So I’ve never heard of this film before but apparently many people think that it’s a decent wuxia film and so I always have a weakness for the genre. Upon realizing the nature of the character played by Michelle Yeoh here, my wife immediately remarked that she seems to be too old to play a role like this. Little did we know that this whole project was specifically made to accommodate her. The producer wanted her in a new wuxia film but had no idea what to make and Su Chao-pin so is also the director wrote up this story.

Many martial artists and especially those of the Dark Stone gang of assassins are searching for the mummified remains of the legendary Indian monk Bodhi in the belief it can grant them power. They trace half of the remains to the family of Prime Minister Zhang and assassinate his family but their top assassin Drizzle runs away with the prize. However she is intercepted and reformed by a monk and decides to retire to an ordinary life after having a surgeon alter her face. Living as a cloth seller under the name of Zeng Jing, she gains the attention of a poor messenger Ah Sheng who is determined to woo her. Though at first doubtful that she deserves redemption after all that she has done, she eventually relents and they marry. For a while they live a happy life but naturally the past catches up on them when a criminal gang raids a bank when they happen to be inside and Zeng Jing reveals her martial arts in order to save both of their lives. The Dark Stone has not given up on acquiring the remains of the monk and their leader, the Wheel King, has his own reasons for wanting them.

Directorial credit for this film goes to both newcomer Su Chao-pin and veteran John Woo so it’s a little difficult to understand how the balance of responsibilities falls between the two. Certainly this is a competently made film with decent fight choreography but it is a big step down compared to the sheer beauty and epic scale of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, the last wuxia film Michelle Yeoh appeared in before this. The film seems intent on having a large cast of characters, each with visually unique fighting styles and that always looks cool. However it is evident that the story suffers for trying to accommodate all those characters and it is especially grating to see how Michelle Yeoh and the male lead the South Korean Jung Woo-sung out-act everyone else. Barbie Hsu and Shawn Yue in particular have so little weight on screen that it feels like they belong in a different type of film entirely. It’s no wonder that some critics have called this film schizophrenic. The tragic nature of the relationship between Zeng Jing and Ah Seng contrasts badly with the zany silliness of the Magician character while the Wheel King character feels like a throwback to 1980s-era Hong Kong films.

There is a core of good writing in here but the execution of it is just all over the place. The beginning of the film lays out the premise as an exposition that is so fast paced that there is no dramatic weight in any of the scenes. Yet that includes the murder of Prime Minister Zhang’s family and Drizzle’s encounter with the wise monk, hugely significant events that feel underserved by how the narrative just skirts over them. Similarly the Wheel King may have an interesting motive for wanting to obtain the remains for himself but then his story should have been developed in parallel with that of the main characters, not dumped in a single shot near the end. Meanwhile the film wastes time with trite stories of the other Dark Stone gang members. The fateful twist in the film is something that everyone would have seen coming so what’s the point of handling it as if it were some kind of big surprise? It’s very evident that this is the work of a very inexperienced director.

All told, between the main story and the competent fight scenes, this still rates as an above average, watchable wuxia film but on the whole this is nothing special at all and it’s a little sad that they had to drag Michelle Yeoh out to make something like this especially as this looks like it had to be made on a limited budget. As wuxia films are Asia’s version of superhero films, you really want to go big and look great or else there’s little point in it.