Tetsuo II: Body Hammer (1992)

Review by All Movie Guide
Awkward to evaluate in conventional sequel terms in light of the original, Tetsuo II: Body Hammer adheres to many of the same stylistic conventions, though it's notably diminished in ferocity by its attempts to bring coherence to the ambiguous story and characters, which viewers were previously left to define. It would have been impossible to make the same film twice, and thankfully this isn't what Tsukamoto has attempted in creating Tetsuo II, adding such nuances as the previously mentioned characterization and color, to varying and often satisfying results. Its themes of loss and fantasy-driven lust for revenge take the film in a new direction, in what is ultimately a reworking of the basic concepts of the first film rather than a sequel in the true definition of the word. Depending on viewers' attitudes towards coherent narrative structure and their desire to fully comprehend the action at all times, they may either hold Shinya Tsukamoto's substantially bigger-budgeted sequel in higher regard than its predecessor, or mourn the conventions that the original so fervidly abandoned. Tsukamoto would later combine the experimental bravado of his monochromatic original with a semi-coherent narrative structure in 1995 in the jarringly intense Tokyo Fist. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide