Royal Tramp II continues right where the first film left off, which should come as no surprise, as Wong Jing started filming this pretty much the second the first film turned a profit. Amazingly, especially given Wong's sometimes scattershot output, this is a sequel that's every bit as good as the original.

Stephen Chow returns as Wilson Bond, a con man who no finds himself in the emperor's (Deric Wan) inner circle after saving him from an attack by the Dragon Sect, which was led by Cheung Man. Upon returning to her master expecting death, Cheung is shocked when she is picked to become the new leader. However, this involves jumping into a mysterious blood bath, which transforms her into Brigitte Lin (not a bad tradeoff).

Meanwhile, back at the palace, Wilson finds himself hatching all sorts of double-crosses in order to keep his head attached to his neck, as well as protecting "little Stephen" from the princess (Chingmy Yau). Eventually, Chow finds himself married to both Chingmy and Brigitte, as well as a pair of comely twins (Fennie Yuen and Vivian Chan). When his master (Damian Lau) makes a reappearance, Wilson must finally decide which side he is going to fight for.

This is a fairly dense plot for what many might consider a slapstick comedy, and, truth be told, you're probably going to be lost if you haven't seen the first film. Still, the movie moves along at such a clip and, more importantly, jokes are thrown at the viewer in rapid-fire fashion, that they're willing to forgive the shortcomings. Even those jokes that are definitely not aimed at Westerners (such as parodies of traditional Chinese ballads) are still pretty funny due to the strength of the actors.

Action-wise, Royal Tramp II also doesn't disappoint. Helmed by the excellent Ching Siu-Tung, they really allow Stephen Chow to show off his moves. Sadly, though, the film's rushed production is apparent at times, most notably when the wires used in the more acrobatic bits are still extremely visible. Despite any sort of technical flaws like that, Royal Tramp II is a very solid movie that should please fans of Stephen Chow's work.

RATING: 7