FeistyUpper If you don't like this, we can't be friends.

FuzzyTagz If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

Humaira Grant It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

Kaydan Christian A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

Yashua Kimbrough (jimniexperience) Plot Summary:Donnie Yen is living in a small village working for a paper mill. One day two notorious thieves show up to rob the place, and Donnie Yen ends up killing them. This prompts an investigation led by Kaneshiro, a detective whom doesn't emphasize with humanity and suppresses his feelings through acupuncture.After days of digging Kaneshiro dicovers Donnie Yen is from a family of assassins called 72 Dragons, and is wanted for the murder of a butcher's family. Donnie en has been in hiding for 10 years and has settled down with married life. But after rumors spread of his resurgance, the 72 Dragons want their son back.Because the Detective put both his family and the village in danger, he decides to help Donnie Yen capture the Dragons. They have a final showdown inside his village home when they both succeed in taking down the Dragon Leader, Papa Dragon. ---------------------------- Film pays homage to History of Violence, and The One-Armed Swordsman

MikaOznam Wuxia(pronounced woo-shee-ah)is a genre label of Chinese fiction about the trials and tribulation of martial artists in ancient China. Often Loners, they serve no master, and may hide behind a notorious past which must come to a head at one point so as to realign the universal elements within.Think along the thematic of Eastwood's spaghetti western but far more sublime than that.This is a remarkable cinematic journey - so far, one i took four times with each sitting revealing a deeper message about our own inner struggle with our duality of light and darknessDonnie Yen is a wonderful and very subtle actor. He's got acting chops and even without the choreographed martial arts, he's a delight to watch. Once of his best performance. In this movie, he's the karmic WuxiaTakeshi Kaneshiro, another fine Asian actor, plays the perfect foil, a prefecture detective of the scientific and logical mind caught between his own self righteousness and his admittance that there is no such thing as good men. He's the catalyst to the storm ahead. I've read most of the reviews posted and they are all excellent.All i can add to them is the finale, a brutal battle royal between the head "demon" of the clan and his offspring no longer under his spell, is simply epic and unforgettable and will surely have your heart pounding on an adrenaline high till the denouement. One of the few movies IMHO that deserve a 10

Ben Larson Remember Tom Stall in A History of Violence. You'll see the same thing repeated here.A quiet family man Liu (Donnie Yen) unflinchingly vanquishes two dangerous robbers and kills them. Who is this guy? What secrets are buried in his past.The government sends in a detective (Takeshi Kaneshiro) to investigate.The methodical investigation, which includes autopsy, reconstruction and other scientific methods is fascinating. The investigator is convinced there is more than meets the eye.A History of Violence with some Sherlock Holmes and CSI. An interesting film with beautiful cinematography. Not your daddy's martial arts.

thegunslinger95842 This is not a detailed review, and I am not going to speak to the cultural differences between American story-telling and the various differences which can be found in foreign films generally.This movie has some very Chinese cultural approaches which I appreciate for their differences from the standard American approach.There are many significant themes present in this film. The primary theme is that redemption from past transgressions is never free and can be very expensive.The overall plot and storyline of the movie brought to mind: "Les Miserables", Victor Hugo; and "Crime and Punishment", Fyodor Dostoyevsky.The cinematography reminded me of "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon". Beautifully done.The martial fight scenes were excellently choreographed and very exciting to watch.The language is Chinese with subtitles, However, when I finished viewing the movie, I actually had to ask myself if there were subtitles because they were totally unobtrusive to the film or spoken dialogue.The story is taken from the point of view of a detective investigating the death of two criminals when they attempted a robbery and murder of the shop-keepers in a small town. The detective is the primary story-teller, and also, the narrator for transitions between scenes. The transition from scene to scene is almost totally seamless to the extent that there is no noticeable break.During his investigation of the two deaths, the detective suspects that the hero of the story is not a common laborer, but highly trained in the martial arts. The story centers on his relentless pursuit of the truth regardless of the consequences to the families and community.I classify this film in the same category of the best Chinese films released in recent years: "Hero", "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon", and others I have watched.The only surprise for me was that I haven't found it nominated or receiving any awards in the foreign film category.Respectfully, MJR