Kung-fu costume drama with good acting but ridiculous martial arts

Rating: 7/10 (14 January 2001)

Don't know what I expected, really. I guess I was hoping for something like Kagemusha or the original Seven Samurai. But Kurosawa's gone, and Mifune too, and this is Chinese rather than Japanese, so one should probably be grateful for the good acting and lush location scenery that saved this otherwise absurd martial arts picture. People cannot walk up vertical walls and fly, even if they go to special monasteries to meditate. You want fantasy? Try, "Ladyhawke." Overblown, overrated and beyond the pale.