DVD Synopsis: A legend was going around that one of the two golden coins given out by God Of Gamblers was in the hand of Old Fan (Lau Siu Ming). Old Fan had 3 followers Tommy, Kit (Wang Jie) and Chicken Wing (Andy Lau), however Old Fan was betrayed by Tommy and Kit was put in jail. Old Fan was forced to commit suicide by Tommy before the day of Kit's release. Though persuaded by Chicken Wing, Kit refused to involve in gambling again. But Tommy kept on harassing them... Kit could no longer refrain from taking revenge. (92 Mins)

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Views: With Wong Jing stepping away from this project altogether, no doubt busy with his own run of films including the more successful God Of Gamblers 2 & 3, Tricky Brains, The Last Blood, and more, producer Jimmy Heung handed the reigns over to the wonderful Johnnie To for this oddly named third chapter of the series. Casino Raiders 2 was shot a year after No Risk, No Gain: Casino Raiders The Sequel, although none of them relate to each other in any way except for the title, and tells the story of Chicken Feet – a small-time gambler who has been training under the great Uncle Fan and Kit, his close friend who has just been released from prison. Along with his girlfriend Lin, Chicken Feet helps Fan run a casino from their boat that soon attracts the attention of a couple of crooks in the shape of Pao and Mr. James – the latter of which was an ex-student of Uncle Fan's who holds a hatred towards his old master. The dastardly duo show up on Fan's boat in search of a special piece of jade, said to hold the powers of the God Of Gamblers that will give them the winning hand in any gambling match once in their possession. But as brutal as Pao and Mr. James try to be, Uncle Fan refuses to hand it over and commits suicide before they can stop him. After Chicken Feet and Lin find their masters body, they begin to uncover clues as to where he had hidden the jade. But Pao and Mr. James keep close behind them, and start bringing more pain and torture to the friends and their loved ones, maiming each of them and killing Lin in a brutal attack. Together, Chicken Feet and Kit must take on their nemesis in a deadly game of cards – putting their lives on the line as the ultimate prize!

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Much like with the trilogy of A Moment Of Romance movies, director Johnnie To takes the final chapter of Casino Raiders down a much different path than previous offerings. While it may be a bit of a mixed bag at times, To makes it work and presents a dark, yet very enjoyable piece. After he made his directorial debut in 1980 with The Enigmatic Case, Johnnie returned 7 years later with the aptly named Seven Years Itch – a romantic comedy produced by and starring Raymond Wong, although he had been keeping himself busy in between as the 2nd unit director on titles such as It's A Drink! It's A Bomb! as well as Michelle Yeoh's Royal Warriors and Magnificent Warriors, and gained the credit of executive director on Raymond's Happy Ghost 3. Over the next few years To would flit between genres with films such as The Eighth Happiness, The Big Heat, All About Ah Long, and The Royal Scoundrel which also starred Jacklyn Wu Chien Lien. After Casino Raiders 2, Johnnie To would go on to direct a host of very memorable titles including Chow Sing Chi's Justice My Foot and The Mad Monk, the wonderful action-fantasy Heroic Trio and its sequel Executioners, Aaron Kwok's stunning Bare-Footed Kid and much more including the firefighter drama Lifeline, which is when I believe To started to reinvent himself as a director. From there, To would deliver some of his most talked about titles such as A Hero Never Dies, The Mission, Running Out Of Time, and plenty of other crime-drama's through the turn-of-the-century (as well as continuing to direct a wide range of romantic comedies in-between). Prior to Casino Raiders 2, I'd say that The Big Heat was definitely his darkest film to date – although co-directed with Andrew Kam – but he definitely takes things to another level here. In fact, it would be fair to say that there are plenty of emotional moments in Casino Raiders 2 when compared to the other two films in the series. The brutal attack on Lin is an example of one such scene that sees her pushed into the waters of a fish farm, and pushed down with poles by the gangsters who continue to beat her around the head and face until she drowns! It's a heavy scene that's made even more dramatic when Chicken Feet violently tries to revive her – beating on her chest as the dock explodes behind them (and all in glorious slow-motion). Another is when Kit finds his daughter (Yan) chained up like a dog at his cousins, mentally distraught and filthy since she was abandoned by her mother who is now partnered with Kit's enemy Pao. Yan is played with conviction by Chan Cheuk Yan, a child actress who starred in 13 films over 5 years from Bless This House and Yuen Biao's On The Run, to Wild Search and The Killers Blues. She was also the poor child who was dangled from the car by her ponytail in Moon Lee's Fatal Termination, which was one hell of a stunt for such a young child. As always though, Chan proves to be an incredible little actress and does a great job here in her role, going on to work with Johnnie To a couple of years later as the young Anita Mui in Heroic Trio.

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The same can be said for superstar Andy Lau who gives a dramatic performance as Chicken Feet, the hero of the tale that stands up for his friends and loses the love of his life which pushes him over the edge. While he provides a lot less humour than he does in the previous chapters, I was very happy to watch the lengthy scene of Andy Lau parading about in the rain at night while wearing nothing but a pair of briefs. It was definitely one of my favourite scenes of the film thanks to his fantastic ass. As per usual around this period, Lau's role here was only 1 of 13 that he would star in that year as well as Tricky Brains, The Last Blood, The Tigers, Zodiac Killers, Saviour Of The Soul, and more. He is joined, once again, by Jacklyn Wu Chien Lien who plays Lin – the feisty other half of their abusive relationship. Wu made her feature film debut only a year before in the Johnnie To produced, Benny Chan directed classic A Moment Of Romance alongside Andy Lau – a role she would repeat for two sequels as well as starring in films such as The Bare-Footed Kid, Treasure Hunt, To Live And Die In Tsim Sha Tsui, Eat Man Drink Woman, God Of Gamblers Returns, Peace Hotel, and again with Andy Lau in Ringo Lam's hugely underrated The Adventurers. Given the fact that she only starred in To's comedy The Royal Scoundrel between her debut and this, I was pretty impressed with Wu's performance as Lin and genuinely did feel for her in with the amount of abuse she had to put up with. In a role possibly written for Alan Tam's return to the series, Kit is played by Dave Wong Kit – a star who began as a child actor, most noticeably for his role as the young Wen Ding in Lau Kar Leung's classic Executioners From Shaolin. After a role in Soul Of The Sword in 1978, Wong stepped out of the film world for a good decade before returning to star in Tian Cia Xiao Bing and Sea Wolves 1 & 2 for Kevin Chu Yen Ping, before landing his role in Casino Raiders 2. Impressing in the role of Kit, Wong next led the way in Blacky Ko's Invincible before going on to star in films such as The Legend Of The Flying Swordsman, A War Named Desire, Heat Team, and Jackie Chan's New Police Story. The delightful Anthony Wong returns after his twisted role in No Risk, No Gain for another villainous stint as Pao, and the late Kelvin Wong stars as Mr. James – the main antagonist of the film. Having made his debut in Peter Wang's 1986 film A Great Wall, Kelvin went onto make some memorable performances in films such as Runaway Blues, Triads The Inside Story, Police Story 3: Supercop, Moon Warriors, Lord Of The East China Sea 1 & 2, High Risk, and more before retiring from the scene in the mid 90s – eventually passing in 2004. Prolific actor Lau Siu Ming stars as Uncle Fan, along with appearances from stars such as Peter Yang Kwan, Tien Feng, Lee Siu Kay, Lau Kong, and Wong Yat Fei...

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While I enjoyed what Billy Chan and company offered-up in the original Casino Raiders, and more-so what Paul Wong delivered in No Risk, No Gain, I have to say that the action here in this third chapter is probably the best of the bunch. That's down to talents of the wonderful Tony Ching Siu Tung – already a highly praised actor in his own right by this stage of his career, as well as an incredible kung-fu actor and sought-after choreographer. Of course, it would be the latter that he would be hired for here delivering some violent moments throughout, with some madcap action that left my mouth hanging open. While he never really focuses on the martial arts as such, Ching brings a grittiness to the film as well as a host of stunts that definitely impressed. The great Horace Wong delivers the gorgeous cinematography on offer and was responsible for doing the same on films such as the A Better Tomorrow Trilogy, Hard Boiled, The Bare-Footed Kid, Peace Hotel, Accidental Spy, Reign Of Assassins, Kung Fu Jungle, Bullet In The Head, and much more, with Wiiliam Wu handling the score and Andy Lau providing some of the great soundtrack available. All-in-all, Casino Raiders 2 is definitely worth checking out and offers some great moments – it just should have been made as it's own stand-alone movie!

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Overall: A much more stylish and dramatic entry to the series, Casino Raiders 2 is well worth the watch and very entertaining!