Noble Lady Michelle Yeoh is the greatest martial artist in the land. When an evil eunuch starts a revolt against the Emperor, she sends Tony Leung, whom she secretly loves, as a spy into his forces. Between battles, she makes fun of Leung's pregnant girlfriend, Joey Wang, and fails to notice that the grumpy emissary from the Emperor, Ka-Ting Lee loves her.
I came to enjoy Chinese martial arts films through the wonderful comedies of Jackie Chan, and later, Steven Chow. At first I thought that the unlikely stuntwork of the straight martial arts films was ridiculous, but I have come to appreciate the better ones for their fantastic, balletic fight choreography. Alas, the poorer fights are often stupid exercises in wire work. This one has some great, balletic sequences, like Miss Yeoh fighting the enemy forces in a bamboo forest, and some crude examples of wirework fights. The movie tries to offer a story of requited and unrequited love, but while the Miss Wang is quite funny, the capable Leung and Miss Yeoh are not given much to do in the way of acting.
I came to enjoy Chinese martial arts films through the wonderful comedies of Jackie Chan, and later, Steven Chow. At first I thought that the unlikely stuntwork of the straight martial arts films was ridiculous, but I have come to appreciate the better ones for their fantastic, balletic fight choreography. Alas, the poorer fights are often stupid exercises in wire work. This one has some great, balletic sequences, like Miss Yeoh fighting the enemy forces in a bamboo forest, and some crude examples of wirework fights. The movie tries to offer a story of requited and unrequited love, but while the Miss Wang is quite funny, the capable Leung and Miss Yeoh are not given much to do in the way of acting.