You might recall a little crazy movie called Tai Chi Zero that was released last year. It came and went relatively quickly, as this sequel may as well. I see in my original review that the story was not really the filmmakers’ concern, and that it was more about wild style and action driving the movie along with a video game type of aesthetic and some steampunk influence thrown in among the old-school kung fu. It may be that Tai Chi Hero has more story than Zero, or feels the need to wrap things up, but it could have perhaps used more bizarre camera and editing tricks and a little less hackneyed storytelling.

Oh, it’s epic enough, which is why I assume the story’s stretched out over two films. Lu Chan (Jayden Yuan), a plucky young upstart, has a bump on his head that when touched makes him go wildly violent (and then dumber). He wants to learn the Chen style of kung fu, which the village of Chen refuses to teach to outsiders. This is a point that is hammered here SO MUCH that you almost want Lu Chan to walk away altogether. But no, of course, he must learn it because he will then become a true master.

He is also now married—at the end of the last film to a woman from the village, Yuniang (Angelababy, what a name!), daughter of the grandmaster Chen (Tony Leung Ka Fai), so he’s no longer an outsider, but he has to contend with the brother (Feng Shaofeng) of his wife, who does not want Lu Chan to learn the this martial art because of, you guessed it, the no-outsiders-learning-Chen-style ban.

We finally learn why this is in one of those prophecies that is really just a bunch of hooey plus some hidden background on the brother-in-law. And lo and behold, for some reason that is not really explained, the big bump that could kill Lu Chan conveniently just goes away as he becomes a master of this style who will save the village from destruction and so on and so forth. On top of this, the romance between Lu Chan and Yuniang happens much too fast. All it takes is for Lu Chan to take apart the already ruined steampunk-style train engine from the last film for this girl, who doesn’t care much for her husband at first, to suddenly take a liking to him. Don’t sleep on the floor you dog, come sleep on the bed and cuddle, or more (but not show it on camera, because this is a movie for kids, but I digress).

Tai Chi Hero really only becomes fun once the fights break out. Choreographed by the legendary Sammo Hung, they are thrilling and spectacular, especially the final fight. There is real power to the climax, not just for the violence (it’s not bloody, just lots of kicks, punches, wild jabs, and darting about), but for the dance aspect of it. You almost believe it’s all happening without any wire work or special effects because of how much the performers put into it.

This comes just a little too late because it’s hard to really care much about what’s going on since the characters are live-action cartoon characters. (I wonder if the movie would have benefited as an animated movie. A flying machine at one point invokes the wonderment of Hayao Miyazaki to a degree.) Even a very, very odd appearance from Peter Stormare (yes, of Fargo and many other films) doesn’t do much to add any surreal pleasure to the proceedings. The fights would be worth your while, but as for everything else, skip it.