Kingdom 2 is a worthy sequel and a solid action fantasy movie.

 

After thoroughly enjoying the live action adaptation of Kingdom, it felt like a no-brainer to seek out and view the sequel to see if it holds up. I was curious to see how certain events from the manga would be adapted and how some characters would be handled. Did it live up to my expectations? I think it did! Let's dive into it. 

Kingdom 2 once again follows the exploits of young soldier, Shin. Sometime after the events of the previous movie, Eisei has once again taken the throne of the Qin kingdom. One night, Eisei is suddenly ambushed by a pair of assassins. During the struggle, Shin appears and defeats the assassins in a 2 on 1 fight. He was summoned to the palace by Shishi, a defector that formerly served Seikyou's coup attempt. Meanwhile, the kingdom of Wei has begun an invasion of Qin's territory. 

In order to defend Qin's territory, general Hyouko leads a force into battle at the Daikan plains. Amongst the infantry units, Shin reunites with a duo that grew up with him, Bihei and Bitou. Whilst the infantry gathers in groups of five, Shin meets the unassuming Takukei and the quiet, but extremely deadly, Kyoukai. With the five set as a unit, they are given the orders to charge into battle despite being heavily outnumbered. Behind them, the cavalry led by commander Bakukoshin awaits orders from Hyouko to join the fray. Their targets are the Wei generals Kyugen and Gokei, both of whom sit in encampments upon hills, which makes getting to them extremely difficult. This leads to a series of battles and skirmishes between the 2 forces. 

Shinsuke Sato continues to prove his ability to successfully adapt manga into live action. He has a keen attention to detail that helps his projects really nail the look and feel of the projects that he adapts as well as get the best performances out of his casts, making them feel like their manga counterparts. The tight script written by Yasuhisa Hara and co-scribe Tsutomu Kuroiwa also helped to keep things streamlined and easy to follow. 

Much like its' predecessor, Kingdom 2 is a beautiful movie. The cinematography is quite stunning, with a very adept and dynamic blend of moving and static shots making the movie a true visual treat. My favourite shots happen to be the wide shots that showcase the beautiful landscape as well as the grand scale of the battles between the forces of Qin and Wei. My favourite shot in particular comes towards the very end of the movie. In the aftermath of the battle, 2 generals take the chance to catch up and enjoy some conversation. The behind wide shot shows the generals on horseback in the centre of the frame admiring the gorgeous sunset. 

The battle scenes are a much grander scale this time around as opposed to the prequel with many more bodies being involved in the skirmishes. There are cavalry charges and even chariot battles, with a particularly impressive sequence featuring Shin momentarily commandeering an enemy chariot whilst fighting off adversaries before using it to strike a large blow to the enemy forces. Yuji Shimomura is quite adept at choreographing fight scenes of various lengths and scales. His choreography for Kingdom has a stylish flair that blends some practical techniques with some more wuxia and musou video game-esque use of wire work. My favourite fight scene was the very first fight scene in the movie, much like it was in the first one. This time it was Shin fighting a couple of highly skilled assassins in a 2 on 1 fight. I liked the much more grounded scale and style of the fight in comparison to some of the fantastical elements of the larger warfare. That's just my personal preference and I've always preferred a much more grounded approach in fight sequences. The camerawork in the action sequences is almost faultless, with everything being framed in a clear and concise way making it easy to follow. 

What impressed me with this sequel was the successful way in which Kyoukai was handled. She's a newcomer to the franchise as she joins the Qin forces in the fight against Wei when we're first introduced to her. Given an air of mystery, she's an intriguing character and is given ample time to develop which makes her easy to invest in. Around the midway point in the movie, she develops a new mindset due to conversations she has with Shin and we learn of her tragic backstory and motivations via flashbacks. She's a good example of a strong female character done right as she's a skilled fighter, but is not a Mary Sue and would have likely been killed if not for Shin's help. Nana Seino would not have been my first choice for the role, I would have gone with Tao Tsuchiya personally, but her mature, emotional performance convinced me that she was a good fit. 

Kento Yamazaki was once again rather tremendous as the fearless former slave turned soldier, Shin. He's adept when it comes to the fight sequences and brings such a great energy and vigour to the role that it's hard not to like the guy. I feel like those who complained with some of his more enthusiastic antics in the first movie will be appeased by a much more grounded performance in this sequel. I enjoyed seeing him take up Hyou's sword stance at the beginning of the battle, that was a nice touch. 

I love the character of general Ouki. He's rather mysterious in the sense that no one knows what he's thinking in any given moment and that he just might do something drastic without hesitation with an eerie smile on his face. He has such a great hulking presence that he's so much fun to watch. Takao Ozawa does the character justice. 

Overall, I thought that Kingdom 2 was an entertaining watch that was filled with glorious action and some emotional beats. Whilst I did enjoy the first one more due to personal preference, there's not much wrong with Kingdom 2. I would definitely recommend it to those who enjoy a good action movie with some fantastical elements, perhaps even wuxia fans could find enjoyment in this movie.