Gatao 2: Rise of the King

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Taiwan | 2018 | 127 minutes | Yen Cheng-Kuo

A dynamic, operatic, and extremely bloody gangster saga out of Taiwan—get ready for street brawls!—tracking the rocky rise of a small-town gang leader and the opposing forces who will stop at nothing to end his reign.

In the land of action movies from time to time you need a movie like Gatao 2: Rise of the King. Why? Mainly because of its shameless sense that a muscular action flick, one that craves a midnight screening audience, can be poetic, sadistic, energetic, melancholic, and of course a living proof of what movies can do when they decide to ignore rules and embrace all their instincts. Gatao 2 is everything you didn't know you wanted to see in a gangster movie from Taiwan. Born as an intentional exploitation flick based on the original Gatao (hint: Only a few secondary characters create a connection between the two films), this "sequel" is a visual feast, one that uses street-level gangsters in Taipei as the perfect excuse to celebrate the nonsense and sensibility in the works of people like Takeshi Kitano, Johnnie To, and Takashi Miike. An all-out war on the streets, an old-school one, becomes a large-scale cinematic party: For a few moments, Gatao 2 manages to go crazy and big (a fantastic and massive fight) and in others it goes full sentimental. That mix between spectacular and heartfelt action is what makes Gatao 2: Rise of the King a unique experience.

— Juan Manuel Dominguez

Director Biography
After starring in 2015's Gatao , Yen Cheng-Kuo took over directing duties for this sequel. A busy child actor, he returned to film after a decade in prison after being convicted on a kidnapping charge in 2001.

Sponsored by Taiwan Academy in Los Angeles, Ministry of Culture, Taiwan, Cathay Pacific Airways Limited, Dexter Hayes Apartments, Taiwan Studies Program at UW

  • Director: Yen Cheng-Kuo
  • Principal Cast: Collin Chou, Cheng Jen-Shuo, Wang Shih-Hsien, Peggy Tseng, Jack Kao
  • Country: Taiwan
  • Year: 2018
  • Running Time: 127 minutes
  • Producer: Chou Yi-huan, Red Chang
  • Screenplay: Red Chang, Jerry Sun
  • Cinematographers: Yao Hung-I
  • Editors: Yao Hung-I
  • Music: Armo Huang
  • Filmography: Debut Feature Film
  • Language: Taiwanese, Mandarin
  • Has Subtitles: Yes
  • Format: DCP
  • International Sales: Swallow Wings