Fantastic and bloody action sequences help this otherwise boring and useless wuxia that's a remake of an earlier Shaw Brothers film, which in turn was based on a story by Gu Long. Michelle Yeoh stars as Sister Ko, who raised Sing (Tony Leung Chiu-Wai) since he was a child and has fallen in love with him as an adult. Tough cookies for her, because Sing really loves the beautiful but useless Butterfly (Joey Wong). Meanwhile, Donnie Yen loves Sister Ko, but can’t tell her since he’s shy and a bit of a freak. All of them are trying to get a letter from bad guy Tsui Kam-Kong, all the while tending to their own soap opera lives.

Typical Hong Kong comedy and romantic subplots dominate this picture for long stretches of time, leading to either sleep or the urge to count ceiling tiles. When the action hits though, watch out! Ching Siu-Tung's choreography is over-the-top and sometimes laugh-inducing, but it's energetic and violent to great effect. This isn't an essential movie, but it's fun for those who like the stars or this sort of flying kung-fu extravaganza. Great at the grindhouse. (Kozo 1995)

image courtesy of Mei Ah Laser Disc Co., Ltd.