Should have been one movie.

Rating: 6/10 (16 April 2004)

It's three in the morning (opening day) and I just saw the movie. I must say I'm a little bit disappointed. Now before I go any further, the acting, character, and dialogue are on par, and in some cases better than Volume 1. This movie is very different from the last one though as it is hardly an action film. There are 3 (I think) 1-on-1 fights, none of which last more than five minutes. Plus, there is virtually no swordplay at all. Now, for an over two hour long action film, that's not exactly what you'd expect. Now this is fine, because the drama in this film is incredible. Great dialogue, deep characters, and pretty good acting is what makes it worth watching. But here also inlies the movies main problem, vol 1 & 2 shouldn't be seperate films. If you ask me, they should be combined into a 3 1/2 hour long epic. While vol. 1 did pretty well on it's own as a stand alone movie, 2 doesn't. The pacing is absolutely horrid and makes it kind of chop along from scene to scene. I was actually frustrated by the end. I wont watch these again unless they are released re-edited together, the way they should have been (before money scamming became an issue).