The Film Stage

Stylistically free but still cleanly delineated in character and crime-film structure, there comes a clear direction for the 21st-century action film.

The Film Stage by Ethan Vestby

Stylistically free but still cleanly delineated in character and crime-film structure, there comes a clear direction for the 21st-century action film.

RogerEbert.com by Simon Abrams

Don't let the tacky American-friendly title of Kill Zone 2 fool you: the martial arts genre's next big thing is here, and it is way meaner, more technically accomplished, and more exciting than its disappointing marketing strategy implies.

The A.V. Club by Ignatiy Vishnevetsky

Cheang builds flourish upon flourish with a ballsiness that recalls Brian De Palma in his prime.

Screen Daily by James Marsh

A sequel in name only to Wilson Yip’s 2005 film, Soi Cheang’s SPL2: A Time For Consequences nevertheless recaptures the exhilarating energy of the original.

Variety by Joe Leydon

Helmer Cheang and action director Li Chung Chi offer an impressive array of rock-’em-sock-’em setpieces — including a battle royale at a cruise ship terminal, and grand finale in a Hong Kong high-rise — and the performances, especially those by Wu, Koo and Zhang, are thoroughly attuned to the movie’s overall tone of fever-pitched martial-arts noir melodrama.

Screen International by James Marsh

A sequel in name only to Wilson Yip’s 2005 film, Soi Cheang’s SPL2: A Time For Consequences nevertheless recaptures the exhilarating energy of the original.

The Hollywood Reporter by Elizabeth Kerr

Far from being the convoluted mess it could have been, incoming director Cheang Pou-soi (Yip serves as a producer) crafts a tight, swiftly paced action yarn that ensures viewers won’t be pining for the presence of the first film’s stars, Donnie Yen and Sammo Hung.

Los Angeles Times by Noel Murray

Mostly, just as “SPL” did with Yen, this sequel serves as an ideal showcase for talented martial artists. Kill Zone 2 watches with awe as Jaa and Wu move with balletic force. There’s grace within their violence.

The New York Times by Andy Webster

If there’s one rewarding thing about many Hong Kong action directors, it’s that they rarely dawdle in getting to what fight fans have come for: bracing shootouts and high-impact fisticuffs and footwork.

Village Voice by Aaron Hillis

Dizzily entertaining when the knives, bullets, and feet are flying, and sometimes painfully melodramatic during the interim exposition.