Jiu er shen diao zhi: Chi xin qing chang jian

If someone would ever ask me what would happen if a Fleischer cartoon from the 1930's was mixed up with a Hong Kong wuxia film, I would have the perfect example with this one.

The plot is very unimportant to this succession of bizarre visual gags. The film is partially shot in Alaska on a beached ferry boat far from water! Characters jump on horses just to go 15 feet. A giant 10 foot frying pan is pulled out of nowhere during a fight. Just plain strange.

This is a great film to watch with friends for the sheer craziness of it. The story is baffling and the main characters are about as vapid as one can get from an HK film. The swordwork is nothing special, everything is about the weird spectacle that sprung out of the mind of Corey Yuen.

first things first-if you are expecting a sequel to part one you will feel very let down. why they used the title i don't know. it's actually a fantasy comedy. it features andy lau's character plus a godson and his grandfather. andy constantly dreams of a secret lover and seeks her in real life. this is just an excuse for lots of silly over the top humour and a small amount of martial arts. the film is actually very inventive and if you approach it expecting nothing to do with the first film you should be happy.

Okay, so you saw Silver Fox with his shaky sword and enjoyed the surreal, over-the-top fantasy action of Saviour of the Soul so felt your heart skip a beat on discovering a sequel. Worse: you rent/download/buy/borrow/steal/whatever a copy and sit down in a good mood to kick back and watch some sword-play kung fu in which men jump over mountains and trap each other inside of mirrors and whatnot.

NOW STOP.

Seriously, eject that disc and use it as a frisbee or something - it really is all that thing is good for.

This film should have come with a warning sign: watching this crap seriously damages your mental health - it's that bad. I managed ten minutes on my third attempt but had to turn this pile of festering dog turd off when some middle-aged dude pulled out a giant frying pan and started coshing the Batman and Robin wannabes about with it as if it was perfectly normal breakfast etiquette.

Avoid this like the plague or it'll blight your memory of the bona fide Saviour of the Soul forever.