| Black Mask 2: City of Masks | |
| Director: | Tsui Hark |
| Producer: | Tsui Hark |
| Starring: | Andy On Tobin Bell Traci Lords |
| Studio: | One Hundred Years of Film Film Workshop |
| Runtime: | 102 minutes |
| Country: | Hong Kong |
| Language: | English Cantonese |
Black Mask 2: City of Masks (黑俠II) is a 2002 Hong Kong superhero film directed by Tsui Hark. Andy On took over the role of Black Mask when original actor Jet Li opted not to return. The film also starred Tobin Bell, Jon Polito, Tyler Mane, Rob Van Dam, Traci Lords, and Scott Adkins. The martial arts director was Yuen Woo-ping.[1]
Black Mask 2 is the sequel to the 1996 Hong Kong film Black Mask, which was based on the 1992 manhua Black Mask by Li Chi-Tak.[2] However, apart from the main character, the film is largely unrelated in story to the original film and follows Black Mask trying to find a cure for his supersoldier powers, all while being tracked by his creator, a giant brain (a detail at odds with the original film). The film also takes the tone of a fantastical superhero film, being set in a futuristic city, featuring a plot involving stopping a mutative DNA bomb and pitting the main character against a group of human-animal hybrid professional wrestlers.
Unlike the original film, which was in Cantonese and later dubbed into English, Black Mask 2 was predominantly produced in English. The film was later released dubbed into Cantonese in Hong Kong in 2003, with the voice direction being directed by Chapman To and Andy Lau being featured as a narrator for the Hong Kong version.
Kan Fung had escaped from the clutches of the organization responsible for his superhuman abilities. He plans to find any geneticist who will be able to cure him. Meanwhile, he has decided to use his powers for the greater of good, calling himself Black Mask. Lang, another high-ranking member of the organization, has been hired to find Black Mask and kill him.
Wrestling promoter King is gearing up for a major event and has his top wrestlers Claw, Iguana, Chameleon, Snake, and Wolf ready for battle. However, when the wrestler Hellraiser (real name Ross) is attacked by Iguana, who undergoes a radical transformation into an iguana-human hybrid, Black Mask comes to the rescue. Ross is seriously injured and Black Mask chases Iguana to a nearby Tower. When Iguana falls off, Black Mask catches his hand in hopes that he can help him. Iguana lets himself free of Black Mask's grip and falls to his death. A grief-stricken Chameleon, who was Iguana's girlfriend, witnesses Iguana's remains revert to his human form. It is soon revealed that the wrestlers had been experimented under Dr. Moloch, who gave the wrestlers animal DNA to enhance their skills. However, they soon discover the animal DNA have given them the ability to undergo transformations as animal-hybrids. They now intend to use their newfound abilities to track down Black Mask and kill him to avenge Iguana. From this point on Chameleon, whose body can blend in with her surroundings, goes about unclothed so that she can remain fully invisible, and vengefully stalks Black Mask.
Meanwhile, Black Mask has found the geneticist who may be able to cure him, Dr. Marco Leung. Black Mask tries to communicate with Dr. Leung through anonymous phone calls. In the meantime, Black Mask befriends Raymond, Ross's young son who idolizes both his father as well as Black Mask. When Black Mask scuffles with the invisible Chameleon during an investigation of the wrestlers, he is given a dose of animal DNA by Moloch. This turns him into a tiger-hybrid, which gives him the strength to fight-off Chameleon. Locating Dr. Leung, Black Mask warns her of the injected DNA and asks for her help. Dr. Leung learns of a chemical component that could be the key to cure the tiger DNA for Black Mask. Sneaking out, Black Mask has another scuffle with the wrestlers but successfully finds the chemical needed for the animal cure. Black Mask is fully cured of his own injected DNA, but he has a reaction to the cure that at first causes him to react violently and then to stagger out into the city in a stupor.
When he is cornered by a invisible Chameleon, whose upper body occasionally brightens and then fades again, Black Mask finally reveals how Iguana actually killed himself and that he had intended to help him. Black Mask tells Chameleon that she is unable to control herself and that her body will eventually fade away, leaving her invisible forever. Feeling remorse and worried about disappearing, Chameleon turns semi-visible and withdraws.
During a climactic showdown the following day, Black Mask learns that his old nemesis Lang has incapacitated Moloch and has planted a bomb that has the capability of changing DNA throughout the city. Snake and Wolf fight Black Mask; Snake is killed by Black Mask and Wolf is accidentally killed by Thorn who misidentifies him in the dark. Lang's right-hand man General Troy fights Black Mask and then pursues Dr. Leung, and is crushed when some pipes are dropped on him. Thorn is then ambushed by Chameleon, who snatches the bomb from Thorn and passes it on to Black Mask. Chameleon interferes with Thorn when he attempts to pursue, with the result that they both hang from a support being high up in the arena. Chameleon angrily declares that she will never disappear. She then either pushes herself off from Thorn's arm or slips off it while trying to climb up, in either case sending both herself and Thorn hurtling to their deaths. An otherwise invisible Chameleon's head and shoulders reappear and quickly bronze.
Finally, Lang takes on Black Mask. At first Lang has the upper hand, but Black Mask successfully defeats Lang and stops the bomb from exploding. The next day, Dr. Leung receives a call from Kan Fung. She leaves the lab and gets on the back of Kan's motorcycle, which implies she has finally cured him of his original superhuman abilities.
Oris Erhuero, Traci Lords, and Jon Polito have all been involved in the Highlander Franchise.
The film was the first on-screen appearance of Andy On, but it was actually the second film On had shot. The first film he worked on, Looking for Mister Perfect, was released after this film in 2003.
Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment released straight to DVD in the United States on December 24, 2002. The film was released theatrically in Hong Kong on January 9, 2003.