The Lost Bladesman

This film, based on a story from the 'Romance of the Three Kingdoms' opens with warlord Cao Cao attending the funeral of Guan Yu. The action then moves back twenty years; it is a time of conflict. Guan Yu has been separated from his brother and is serving Cao Cao. During a battle he slays a senior general of Cao Cao's enemy and is later tasked with escorting his sister-in-law through hostile territory; people have been ordered not to stop them but this order is frequently flouted and Guan faces many battles.

Not knowing the original story I can't say how well this film captures its essence. As a piece of entertainment I found it to be pretty good. The story isn't too complex... a good thing given that the subtitles on my DVD were quite hard to read (small and often white on a pale background). Guan moves from one action set piece to the next; each is exciting and well-choreographed. They could have felt repetitive but the action was varied. Donnie Yen does a fine job as Guan and Jiang Wen impresses as Cao Cao, Sun Li also impresses as Qilan, Guan's sister in law/ potential love interest. Overall I'd recommend this to fans of Chinese historical action films.