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Sword of the Assassin (2012) is Vietnamese first wuxia movie based on the novel "Nguyen Trai-The Blood Letter volume (2) from author Bui Thanh Tuan that heavily inspired by the famous case of Le Chi Vien from the Le dynasty that set in an alternate timeline where we follow Nguyen Vu a made up descendant of the great scholar Nguyen Trai on his way to clear his family name. The reason why I want everyone to know that this movie based on a novel is because a lot of people said that this movie is just another copycat of every Wuxia movies ever existed and even worse plagiarism. Yes, the characters are generic and from the wire-fu fight scenes, anyone with the right head will know that this movie a pretty by the book Wuxia movie but there nothing wrong with pay homage to a genre that universally loved by anyone unless they claim their movie to be totally original. I enjoy this movie for what it is because from the technical standpoint the movie looks very impressive for a Vietnamese movie at that time and I would love to see more Vietnamese Wuxia movie in the future

To answer many viewers who thought "Sword of the Assassin" looks like of Chinese origin, it is because IT'S COPIED from Chinese origin. In Vietnam "Sword of the Assassin" is widely known to have plagiarized from several Chinese and Korean movies. This is the same movie called "Blood Letter" but the filmmakers switched the title to "Sword of the Assassin" after Vietnamese social media exposed the plagiarism. It's a big scandal in Vietnamese language media and social media. Some Vietnamese language links: Youtube video "Vietnamese American movie director plagiarize more movies"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7z0tYECq_ZA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7SGx04TL4SM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x0y8YdFddrM

Now you know the reason why everyone said how "Chinese" the movie is. Historical influence is no excuse for modern plagiarism, look at Korean movies they had same historical influence but didn't plagiarize and developed a unique Korean cinema. The director had a history of plagiarizing foreign movies and claiming author, particularly he was the first filmmaker investigated for plagiarism by Vietnamese cinema regulators and found to have plagiarized "Shattered"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WttzaJg2WdI

The Vietnamese subtitles in the "Sword of the Assassin" expose video say after the director was found guilty for plagiarizing "Shattered", he now copies from different movies and combine to make it harder for the public to find out original source.

... because the story is very bad. I mean, it starts out fine, but the characters are basically every other wuxia movie cliché, and then at the end the story devolves altogether into one hot mess and badly done CGI soup. Accusations of plagiarism aside, this movie is just not good at all.

Young Nguyen Vu (Huynh Dong) is brought to the home of a monk after his entire family is killed at the order of the Queen, Thai Hau (Van Trang), who suspects the Nguyen family of assassinating her husband who happened to have died while in their home. The monk trains young Nguyen Vu in wuxia (the Chinese type of martial arts that one sees in "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" - all floating through the air and walking up walls) and when he is old enough, tells him who he really is. This sets Nguyen Vu on the road to avenge his family's name; along the way, he meets Hoa Xuan (Mi Du) and her older sister Hoa Ha (Kim Hien), who have their own, very similar, reasons for wanting to destroy Thai Hau. They have many opponents, of course, including a bald-headed scar-faced man who appears to do Thai Hau's bidding but really is in league with another aspirant to the throne. And all of them are in search of the possibly non-existent blood letter, a letter written in blood by a dying eunuch who knew all the secrets of the royal household at the time of the Nguyen family's fall and the Queen's rise. How the two sisters and Nguyen Vu meet their challengers, and what fates await them, is all in God's hands, according to Nguyen Vu's mentor, but perhaps he can create some of his own fate....

This is Vietnam's first foray into the realm of epic historical martial arts film, and while there is little that is new here, there is much to enjoy. First of all, the storyline is fairly clean (as these films go, anyway) and, while derivative, the action sequences are extremely well executed. In addition, the beauty of the Vietnamese countryside is given ample scope - by turns lush and harsh, beautiful and treacherous, this is an absolutely stunning film visually. One finds oneself caught up in the story to the extent of cheering when the hero wins a fight and booing when the bad guys turn up. There are some terrific fantasy sequences thrown into the mix, as at the very beginning when a statue of a lion/dragon in the monk's courtyard comes to life and the monk must battle it to return it to its stone state, and towards the very end when Nguyen Vu finds himself battling his foe on a lake or river, gathering his strength for one last push against his oppressor. Even the evil Queen becomes somewhat more sympathetic towards the end, which I felt was a very nice, humanizing, touch. I wouldn't list this film among the very best of its kind, but I *would* buy it should it appear in DVD form in the future, as it was quite entertaining and very beautiful to look at.

How do you review a Martial Arts movie?

Essentially TMAH can be categorized as the first Vietnamese production to attempt a full-scale historical martial arts story.

And what is really enticing about historical martial arts stories? 1. Epic landscapes, historical beauty and dramatic costumes 2. Riveting Moralistic Story-plot of betrayal, revenge, love, justice, friendship, power and greed 3. Captivating sword and martial arts choreography and effects 4. Mesmerizing heroes and devastatingly evil villains

You could review it against the many successful mega-epic historically accurate and mesmerizing productions from the best of the world, or you could review it from the scope of what it achieved within the budget, storyline, execution and for the market it was made for.

I choose the latter.

Okay, so TMAH is not 'Ang Lee' beautiful or deep in its plot twists nor even as epic as many world-class mega-million dollar sword flick or martial arts productions out of Hong Kong, China, Korea or even Thailand studios of today. But, we have to keep in mind that Vietnam's post-war movie industry is still in its infancy. And for that it is simply inspiring!

And while I agree that the characters could have more depth in their acting, the landscapes and costumes could have had less of a Chinese influence, the plot could have been less expected, the heroes and villains expanded further plus the execution of the choreography more refined; the crux is TMAH is still a great watch simply because it had enough of all the elements to make it a great first foray.

All the leading and supporting characters give a good account of themselves without overacting, especially first time leading lady - Midu, who gave an impeccable performance as a young strong willed, sometimes temperamental but lovable sister seeking justice!

Even the extras look fully committed to their world. When the scenic shots hit the mark, they really are stunning. And there is enough creativity in the action choreography to leave you impressed. The effects could have been more polished but the music and sound effects unlike even some great epics, are beautiful and crisp. I am especially drawn to the double arrowed flying assassins!

Ultimately, is there room to improve? Definitely. But more importantly I sum up the entire movie as an epic milestone for Vietnamese film-making...and best of all, it can only get bigger, richer and better from here on.