potidaean

Though clearly shot for TV, the packaged 2CD set I rented was still fantastic for all the action. Generally, such detailed fight choreography is rare for the small screen. They squeeze down 10+ hours to a mere 3.5 in the CD version, so the plot doesn't make too much sense. But it just means that the fighting comes more often. And with Donnie Yen at the action helm, you know it's quality.

If you are looking for good acting, logical events, maybe even a good romance story, then give this a pass. This is driven mainly by one-dimensional ideals of loyalty, family, revenge, and testosterone. But if you're a huge kung-fu fan and love typical HK TV plot lines, then this is definitely worth a watch!

One of the most moronic HK films ever. Even the original Cantonese dialogue is horrendous. The hero is dull and the love interest is excessively annoying.

The gunplay is also ridiculous, filled with scenes where 10 gunmen miss the 2 heroes despite them being out in the open. In John Woo movies (The Killer, Hard Boiled), the heroes at least pretend to hide behind something. There's also one scene that has to be seen to be believed. A bad guy shoots a bazooka, and we see the missile come out. Then the explosion happens *behind* the target, as though it magically passed through. I can suspend belief for action films, but this is just sloppy choreography.

The martial arts is okay, but overemphasizes flashy acrobatics over real fighting or tactics. The lead actor seems talented enough, but is wasted in this action fluff. I would only recommend this movie if you've seen every other HK action movie already.

3/10

Basically, the writers and John Woo decided that the audience is dumb enough to accept the overwhelming number of plotholes, moronic bad guys, cliches, and logical jumps. Even the action is uninspired by Woo movie standards. Just stay away from this movie.