I have to admit that I'm not a big martial arts fan, so I guess I'm well and truly in the minority on this movie's comment pages.
That's not to say I didn't like this film. It was entertaining, and, even when he isn't fighting, Jet Li possesses a dignified screen presence that many of his counterparts lack. There is also some admirable cinematography, and a couple of good fight scenes (a semi-comic blindfold fight, and the superb climactic fight).
However, this movie contains the same defects that all movies of this genre possess: comic book characterisation, simplistic storyline and worst of all horrendous dubbing. The first two I can live with, but the dubbing had me squirming in my seat it was so terrible. I don't know, perhaps subtitles aren't appropriate for the type of viewer this movie attracts and that's not meant to offend, I merely mean that most fans presumably view these flicks to see the fight scenes but that's no excuse for making such a shoddy job of the dubbing. The dialogue is straight from a seven-year-old's story book, and the acting of the dubbers(?) is truly atrocious. Perhaps if the producers worked a little harder on this aspect of their movies they would appeal to an even wider audience.
That's not to say I didn't like this film. It was entertaining, and, even when he isn't fighting, Jet Li possesses a dignified screen presence that many of his counterparts lack. There is also some admirable cinematography, and a couple of good fight scenes (a semi-comic blindfold fight, and the superb climactic fight).
However, this movie contains the same defects that all movies of this genre possess: comic book characterisation, simplistic storyline and worst of all horrendous dubbing. The first two I can live with, but the dubbing had me squirming in my seat it was so terrible. I don't know, perhaps subtitles aren't appropriate for the type of viewer this movie attracts and that's not meant to offend, I merely mean that most fans presumably view these flicks to see the fight scenes but that's no excuse for making such a shoddy job of the dubbing. The dialogue is straight from a seven-year-old's story book, and the acting of the dubbers(?) is truly atrocious. Perhaps if the producers worked a little harder on this aspect of their movies they would appeal to an even wider audience.