This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

Spoilers are all in the last-but-one paragraph.By Siu-Tung Ching, the director of the wonderful Chinese Ghost Story series, this one falls a long way short of CGS2 (an all-time great) but is well-made and a highly entertaining watch. It fails to be more through being too short to properly deal with the themes it raises, and by following too closely in the footsteps of Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, whereas it actually had more to say.Everything is good, especially the direction which never allows the pace to flag despite the disparate story elements. Donnie Chen is wisely restricted to what he does best – fighting. Kelly Chen is fine in her role, convincingly stern and authoritative when needed, softer when the chance arises. And the support cast, led by the excellently understated Leon Lai, do fine. Cinematography is great, the story largely makes sense (despite oddities like the balloon flight, blown by the wind but ending up where it started) and the script, in translation, was snappy and effective.Some people didn't like this because it's a mix of action and romance, with some more thoughtful scenes thrown in. It seems some are only satisfied by non-stop fighting, others by non-stop goo. This has no goo as such, just a few gentler scenes that allowed the affection of the two characters to be well-shown without it, scenes which didn't interrupt the main theme of a woman in a man's world, dealing with a challenging and improbable destiny.Spoilers follow. I liked that everything was sensible and realistic, no magic, running up bamboo stems or flying from roof to roof in this one. An example. On inheriting from her father (a king, not an emperor!) Feier is expected not only to rule, indeed not only to lead troops into battle (as Tamara of Georgia and many other historical female rulers have done). For some reason she must also become a great warrior. In so many martial arts films, a few days' training turns some zero into an invincible fighter. In this one she trains hard and becomes competent, but nothing more. I didn't like so much that themes were not followed through on. Examples. The romantic relationship is conveniently removed in what looks like a rather less sentimental homage to CTHD. And the results of Feier's act of mercy in battle are never shown. She is prepared to use violence when needed, both leading her troops and with her own hand against her personal enemy, but warrior-turned-doctor Lan Quan has taught her to seek other ways of resolving problems and the results of that lesson are never shown. At the end of the film she is thoroughly accepted by her own people, but the relationships with the other warring kingdoms are forgotten about.If you enjoyed either CTHD or CGS2, do not miss this one. You should enjoy it anyway – as long as you don't only like non-stop fighting or non-stop goo.

An epic tragedy of Shakespearean proportions, the movie is ultimately bogged down by simplistic dialogue and an unfortunate side of cheese.Kelly Chen is the princess of a kingdom under fire by a rival warring state. Her dad, the Emperor, is a battle-hardened field general who is mortally wounded after insisting on leading his troops in one last attack on their enemies. D'oh. Chen comes into power on the throne after the dead Emp's fave general (Donnie Yen) withdraws his right to rule and backs the chick. You don't have to be a genius to see what comes next. The other generals do not like this and refuse to support her. War within and without is brewing and the good guys are outnumbered.So Chen toughs it out and knuckles up, right? Nope.After a very short commitment to train as a warrior and lead her troops confidently (the people love her, despite the lack of confidence shown by the warmongers) she gets her ass kicked by a marauding party from the enemy state and ends up in an expatriate doctor's (Leon Lai) treehouse of healing. Love blossoms, right on cue. The doctor turns out to be the last of a cadre of badass swordsmen who disbanded long ago after being betrayed or the like. Donnie Yen is dismayed by all this, naturally. The rebelling generals strike and all kinds of tragic shenanigans ensue.If this all sounds very Zhang Yimou to you, then you're in the same boat as me. Apparently director Siu-tung Chin is a big fan of House of Flying Daggers and Curse of the Golden Flower. There's nothing wrong with that, of course. That's pretty good taste. However, the cheesy love music and simplistic script doesn't help matters one bit. It's a shame because the fights and battle scenes are quite the sight to behold. It's exciting stuff only made better by the presence of the superb Donnie Yen.This came very close to being a great films if it weren't for the pat philosophy on war and peace - separating everything into black and white. The love triangle is interesting in parts but Kelly Chen comes off as either cooing or coarse, with no in-between mode. The main thing that saves it from being another average-o-rama is Donnie Yen, the patron saint of physical destruction. Yen and his giant sword are a sight to behold in the finale and he continues to cement his place as an immortal tough guy. Too bad it was kinda sorta wasted in this kinda sorta disappointing movie. Don't let that stop you from watching it, though. It's still worth a look and very entertaining in parts.Maybe you'll get a kick out of the hokey slow motion shots of Kelly Chen and Leon Lai falling in love set to all kinds of sappy music.Or not.lMC

This movie was quite excellent and touched my heart. Fei Yang, the selfless young dame from Chinese royalty leaves her life of splendor just to meet her "prince". That, to me, is interesting and also romantic. Perhaps it was a stupid thing to do. As a Chinese, I certainly know how difficult it is for people in my culture to throw away their wealth just to be with someone that doesn't have anything other than their skills as an artisan. For all the Chinese people that I have met in life, wealth is their number one priority. It is touching to see a story where the characters yearn to live beyond the superficial. The story is actually a tragedy because at the end, Fei Yang must endure her life alone. All people that she loved, including here prince are killed in the war. This one made me cry.

WELL WORTH THE WATCH! Some may point out its flaws with reality, but that is not what the movie is about. It is an intense, well choreographed fantasy about feuding nations, betrayal, and the love story caught in the middle that almost all war movies have. The action scenes along with the amazing design details in the armor and weapons are what really makes the film. You will definitely not go wrong in watching this movie. The major critique that I have is that the love story seemed a bit weak and disconnected from the rest of the plot. They did attempt to incorporate it within the background of the characters, but it just moved too quick to really convince me.