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Following on from Storm Riders and A Man Called Hero, this latest feast for the eyes from Andrew Lau sees Ekin Cheng once again as the hero. This time his adversary is Andy Lau. With perhaps a little less action than its two predecessors, The Duel focusses on the drama surrounding events in the days leading up to a duel between two master swordsmen.

When Holy Sword (Andy Lau) challenges Simon the Snow Blower (Ekin Cheng) to a duel on the roof of the Imperial Palace the imagination of the people is captured leading to much excitement and anticipation. Dragon 9, the emperor's secret agent is entrusted with choosing eight individuals worthy of witnessing such an event. However a couple of days before the duel there are some mysterious murders and Dragon 9 turns detective as tries to discover the identity of the killer.

The mood of the movie is much lighter than the other two with more comical asides included in the dialogue thus keeping it interesting in the long gaps between action scenes. Despite there being less actual fighting in this movie the action, when it comes, is quite thrilling and some of it rather beautifully put together. Andrew Lau is not afraid to try out new techniques and the opening scenes in particular contain some very interesting sequences reminiscent of the Matrix. When the duel finally does happen it is the special effects spectacle you would expect but with enough attention given to the swordplay.

Although Andy Lau and Ekin Cheng are the two biggest stars of the film, most of the screen time is given to the Dragon 9 character (don't know who plays him) as he tries to solve the mystery. Andy and Ekin just seem to pop in every now and again until the end of the film when the actual duel comes to the fore. Its this aspect that gives the film an air of originality in what is otherwise a pretty straightforward plot unfortunately their characters aren't really given that much opportunity to develop so come the end you don't really care that much which of them actually wins.

If you didn't enjoy Storm Riders or A Man Called Hero then you're unlikely to like this very much. For me it sits somewhere between the two (Storm Riders being the worst).

Rating 3 out of 5.

First of all,I like the movie because it has the beautiful Aliyahh and be cause it had good drama but the thing I hate about the movie are the mind boggling special effects,the wire work and the computer effects like Jet Li flying into the air and knocking nine guys with his feet then landing on the ground and also think why did they need computer enhancements when they already had wires.

Of all the kung fu movies that I have seen(And I seen a lot)this one has the most wire work,the Iron Monkey had balance as had The Matrix but this is still a decent kung-fu movie.

From a land where honor and tradition reign, comes the legend of a martial-arts hero unlike any other. The "Drunken Master" can turn just one drink into devastation and humiliation for his enemies. His technique is fast, furious . . . and powerfully funny. Jackie Chan, the world's biggest action star, mixes high-proof action with a twist of his trademark humor as the renowned Wong Fei-hong, the young master of the "drunken" fighting style. When Chan mixes up his luggage during a train trip, he finds himself at odds with evil foreigners trying to steal sacred imperial treasures.

Never before have such elaborate, acrobatic fight sequences been captured on film. As Jackie fights to save China's imperial past, he faces hundreds of ax-wielding villains, dodges fires, endures scalding coals - all with the charismatic style that made him famous.