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Review

Zhang Yimou’s sumptuous follow-up to the terrific Hero is an even more ambitious entry in the resurgent Wuxia genre, a visually intoxicating and emotionally rapturous epic of honor, thieves, chivalry and forbidden love that, alas, is both a step forward and a step back for the filmmaker. Set in 859AD during the decline of China’s Tang Dynasty, the story follows Mei (Ziyi), a mysterious and stunningly beautiful blind dancer who is suspected of being the new leader of the House of Flying Daggers, a secret society whose members steal from the rich and give to the poor — much to the ire of the corrupt government and its deputies. Two local captains, Leo (Lau) and Jin (Kaneshiro), are ordered to capture Mei, but as their hunt progresses and their scheme to entrap her gets ever more complicated, allegiances shift and the true identities of lovers, assassins and double agents are gradually revealed. Though its labyrinthine plot is a bit too convoluted for its own good, Yimou’s exquisitely composed images are a vibrant burst of glorious rainbow colors, intricately detailed sets and breathtaking locations. The tense, tightly choreographed and gravity-defying fight sequences have an ethereal balletic quality, blending astonishing aerial wire-work stunts and awesome digital effects with a fairer balance and verisimilitude then in Hero — which, despite its loftier themes, was too often cluttered by a relentless barrage of hokey CGI effects. Not quite a Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, but certainly a worthy companion piece. (Mandarin with English subtitles)

 -- Steven D. Segal