Story drags it down

Rating: 8/10 (26 March 2007)

It's definitely the more story-oriented of the two, and that might hurt it. Since volume one is all action, all of the plot and character development is left to this part, which makes it a bit too long and talky. That's not to say the dialogue isn't good, because it is, but parts of this film - especially near the end - drag on a lot longer than they need to. The climax takes forever, and then it is somewhat anti-climatic, though the final act of revenge was fitting. The action is sparse but awesome, and the acting is significantly better - probably because David Carradine's actually in this one - but it is slightly worse than the first volume. Although, Pai Mei is my favourite character in the set, so I have to give it props for that.