Deltamac DVD Synopsis: A group of highly accomplished and fearless athletes whose break-neck skills include leaping from rooftops and scaling vertiginous facades, goes to Bangkok to set up a gym and explore the local cityscape. But once there, they encounter a gang of Thai athletes who, betraying their own heritage, have pledged allegiance to the Japanese Yakuza aiming to destroy the local Triad and gain control of the city. The French sportsmen soon become unwittingly entangled in an escalating turf war they cannot fully grasp. In the midst of this turmoil, as each one faces his own past and fears, will the spiritually forces of loyalty, love and sportsmanship be enough to preserve them from the ultimate clash?

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Views: It has been some time since I last watched Les Fils Du Vent – a film recommended to me by my own stunt team of young Parkour enthusiasts while shooting our first film. I remember being pleasantly surprised by it and while I haven't had the pleasure of watching the first Yamakasi (2001) film, didn't feel that I had missed anything going into this. To a lot of people, the plot here seems to be a bit over the place as a bunch of French Parkour specialists who meet in London, head to Thailand to set up a gym for street kids and soon find themselves drawn into a war between the Japanese Yakuza and Chinese Triads. After an exciting run-in with a local gang, the team disband with some members heading-off on their own journey to find themselves and avoid any more trouble. Of course, it doesn't take long for them all to reform as a team when the war between the Yakuza and Triad gangs gets out-of-hand that sees one of their own, badly injured!

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To be honest, Les Fils Du Vent is really all about the action and Parkour skills of it's stars, both of which do not let the viewers down. From the rooftop game in London where teams of free-runners chase a ball, to the scaffold fight in Bangkok – that should excite those who enjoyed similar fight scenes in Shang Chi: Legend Of The Ten Rings (2021) (thanks to the late Brad Allen) and Blonde Fury/Lady Reporter/Above The Law 2 (1989) – the action here in Yamakasi 2: The Great Challenge is a lot of fun. Unfortunately, it also marred by some heavily edited and fast cut decisions which often takes away from the true talents of the team and the choreography of Xin Xin Xiong (Hung Yan Yan) and Seng Kawee. The wonderful Xin Xin Xiong is no stranger to fans of Hong Kong cinema and is most widely known for his role as Clubfoot (or Ghost Foot Seven) in Tsui Hark's Once Upon A Time In China (1991) series. Xiong first came onto the scene as Jet Li's stunt-double in Shaolin Temple 3: Martial Arts Of Shaolin (1986) before making small appearances in the likes of Aces Go Places 5: The Terracotta Hit, God Of Gamblers (1989), and City Cops/Beyond The Law (1989) with Cynthia Rothrock a few years later. Since then he has starred in over 50 films, directed 2, and worked as the stunt coordinator or choreographer on titles such as Tiger On The Beat 2 (1990), Black Mask (1996), Double Team (1997), The Black Sheep Affair (1998), Seven Swords (2005), and Hollywood movies such as Simon Sez (1999), The Musketeer (2001), Half Past Dead (2002), and Feardotcom (2002) (oddly). Thai born actor and stunt coordinator Seng Kawee started his film career appearing in Hong Kong titles such as the cut-n-paste Heavenly Spell (1991), Curse Of The Zombie (1989), and the fun Thunder Run (1991) alongside Ray Lui and Alex Fong. And while his acting career may not have brought forth any ground-breaking titles, Seng turned his hand to stunt work leading to jobs on films such as Street Fighter (1994), Black Mask 2: City Of Masks (2002), Ong Bak (2003), Born To Fight (2004), Warrior King/The Protector (2005), Shanghai (2010), The Expendables 2 (2012), Triple Threat (2019), Extraction (2020), and Kate (2021), as well as many other Hollywood titles. Between them both, Xiong and Seng manage to bring some exciting action pieces and fight scenes to Les Fils Du Vent with some impressive, and painful looking, stunt work also.

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Although it may not have received the same international attention as District B13 (2004), it's fair to say that director Julien Seri did a fair job for his second feature film (with the first being Yamakasi). Yes, it may slip up with some dated directional choices and a weak screenplay here-and-there, but Yamakasi 2: The Great Challenge still proves to entertain. It's a shame that it took itself a little too seriously at times, but it clearly got Seri noticed with the man going onto direct a number of other independent films as well as television shows such as Chronicles Of The Sun (2018) and Munch (2016). While Laurent Piemontesi takes control of the team (sometimes), the majority of the focus is more-often-than-not on everyone else. Chau Belle Dinh does a fine job as Kien, the gang leader with a chip on his shoulder and brother to Tsu – the feisty femme fatale played by the gorgeous Elodie Yung who has probably scored the biggest career of them all since she went on to star in Hollywood blockbusters such as The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo (2011), Gods Of Egypt (2016), G.I. Joe: Retaliation (2013), The Hitman's Bodyguard (2017), and the Marvel Netflix show Daredevil (2015) as Elektra. The rest of the Yamakasi team impress (obviously) with Charles Perriere playing the love interest of Tsu, Malik Diouf channeling his inner 'Ong Bak' and the handsome Williams Belle focusing on a more spiritual journey. It was great to see the late Burt Kwouk show up – even if he didn't have too much to do except assert his authority as a Triad leader, and the rest of the cast are fleshed out with a mix of British and French free-runners as well as a mix of Asian extras and stuntmen...

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All-in-all, I wouldn't say Yamakasi 2: The Great Challenge is the greatest film in the world, but it does entertain in terms of an independent action film with some great moments and genuine skill that deserves to be seen, playing like a blend of District B13 (2004) with Tony Jaa's Warrior King (2005) – albeit without the wow factor of either. That said, it's definitely still worth a watch and great to see what was the starting block for the very talented Elodie Yung!

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Overall: With some great action sequences, parkour, and stunts, Yamakasi 2: The Great Challenge makes for a fun watch regardless of its flaws!

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DVD Extras: Director Interviews, B-roll, Trailers, Photo Gallery