If this is to be Jet Li's last martial arts epic he has signed off on a relative high note. It's not his greatest film but certainly worth a look for the fight scenes alone which manage to be both graceful and brutal in equal measure. The story is fairly basic and I get the feeling that some minor nuances are lost in translation to English.
Apart from the fight scenes where this film really scores is in showing the nature of those whose life is defined by combat. Overall this is a worthy effort and while it doesn't scale the heights of Hero it's certainly worth checking out for any fan of the genre.
Not quite up there with the best of its genre but an entertaining and thought provoking piece of martial arts cinema 7/10
Apart from the fight scenes where this film really scores is in showing the nature of those whose life is defined by combat. Overall this is a worthy effort and while it doesn't scale the heights of Hero it's certainly worth checking out for any fan of the genre.
Not quite up there with the best of its genre but an entertaining and thought provoking piece of martial arts cinema 7/10