10
