User Reviews

I really enjoyed this movie and have to say its one of the best movies of this genre that I have seen in awhile.

The fight scenes were good, nothing that disregards the laws of physics and gravity too much. Quick action sequences, no shots that goes in slow motion and focuses on the flow of the hair kind of effects. The characters are so-so. I will not say that they are overly interesting but they don't distract from the story either.

The best part of the movie for me was how it actually caught me off guard. The plot twist actually made me laugh as I never saw it coming and I thought I have seen it all in martial art movies.

There are some parts that are funny some that are sexy. parts that are exciting and parts that are wholesome. I really recommend this movie. Don't let the rather formulaic and somewhat confusing opening throw you off. Its good :)

The Dark Stone gang is tracing the remains of a Buddhist priest, because the rumour is that the person who owns those remains will rule over the kung fu world. One of the assassins kills the person who owns half of the corpse, and then makes off with it, thereby betraying her gang. She then meets Wisdom, a martial arts master turned monk, who teaches her that her deed was wrong; she therefore seeks a physician who can change her face for her, turning her into Zeng Jing (the lovely Michelle Yeoh). In her new identity, she becomes a fabric merchant in the big city, where she meets and falls in love with messenger Jiang A-sheng (Woo-sung Jung); soon they marry and appear to have a tranquil life together. But all is not as it seems; not only is Zeng Jing not who she says she is, but neither is Jiang A-sheng, and in the meantime her old gang, among others, continues to search for their erstwhile companion - and the remains of the monk....

This 2010 film was Michelle Yeoh's first wuxia film since the acclaimed "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon," and she is as beautiful and graceful as ever, playing a rather complex character who is adept at hiding who she really is, yet capable of sincerely falling in love even when she's, perhaps first and foremost, a killer. The martial arts fights are amazing, but never silly-looking, and the supporting characters are all well-drawn, including a young woman brought into the gang to take Zeng Jing's place, a "magician" who uses both martial arts and magic to defeat his enemies, and the leader of the Dark Stone gang, a eunuch who wants nothing more than to be a "real man," yet who is more skilled a fighter then all of them. Must of this story takes place in city-scapes and at night, so we don't have the lovely landscapes sometimes seen in historical martial arts films, but with Yeoh illuminating the screen with her graceful presence, who needs mere trees and mountains?

Excellent wuxia pan with Yeoh in top form dramatically as well as in weapons work. It was refreshing to see the pan-Asian casting done for specifically appropriate characters and acting ability, but without much overt typecasting. Wang Xueqi anchors the film opposite Yeoh more than Jung perhaps, but in the best genre fashion the villains are given gradation and more complex motive and arc than one often sees in action film.

An initial introductory sequence put me off, with a lot of intermittent cinematography and freeze-frames on specific characters. Fortunately, this device is not repeated or characteristic. Kam's score is more understated than usual, and plays well with string accompaniment to the more tightly choreographed parts. Leon Dai's assassin styles and names himself after a Taoist Magician, which initially seemed too light. However, this changed quickly, and although he lent much color to later scenes the overall tone fit well.

It's got a very classic feel, applying wirework sparingly and focusing on the intertwined dialogue and motives of a large cast within the jiang hu milieu. The fights are intricate, concentrating on exotic weapons and styles, but mixing it up with some proxy fighting and concealed technique. It neatly avoids recently popular pitfalls such as overt cgi spectacle, massing sheer volumes of Mainland extras, or lingering on glamour shots of pecs and shimmering hair weaves. Instead, we get clearly delineated spaces for a series of crafted set pieces which fit into a whole - not something to be written around by committee. Hopefully, fans will respond and more filmmakers take notice.

Ten years ago, Lee Ang's "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" breathed new life into the 'wuxia' genre and opened up the world of Chinese cinema to mainstream Western audiences. Had "Reign of Assassins" arrived ten years earlier, it could have very well have achieved the same groundbreaking success as Lee Ang's classic, for make no mistake- this dazzling martial arts epic ranks among one of the best of its kind.

In writer/director Su Chao-Pin's ancient China- as told over an enchanting animated sequence- there are different sects of assassins after the ancient remains of a mystical Indian monk. Among the most deadly are a squad known as the Dark Stone, led by the formidable and distinctively raspy-voiced Wheel King (Wang Xueqi). Drizzle (Kelly Lin) is the most powerful member of the squad, but she has had enough of her life of killing and goes under the knife to emerge as Zeng Jing (Michelle Yeoh).

Just the names of the characters will do well to convince you that this is pure fantasy, but while the world may be make-believe, the characters within them are firmly grounded. Su's script takes its time in the first hour to set up the romance between Zeng Jing and messenger boy Jiang Ah-Sheng (Korean star Jung Woo-sung)- their courtship unfolding with a gentle touch of humour and more than a hint of the film's title - as well as their subsequent married life. Audiences waiting for some action will have to be a bit more patient, as Su wants his audience to get to know his characters well and gives them time to grow on you.

It is almost a good hour into the film by the time Wheel King and his gang of assassins- Lei Bin (Shawn Yue), the Magician (Leon Dai) and Zhan Qing (Barbie Hsu)- track down Zeng Jing on their quest to find the remains. Yet the care and attention to detail that Su pays to each one of his characters pays off beautifully in the second half. Refusing to cast his characters as black-and-white heroes and villains, Su gives each a back-story that blends slickly into the various circumstances the plot throws them into. And in between the balletic action choreographed by Hong Kong's Tung Wai, Su draws on the relationships among the various characters for some intriguing drama- especially the dynamics between Zeng Jing, Wheel King and his three fellow assassins.

It is this tight characterisation that holds the second half of the film together. While the plot in the first half may seem "Mr and Mrs Smith" simplistic in its portrayal of a married couple unaware of the other's past, the second half of the film is anything but. Unfolding with twists and turns, it builds on an engaging first hour to become even more absorbing, culminating in a breathtaking and ultimately touching emotional finish that reaffirms the power of love to overcome hatred and vengeance and self-sacrifice.

Though Su's film is heavy on drama, it also delivers on the action where it matters. Tung Wai avoids any pretentious visual effects in favour of old-school wire-ful swordplay in all its grace and poeticism- though he does use modern-day technology to throw in some nifty moves like bending swords and flying needles in slo-mo. The very first confrontation between Zeng and her enemies in her house is enough to set your pulse racing, and Tung Wai tops that with another equally, if not more, thrilling fight in her house later on and a two-way fight in an open courtyard. Su is less of a director of action films (his filmography reads the 2002 comedy "Better than Sex" and the 2006 horror film "Silk"), so the fact that the action sequences in here have turned out well must have been due in part to producer John Woo's participation as co-director.

Woo's involvement has also ensured the excellent cast assembled here. Michelle Yeoh's role in this film is a welcome return to form for the actress that has not had such a meaty role tailor-made for her since Lee Ang's "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon". Her natural beauty and elegance complements Zeng Jing's graceful assassin perfectly and serves as a good foil against co-star Jung Woo-sung's rugged handsomeness. Yeoh and Jung also share great chemistry, and it is firmly to their credit that the film ends on a deeply poignant note.

Like the best of its genre, "Reign of Assassins" has all the ingredients for a modern-day 'wuxia' classic- tight characterisation, compelling drama and exciting action topped with fantasy elements. Su Chao-pin and John Woo have created a genre classic ten years after Lee Ang's masterpiece and it is a thrilling and poignant experience worthy of the best martial arts epics.

Reign of Assassins is a delightfully well made wuxia movie which will offer those familiar with previous entries in the genre everything they would expect; from vibrant visuals to elegantly choreographed swordplay and the fair share of melodrama which has become an integral part of this genre. I won't dive into plot details because there aren't a whole lot of them for me spend here, the plot synopsis which is provided on this site and others should give any viewer a good idea about the movies proceedings.

Director Su Chao-Pin and veteran filmmaker John Woo exhibit considerable command when juggling the films tone between dramatic seriousness and lighthearted romance whilst ensuring smooth transitions between the two and creating an equilibrium between exposition and action with none overshadowing the other. Actress Michelle Yeoh remains as charismatic as ever while playing the lead role with confidence and effectiveness and contributes greatly to the movies more dramatic scenes.

Overall, fans and familiars of the genre are guaranteed a great time with Reign of Assassins, those who do not enjoy wuxias in general should steer clear of this one as well.

In the Ming Dynasty, there was a legend about the mystical powers of the missing remains of an Indian Buddhist monk that would be capable to heal anything and would become a great kung-fu fighter.

When the leader of the Dark Stone gang Cao Feng (Xueqi Wang) discovers that Prime Minister Zhang possesses half of the powerful remains, he sends a team of assassins to kill the minister and his son Zhang Renfeng (Xiaodong Guo). However, the skilled Xi Yu (Kelly Lin) flees with the remains and kills Renfeng, who fall off a bridge in a river. Then Xi Yu meets the monk Wisdom that advises her that she has four flaws fighting with her sword and she might be killed by Cao Feng that has trained her.

Xi Yu goes to the renowned plastic surgeon Dr. Li that changes her face and she decides to start a new life in a small village. She assumes the identity of Zeng Jing (Michelle Yeoh) and poses of merchant, and soon she marries the quiet and clumsy Jiang A-sheng (Woo-sung Jung). When there is a robbery in the local bank, Zeng Jing is forced to fight to protect her and her husband from being killed, disclosing her skills to Cao Feng. Now he sends Lei Bin (Shawn Yue), Lian Sheng (Leon Dai) and Ye Zhanqing (Barbie Hsu), who are his three best assassins, to retrieve the remains and kill Zeng Jing and her beloved husband.

The talented Michelle Yeoh is one of the most beautiful Chinese actresses and her movies are usually great. In "Jianyu", a.k.a. "Reign of Assassins", we have not only Michelle Yeoh, but also the hands of John Woo. The result is a great film of the genre, with predictable but not less engaging twists and a romantic conclusion.

The choreography of sword fights is breathtaking and the music score is wonderful. Fans of the genre will certainly adore the awarded "Jianyu". My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Reino dos Assassinos" ("Reign of the Assassins")

English Title: Reign Of Assassins Original Title: Jianyu Year: 2010 Country: China Language: Mandarin Genre: Action Director: Chao-Bin Su Writers: Chao-Bin Su Cast: Michelle Yeoh Woo-sung Jung Xueqi Wang Kelly Lin Shawn Yue Barbie Hsu Leon Dai Hee Ching Paw Yiyan Jiang Zonghan Li Xiaodong Guo Pace Wu Matt Wu Feixia Wu Rating: 7/10

My gut feeling after the first view of this film is mixed with some relief and a shred of disappointment. Last year, it was propagandized as a John Woo's work in order to infuse some incentive into this star-studded kung-fu film to conquer the local cinemas. Shamefully this trick stumbled quite severely as it was largely overshadowed by DETECTIVE DEE (2010) at the box office with the same release period (during Chinese National Day, October 2010).

Its reviews were generally favored though, which should be merited to Chao-Bin Su, the real man behind-the-wheel and whose previous director works SILK (2006) and BETTER THAN SEX (2002) have won him some reputation as a gifted and emerging Taiwan director.

As a Chinese, the fact is that we tend to be immune from domestic Kung-fu films much more than foreigners, because since our infancy, we haven been surrounding and tested by myriad films like these, so it is difficult to make a fuss about it unless there is truly something special in it.

So speaking of this film, in spite of that it has many plot holes which doesn't make sense (even in the time of Jiang Hu, to name a few, our heroine's initial motivation of stealing the half buddha body in the first place; the plausibility of face-lifting technology; the sudden intensifying kung-fu mastery of our hero, etc.), the film converges some genuine talent to entertain its audience, especially the dreamlike cinematography successfully builds a ruthless world of Jiang Hu as well as its innovative fighting design which embodies each main character their own personality.

The cast is solid for an action film, it's the first time since CROUCHING TIGER HIDDEN DRAGON (2000), Michelle Yeoh finally collected a decent leading role as a martial fighter, which is well-done too judging by the criterion of acting. I do have high expectation of her to take a leap in the upcoming Aung San Suu Kyi's bio-pic THE LADY (directed by Luc Besson).

To sum up, I am pleased to watch this film and sincerely hope Su will become a big name in the near future.

This review does not contain any spoilers.

As a born and bred Chinese, I have seen my share of Chinese Martial arts movies. The Reign of Assassins gave me the feeling of watching one of the great classics. It's story is not the most original, but it gives a nice background for the viewer to see the beautiful acting and action scenes. At times it's a love story at others a suspense flick with all the intrigue. The actors do a good job in conveying their emotions to the audience. Most of the characters get fleshed out, so your not only interested in the main characters. Story wise I have to say that some of the things were a bit confusing, but if you paid attention it all made sense.

The action scenes are plenty and well choreographed. The fighting was made believable, nothing was over the top. I especially liked how the action sometimes slows down just to show the viewer how things are done. This brings the action more to life and you actually notice all the small gestures the actors need to make in order to sway or dodge an attack.

Overall I liked the movie and I highly recommend fans of the genre to watch it. I surely enjoyed it.

A silly but fun John Woo Kung Fu special. Noble yet flawed heroes and villains. Michelle Yeoh at her dazzling best. Drizzling best. 😅

A fun watch for fans of old school martial arts with wires and floating jumps.

This is for sure a good movie to watch!!!

Maybe after Crouching Tiger.. this is a movie that I watched more than ones...

The action scenes are not too hyped.. and do not defy gravity...

The screenplay was well done

Plot of the movie was also well built and the characters keep opening up one after the other.

Of course there was age showing on Michelle but still she has that ability left in her to take up these roles and live to the expectations.

Definitely a good movie to watch..

The movie was filled with everything, action, romance, suspense. I laughed, I was in shock, at the edge of my seat. I cried, I cheered. I was very glad to see it to the end. For those that are fans of a good Asian flick..you will love it. It is worth every single dime!

I always enjoy movies set in the pan-Asian era because it makes the film classic. I appreciate the beauty of the Asian culture and it's depiction in the movie.

The actors played their parts very well and I look forward to watching more movies with the same cast or directors because they never disappoint!!!

Enjoy!!!

Reign of Assassins could be a sequel to international sensation 'Crouching Tigers, Hidden Dragon', also starring Michelle Yeoh. It has many elements which resemble to the story of CTHD. A untamed female warrior who was changed because of love reminds very much of phenomenal CTHD.

Over all movie is very entertaining, action sequences are very well choreographed. The suspense is well kept and story progresses with interest. However character development is weak. Chemistry between both leads could have been better. The romance which we see in the end could not blossom in the start. Perhaps Michelle Yeoh could have work on her passionate expressions. Rest of the cast did their job very well.

Cinematography and editing is good. It could be felt that an American handled much of movie's work as the story paces very fast even though it was set in old times. Added action has taken much of the movie's soul out which is common with John Woo's movies.

A good entertainer with blend of fast pacing story and brilliant wushu action.

The movie is simply awful. Hey, I understand that this genre supports people flying and other crazy things, but there are good movies in the genre out there. This one is just an embarrassment, probably one of the worst movies I've ever watched. The plot is too straightforward, no logic in people's actions, conversations are ridiculous. I mean, they hunt for some guy's remains, hide their identities, and at the same time discuss how it is better to air-dry noodles on a roof or how some powers will help a castrated guy grow his penis back! WTF??? I can imagine how much actors laughed while trying to say these things on camera with a serious face. Anyway, please spend your life on better things, cause this is garbage.

As the story goes, a group of assassins called Dark Stone, led by Wheel King (Wang Xueqi) has come into possession of half those remains, but Kelly Lin's Drizzle took flight with that and plenty of gold to become a fugitive of her own group – Leon Dai as The Magician, Shawn Yue as Lei Bin and new rookie Zhang Qing (Barbie Tsu) who had joined the team. In a Face/Off turn, she goes under the knife and now has the face of Michelle Yeoh (whoa!), living in disguise in the city, flying below the radar and effectively living the simple, ordinary life she yearns for, with absolutely no need for picking up the sword, though always kept handy at home just in case trouble comes knocking.

The pan-Asia A-list cast is something that will draw attention to the film, coming from Taiwan, Hong Kong, China and Korea. It's been some time since I last saw a wuxia film that featured a female swordsman as the lead, and being the anti-heroine at that as well. Starting off as a killer, Michelle Yeoh's Zeng Jing is unfortunately dubbed over, though I suspect for a valid reason that we'll have to live with in this film. In fact, more than one more character has voice issues that I cannot elaborate, and when revealed you'd start to wonder whether martial arts films can ever distance itself from that kind of villain from the courts, which is rather clichéd. Yeoh will undoubtedly bring comparisons with her other famous martial arts role from Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, although here Barbie Hsu's no Zhang Ziyi to steal that thunder or limelight, being cast as a psychotic nymphomaniac with a penchant to shed her clothes in the hope of climbing the power ladder (sorry guys, no nudity involved).

What shines in this film is the rich characterization beyond the usual one-dimensional characters in most martial arts flick, which gives the viewer a richer experience as we get emotionally invested in the plight of the characters. Everyone seems to want a way out of their usual kill or be killed drudgery, though it's one thing leaving the Jiang Hu altogether and retire, and another if you actually belong to a gang of bandits and assassins where your ex- buddies just won't leave you alone. The story allowed for any available screen time to pause for a while to present the other, ordinary side of the characters where we see their hopes and dreams, whether be it settling down, gaining some worldly possession.

I had initially wondered why Wang Xueqi was cast since he's an incredible actor but had little to do in the first half of the film other than to look mean and nasty, but then realized that you need an actor of gravitas to pull off what he did in the latter half of the film, which in the hands of a lesser actor could have been really comical. Instead he brought that sense of an obsessed man whose desperate for what's almost an impossible change or dream, which form the crux of all misery. The other actor to be admired here is Korean actor Jung Woo-sung who plays a courier and falls in love with Zeng Jing. Spending time to ensure he learns his Mandarin dialogue as accurately as possible so that when dubbed over it will look convincing, I will have to agree that he pulled it off, and his good looks fit right into this period piece with some surprises up the sleeve.

Action fans will have something to look forward to in the film, as it spends time crafting kinetically charged sword-fighting scenes which at times I felt the quick cuts didn't do those choreographed moves much justice. However everyone pretty much battles everyone else, which accentuates the good old wuxia adage of it being perfectly normal if self-preservation happens to be the order of the day. Throw in motivations of revenge, lust (though very subtle) and jealousy especially with two women characters sharing the same scene, we know we're in for a good time, especially when the story's kept tight and compact. Some wonderful set action pieces like the one in the bank and the disturbance at home all make for good entertainment, and clearly with John Woo absent from giving his two cents worth in these scenes (no slow motions if you get what I mean), though not always necessarily for the better as the quick cuts sometimes get in the way of appreciating the hard work gone behind the designing of such battles, which are wire-enhanced.

At its core Reign of Assassins is a romantic tale steeped in tragic irony, with martial arts film fans likely to lap up an out and out fantastical wuxia film. Almost all the characters have a past they want to cease remembering, and are harbouring plans for a new life sans violence. Love of course plays a part in the determination of this second chance, but this calls for sacrifice that we see once enemies now lovers have got to embrace as they decide to come clean with their feelings, alongside twists that get revealed especially in the final act.

Compared to Detective Dee this may not seem as epic nor groundbreaking in terms of offering something new to an audience, but it is essentially its sublime essence in knowing what's critical in a wuxia film and doing that well, at times giving you that feeling of having watched a classic martial arts film of old now remade with a stellar cast and knowing how best to appeal to a modern audience. Highly recommended and it powers its way into my shortlist at the end of the year as well.

A good movie with martial arts and a very confusing love story. The plot is quite tangled with betrayals, alliances and overly elaborate plans. The strong point, however, is certainly the fighting.

It's interesting to compare REIGN OF ASSASSINS (2010) with NINJA ASSASSIN (2009). Both are more than two decades old but still stand proud among newer entrants of the same genre.

1) both have powerful "boss" behind the scene. John Woo is the producer for ROA. The Wachowski brothers (before they became sisters) are the producers for NA; 2) both are their directors' 3rd work as director; 3) both are international collaboration. Main cast of ROA comprises China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and S Korea, while NA S Korea, Japan, Britain and US; 4) both contain well-choreographed or even spectacular fights. Wai Tung, one of the top action/stunt professionals in Hong Kong, is responsible for ROA, while a bunch of A-list martial artists in Hollywood are involved in NA.

5) both touch on, but don't go deeper into, culture conflict of some sort. It is egotistic killing against religion/Buddhism in ROA, and egotistic killing against Western/modern day humanitarianism in NA; 6) both plots include evil clan which kills without mercy, dreadful leader, rebellious protégé, chasing the traitor, unlikely ally, and end with the slaughter of that seemingly unbeatable leader.

The assassin master/leader in ROA has double identity and possesses grievance that almost warrants sympathy. This is a fairly intriguing angle to look at a "bad guy" who has his own sad story. Unfortunately the writer/director lays this layer in that character but doesn't paint any color to it. It's a pity that quite a few other opportunities to make ROA more dainty or opulent are also wasted.

I was dragged to watch this film, because I've never enjoyed Michelle Yeoh's works. It doesn't help that when the first dialog was spoken, it was in mandarin. I was like "OMG! How am i to last 2 hours in a mandarin movie? But this movie really surprised me... in a pleasant way :) The action sequence is one of the best I've seen since the 90s (!) The story build up is easy to follow, even though I hardly understand mandarin. The character development is very good, and this is rarely seen in Chinese sword-fighting flicks. Most sword-fighting flicks involved a hero, a villain, a goal, and loads of sword-fights between good and evil. In Reign of Assassins, viewers are treated with plenty of reasonable twists throughout the movie, enough depth into the lead characters for viewers to empathize with them, And of course, excellent choreography to make it into the action flick that it is meant to be.

To try to summarize the story without giving away the twists in the movie, will only serve to make the movie sound uninteresting. All i can say is, for those who is uncertain whether to watch this movie, should go ahead and watch it. I watched it on the big screen 9 times already... broke my personal record. That, i think, says a lot about how interesting this movie can be.

What first got my attention about this movie is the fact that Jung Woo-sung is in a Chinese movie with martial arts involved or wushu. Yeah "The Restless" sort of sucked which is a fantasy movie with sword fighting. But this movie is much better and Michelle Yeoh is also cool in this as well, actually she is badass. Woo-sung seemed to have really practiced Chinese for this role cause it sounds fluent. With just the intro to this movie you can tell what the style of this movie is going to be. The plot is ridiculous like other movies of this type of genre. About some powerful martial artist's remains giving super powers...Well basically lets you become the master of kung-fu and rule the martial arts world by having the remains of that dude. But I enjoyed the Asian comic book style of the movie, especially with the plot and characters. The plot isn't anything great it revolves around kung-fu, assassins, romance, and a dead corpse. What I liked is how almost every character in this movie stands out including the villains and each has important roles. On a negative note the plot is slow paced at times and would have been better if it picked up in certain parts. The fighting choreography however is entertaining to watch and for the most part you can actually see what is going on. Overall it's a kung-fu movie that is worth taking the time to watch, it even has some decent twist and turn in the plot.

7.8/10

Seriously I have not watched a martial art film that really touched me in a long time.

This movie is solid, very well made, not over exaggerating and pretentious like a lot of other Hong Kong martial art movies which I really appreciate. Storyline was smooth and fairly easy to follow, although there were a couple of plots which did not really make sense, but they could easily be overlooked. Most of the actors and actresses were at their best in my opinion, and the love story between the main characters was also believable.

All in all this is a movie worth watching, I would watch it a second time.

Fantasy, action, comedy, adventure. You know, after watching "Crouching Tiger" I got a rather prejudiced attitude towards this picture, because it was made in the same genre, called "mustache", but the viewing dispelled my premature bias, and here's my short opinion - an ordinary Chinese showdown. I looked at the picture very carefully, but, surprisingly, I found only one minus, which I will tell you about immediately after the pluses that brought your humble servant pleasure. At this point, let me finish with the preface and proceed to the analysis. So the pros: 1. The story told - an experienced killer from the clan decides to leave the past and start life from scratch, for this she changed her face and even married a good and kind person, but the past returns, forcing her to remember her former skills. History is replete with twists and turns, so how unexpected - decide for yourself. You shouldn't expect a brain explosion. It is not overloaded with unnecessary details, looks in one breath and does not have time to tire, although such pictures are not watched for the sake of a good story. For me, it turned out well. 2. Fighting is a big step forward compared to Crouching Tiger, where such scenes drove even more into the general anguish. Here you get pleasure from the contemplation of oriental martial arts. The cables are no longer visible, thank you very much. The skill, training and precision of movement are amazing. And the "fantasy" genre is built into the combat component here, and it looks harmonious, and pleases the eye even eleven years after its release. Fans of oriental martial arts - I definitely recommend to get acquainted! 3. Humor - this picture is a mixture of genres, and one of them is "comedy" - and it works, and much better than in the same "Crouching Tiger" (forgive me for comparing it so often with this picture, just and psychological trauma still bleed). The humor here turned out in the style of romantic comedies. He is funny, sometimes causing "Spanish shame" in the best sense of the word and a slight smile, sometimes turning into laughter. My compliments to the screenwriter! 4. Motivation of the main villain - at first I could not decide where to put this item, in the pros or cons, but settled on the first option, because his motivation is not so beaten to the point of losing his pulse, in some ways even funny. And if you think about the scene of the picture, it's even quite logical, although my first reaction to it was a wild fit of laughter. 5. Final - it is quite expected, the final fight was performed at a high level. What I especially liked was that the heroes are not immortal creatures, and they get injured. Fountains of blood should not be expected, everything is within normal limits. The ending is even touching in some ways. Minus. It concerns two scenario miscalculations that you think about only after watching this picture. Why were they allowed at all? After all, the story is not replete with heroes, and the locations are the same. A little about the main characters: 1. Zeng Jing performed by Michelle Yeoh - an experienced assassin of the clan, nicknamed "Rime", who has decided to break with the past. But the past has a habit of returning at the most unexpected moment. What can I say Michelle - progress, especially when compared with Crouching Tiger, there are emotions, there is concentration, strong character and skill. Continue to please me further. Well done! 2. Jiang Asheng performed by Jung Wesung is an ordinary guy who was able to win the heart and soul of Zeng. A kind soul who does not even suspect about the past of his beloved. Jungkook quite harmoniously blended into this role, and his ridiculous courtship was pretty amusing. 3. The leader of the clan, played by Wang Xueqi, is the leader of an honest company, from whom Hoarfrost escaped, obsessed with searching for some thing, which is why he does not notice obvious things. I already wrote about his motivation, so I see no reason to repeat myself. Wang looked quite convincing in this role. Unfortunately (or fortunately, it is not clear here), the film failed in the world box office, not even recouping the money spent, even taking into account its small budget. As a result, we have a good action movie with oriental martial arts, a good mixture of genres, good humor, very interesting characters and a good Chinese atmosphere.

I've never liked this type of film, but had expectations that this one would be different. Alas, it did not. Unreal combat scenes where the good guys always leave without a scratch, and the bad guys are left dead, or severely wounded at best. Not an entertaining storyline in sight, not a moral to take away home, nothing.

However, the rest of the audience seemed to enjoy it. Moreover, I saw it appear very high in the prize list from the public at the Rotterdam filmfestival 2011. Obviously, I miss something);-))

I can mention only one positive point, viz. the music during the non-combat scenes. As a music lover I found these very good, and supportive for the mood of the scenes it belonged to.

However, I did not hinder me from giving a 1 (lowest) as a score for the public prize of the Rotterdam filmfestival 2011 where I saw it. I suspect having been the only one, given the reactions of others during the screening, but I don't care.

Michelle Yeoh surely is the queen of the action genre - and when watching this movie you won't have any doubts as to why she is.

Many people will be quick to compare this film to previous wu xia or martial arts films - Crouching Tiger for one - which is one of my favourite films of all time. While I don't think it is better than CTHD, all these films are essentially different films with different stories and characters so it really depends on what you like in a film - hence I don't believe in the 'greatest film of all time' - it's up to you after all.

But I had a good time with this. I have to admit I thought there were too many characters and I got a bit confused as I was trying to keep up with who was who and all, but it is essentially a fun story about a group of assassins who are after the main gal (Yeoh) who wants to lead a normal life instead of one full of constant bloodshed. While this has elements of typical revenge elements, the film also has a sense of humour with some comedic moments, fantasy, romance and great fighting scenes.

However, I felt the film didn't have a consistent tone so it sort of switched too much for my liking. Was it trying to be a serious film about warriors hardships and their quest to feel human? That's what I thought it was then it sort of changed its tone to melodramatic which sometimes didn't work properly then to cheesy comedy. I think they put a lot into it.

Nevertheless, all the actors in here give a pretty good performance and Yeoh pulls it off with her physical abilities not to mention her charisma. The ending however, felt underdeveloped as I couldn't believe that is how it was with the guy and his attitude (that's all I'm saying - it changed very quickly!) That being all said, it is a well done film and certainly an enjoyable martial arts film that is probably more suited to those who didn't like the elusive emotions in CTHD (but I did) and hey, I don't mind a no brainer flick if it is done well - and this certainly is!