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labcat
This review may contain spoilers
Could have been funnier
A somewhat weaker sequel to Detective Chinatown (2015). Some of the scenes are visually hilarious such as with horse-riding on the roads of New York (the poor horse comes to an awful end though).
Like the 2015 movie, there are elements of a whodunit/detective story. Much of it is comedy involving situations that you shouldn't expect to be realistic if you want to enjoy the movie.
The story features a few recurring characters that we see in the Detective Chinatown franchise (including the 2020 series). It is weaker than the 2015 movie though the serial killer premise shows promise at first. This sequel ups the anarchic elements of the first instalment, which can make it really funny. Unfortunately, the comedy isn't always done well. The story relies too much on "stroke of luck" situations to solve the protagonists' problems--this is sometimes funny, sometimes insipid. The means by which the main characters escape from a police lock-up is almost cringe-inducing even for someone with a good appetite for absurd comedic situations. Implausible events are fine if they are fun and hilarious. But if they are simply implausible without being funny, they give the sense that they have been included just to move the plot forward.
Like the 2015 movie, this one features an "extra" revelation after the mystery seems to have been solved. It is clever though, this time round, we may vaguely seeing it coming a tad too early. In the 2015 movie, the extra revelation doesn't seem labored though we may begin to see something extra coming our way quite late in the movie. In contrast, the sequel seems to try a little too hard to show that the extra revelation isn't added as an afterthought. Still, I'm nitpicking a little. This movie isn't meant to be taken so seriously and, in fact, it falters when it starts taking itself too seriously with some pseudo-philosophical moments.
As an aside, a sort of formula or template seems to have emerged from the 2015 movie, and this does not necessarily bode well for the third instalment.
Like the 2015 movie, there are elements of a whodunit/detective story. Much of it is comedy involving situations that you shouldn't expect to be realistic if you want to enjoy the movie.
The story features a few recurring characters that we see in the Detective Chinatown franchise (including the 2020 series). It is weaker than the 2015 movie though the serial killer premise shows promise at first. This sequel ups the anarchic elements of the first instalment, which can make it really funny. Unfortunately, the comedy isn't always done well. The story relies too much on "stroke of luck" situations to solve the protagonists' problems--this is sometimes funny, sometimes insipid. The means by which the main characters escape from a police lock-up is almost cringe-inducing even for someone with a good appetite for absurd comedic situations. Implausible events are fine if they are fun and hilarious. But if they are simply implausible without being funny, they give the sense that they have been included just to move the plot forward.
Like the 2015 movie, this one features an "extra" revelation after the mystery seems to have been solved. It is clever though, this time round, we may vaguely seeing it coming a tad too early. In the 2015 movie, the extra revelation doesn't seem labored though we may begin to see something extra coming our way quite late in the movie. In contrast, the sequel seems to try a little too hard to show that the extra revelation isn't added as an afterthought. Still, I'm nitpicking a little. This movie isn't meant to be taken so seriously and, in fact, it falters when it starts taking itself too seriously with some pseudo-philosophical moments.
As an aside, a sort of formula or template seems to have emerged from the 2015 movie, and this does not necessarily bode well for the third instalment.
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