Still the best of the genre

Rating: 10/10 (18 March 2006)

Ying Xiong is a rare gem among WuXia (chinese historical kung-fu) movies. It has the perfect balance of all the elements: story, writing, acting, cinematography, visual effects, music etc. The only other movies of the genre that achieved this are Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon and House of Flying Daggers, and in my opinion Ying Xiong is the better of the three. All other movies in the genre are lacking in one or more of the elements, and especially lacking in the recent crop of big-budget WuXia movies are the story, writing and acting. More often than not, these movies concentrated too much on the visual effects, i.e. way too much CG with way too poor story and acting (e.g. Tsui Hark's Zu Warriors (2001), Wu Ji (The Promise 2005), Ching Din Dai Sing (Chinese Tall Story 2005)). But as exemplified perfectly in Ying Xiong, sometimes less is better than more. The spectacular and beautiful visual effects in Ying Xiong are perfectly in tune and blend in seamlessly with the rest of the movie, thus enhancing the overall experience instead of being jarring distractions like the CG used in so many other movies of the genre. But what's more important, the story in Ying Xiong has an elegance, gravity and nobility which is so seldom achieved in other movies of the genre. It's the result of mature writing and superb acting.