If you’re a connoisseur of the fine art of moering people really hard with all your limbs, then you’ve probably heard of Saat Po Long aka SPL aka Kill Zone, the acclaimed martial arts film that saw kung fu legends Donny Yen, Sammo Hung and Wu Jing go crazy punching, kicking, kneeing and [INSERT PREFERRED ACT OF BLOODY VIOLENCE HERE] their way into the upper ranks of the best martial arts movies of the modern age.
It’s been 10 years since the release of SPL and now a sequel (or maybe a prequel based on some previously dead characters showing up again – it’s kind of hard to tell from the jumbled trailer) is finally coming out featuring a returning Wu Jing starring alongside a modern-legend ass kicker in his own right in Tony Jaa. The walking muay thai death machine made a big splash on his debut with incredible flicks like Ong Bak and The Protector aka Tom Yun Goong that saw him pulling off all kinds of ridiculous physical stunts to much acclaim.
Since then though, Jaa’s later movies have shown far too much reliance on CG and dodgy wire-work, totally underselling his devastating skill set. And while the latter of those problems rears it’s head just a tad in this first trailer (via Twitch) for SPL, the rest of it looks like a solid skop, skop weer en donner flick, despite it not appearing to be in the same insane league as its predecessor (even if it still boasts the over-the-top sound FX of the original).
After busting a local gangster Hong in an undercover operation, hard-boiled cop Kit is captured by Hong’s men and wakes up in jail in Thailand facing a life sentence. While in police custody, Hong strikes a deal with Kit’s supervisor Wah to trade his freedom for Kit’s. Wah traces Kit to Thailand and manages to convince to new prison guard Chai to help save Kit because Kit is one of the few eligible bone marrow donors who can save Chai’s daughter, who’s suffering from leukemia. Hong breaks out of jail and flees to Thailand and order Kit’s executive. When Kit learns of Hong’s jailbreak, he’s determined to bring him to justice.
SPL 2 releases in Hong Kong in the middle of the year, but no further international release dates have been announced.
Last Updated: March 25, 2015
