New Kung Fu Cult Master 2

New Kung Fu Cult Master 2 is a 2022 Hong Kong-Chinese wuxia film directed by Wong Jing and Keung Kwok-man adapted from Louis Cha's novel The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber. The film stars Raymond Lam, Janice Man, Yun Qianqian, and Sabrina Qiu. It is the sequel to New Kung Fu Cult Master 1.

The film was released on streaming platforms in China on 3 February 2022, while it was theatrically released in Singapore on 12 February 2022.

Plot
Zhao Min lures Zhang Wuji to the domain of her father, the Prince of Ruyang, where the kung fu masters of the Six Major Sects have been trapped in the Wanan Pagoda. She explains to her father that this will be an opportunity for them to take the Dragon Saber from Zhang Wuji. She tells Zhang Wuji that she would release the sect leaders if he would convince them to serve the Imperial Yuan government, which he refuses to do.

Abbess Miejue, leader of the Emei Sect, forces Zhou Zhiruo to swear a blood oath that she will not fall in love with Zhang Wuji. She then passes leadership of the Emei Sect to her and teaches her the secret of the Heavenly Sword and the Dragon Saber. When Fan Yao helps the sect leaders escape the pagoda, it is set on fire, trapping them on the higher floors. Their levitation skills require assistance from Zhang Wuji's Grand Diversion skill to land gently on the ground below, but Abbess Miejue is fatally injured from a cold touch attack from a member of the Xuanming Duo and refuses assistance from Wuji.

Zhao Min's father blames her for failing to stop Zhang Wuji, so she accepts Zhang Wuji's offer to travel with him to Fire Ice Island to study the Dragon Saber. Ding Minjun swears revenge on Zhang Wuji for the death of her master and forces Zhou Zhiruo into a battle for leadership of the cult, but Zhao Min drugs Zhou Zhiruo and forces her to accompany Zhang Wuji, Zhao Min and Xiaozhao to Ice Fire Island.

Once on Ice Fire island, Zhang Wuji is attacked by the Ming Guardians. Zhao Min learns extra details about the Grand Diversion skill from characters burned into a rock from the Ming Guardians' weapons and reads them aloud to Zhang Wuji, who learns the skill and fights off the Ming Guardians. As leader of the Persian Ming Cult, Xiaozhao's mother "Purple Dress Dragon King" must be burned alive for losing her virginity, so Xiaozhao is compelled to take leadership of the cult, meaning that she will never see Zhang Wuji again.

Zhou Zhiruo drugs the others, steals the Dragon Saber and sails off during the night, taking Zhao Min with her. Zhao Min pretends to be asleep but jumps off the boat and floats back to the island, where she tells Zhang Wuji what happened and that she feels that they will end up together. Zhang Wuji and Zhou Zhiruo return without Xiaozhao to Bright Peak. Song Qingshu attacks and kills Ding Minjun, but is then killed by Zhou Zhiruo.

On the day of the wedding of Zhang Wuji and Zhou Zhiruo, Zhao Min forbids their marriage and shows Zhang Wuji a piece of hair from his godfather Xie Xun. Zhou Zhiruo attacks Zhao Min, but Zhang Wuji protects her. Zhang Wuji leaves with Zhao Min, and Zhou Zhiruo declares that her relationship with Zhang Wuji is ended forever. Zhao Min explains to Zhang Wuji that Zhou Zhiruo used Song Qingshu as a scapegoat in order to rise to become leader of the Emei Cult and that Zhou Zhiruo was the one who drugged him and took the two swords, which she interlocked to obtain the Nine Yin Manual, before locking Xie Xun in a dungeon.

Zhou Zhiruo holds an event for the execution of Xie Xun for the crime of killing sect members for which he was framed, and Zhang Wuji attends. Zhou Zhiruo states that only the one who defeats her in a duel can take Xie Xun. She fights against Bat King and Zhang Wuji, but the duel is interrupted when Cheng Kun breaks into the back hall and kills some disciples to steal the two swords. He resists Zhou Zhiruo's attacks using the Indestructible Vajra skill that he withheld from her. Zhang Wuji overcomes him using the weapons and skills learned from the Ming Guardians, but Zhou Zhiruo is mortally wounded. She makes Zhang Wuji promise to never fail Zhao Min, then she dies.

Cast

 * Raymond Lam as Zhang Wuji
 * Janice Man as Zhao Min
 * Yun Qianqian as Xiaozhao
 * Sabrina Qiu as Zhou Zhiruo
 * Elvis Tsui as Tse Shun
 * Alex Fong as Yeung Chiu
 * Raymond Wong Ho-yin as Wai Yat-siu
 * Jade Leung as Abbess Mit-juet
 * Rebecca Zhu as Yan So-so
 * Lam Chi-chung as Wah Shan Elder
 * Zhang Xuan as Ting Man-kwan
 * Derek Kok as Fan Yiu
 * Derek Kwok Jing-Hung
 * Tin Kai-man as Wah Shan Elder
 * Yu Kang as Hok Pat-yung
 * Mars as Hung Man
 * Wilfred Lau as Sung Ching-shu
 * Felix Lok as Yin Tianzheng
 * Parkman Wong as Sung Yuen-kiu
 * Asano Nagahide as Yue Lin-chau
 * Dominic Ho as Yan Lei-hang
 * Edward Chui as Cheung Chung-kai
 * Ken Hung as Mok Sing-kuk
 * Jason Wong as Yu Toi-ngam
 * Ding Yusen as Luk Cheung-hak
 * Xing Yu as Sing Kwan
 * Sun Jiao-Long
 * Sun Yi-Fei
 * Xu Xin
 * Yang Zhen-Yuan
 * Chen Zihan
 * Sherman Ye Xiang-Ming
 * Jenny Gui Jingjing

Production
On 2 January 2022, Wong announced on his Sina Weibo account that the film had been split into two parts, New Kung Fu Cult Master 1 and New Kung Fu Cult Master 2, to be released during the Chinese New Year period of the year. This later led to speculations that the cast was having disagreements with the production over salary disputes, but cast member Donnie Yen later responded to this by stating that he knew that it was going to be a duology from the start.

Release
The film was released on streaming platforms on 3 February 2022 in China, while it was theatrically released in Singapore on 12 February 2022.

Reception
Reviewer David Chew of asianmoviepulse.com wrote, "Although Lam and his female leads play their parts fittingly well, this sequel definitely suffers due to the lack of superstar power like Donnie Yen and Louis Koo from the first movie. Also, as far as wuxia yarn goes, there is hardly any decent or impact action on display here, probably due to the limited budget. But at least we do get a watchable sequel even though it seems like it was rushed through. Instead of cutting corners, Wong and Keung probably would be better off aiming for a trilogy since there is more than enough material in Jin Yong's original intriguing and engrossing novel."

Reviewer Marcus Goh of Yahoo Lifestyle Singapore gave the film 3 out of 5 stars, writing, "New Kung Fu Cult Master 2 barely manages to hold its own without the two superstars from the first film. While the female leads play their part well, Raymond Lam just doesn’t have what it takes to play Zhang Wuji. More action and exposition would have helped make a better film. But if you watched the first, then this second is almost mandatory viewing - if only to give some closure to the first."

Reviewer Brandon Toh of geekculture.co wrote, "While New Kung Fu Cult Master 1 built up anticipation and set up the foundation for an enthralling story, New Kung Fu Cult Master 2 didn't manage to deliver, due to a rushed pace and slight mischaracterisation of a core character."

Screenhkblog.com gave the film 2½ out of 5 stars, writing, "Given the scope of Jin Yong’s The Heaven Sword and Dragon Sabre novel that covers multiple characters and events, it would have been wise for Wong Jing and Keung Kwok-Man to make this into a trilogy instead."

The Scribbling Geek wrote, "I'm glad the producers went a little bolder, a little wilder with this second part. I wouldn't have minded too, had they gone further with the changes."

Reviewer Gabriel Chong of movieexclusive.com gave the film 2½ out of 5 stars, writing, "So while we were pleasantly surprised by its predecessor, we were left genuinely jaded by ‘New Kung Fu Cult Master 2’, particularly because we thought the point of Wong Jing revisiting this story was so he could get a chance to film the conclusion. Those who have read the book will know that there is more than enough material within for a trilogy, but to try to tell the story over the length of two feature films necessarily means Wong Jing should have had the good sense to trim down the story and make some narrative adjustments. As much as you feel compelled to see how it ends, we urge you to leave it hanging; at least then you'd have done so at a high, than endure a sure but gradual descent to new lows. If this is the sequel Wong Jing did not get to make back in the 1990s, we'd rather he did not make it after all."