A brilliant storyline

Rating: 9/10 (25 February 2005)

The story is about four assassins that have the same goal: killing the king of Qing. The main theme of how three of the assassins were killed had been told three time in different versions. After each storytelling more complex information were revealed. In the first version the storyline was really simple, and the characters were rather simple, they seem not thinking a lot. However in the next storytelling, it gets more sophisticate, there was more emotional feeling on the characters and how they acted. The last version revealed the true story and more elements were added on this time. The end was sad but it reflected the main idea of the story. The fighting scenes were okay but a bit over exaggerated. In the scene of two guys trying to kill the King, they could well have done it by night and in a more silent manner rather than entering the palace beating hundreds of guards. The background music was fantastic, it suited the motion of film and backed the message that it is giving.