Set in ancient China, Zeng Jing is a skilled assassin who finds herself in possession of a mystical Buddhist monk's remains. She begins a quest to return the remains to its rightful resting place, and thus places herself in mortal danger because a team of assassins is in a deadly pursuit to possess the remains which holds an ancient power-wielding secret.
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Reign of Assassins has a few things that elevate it above its wuxia peers. Chief among them its co-director John Woo, probably the most known Hong Kong action director of all time. And it shows. It is a beautiful film visually. The action scenes are lush, filled with detail, beautifully choreographed and easy to follow. The film is overall very well made from the technical point of view, including costuming, camera-work, et cetera.It also has Michelle Yeoh in the lead role, which is always a huge plus in my books. So why the relatively low rating? Well... it's been some weeks after I saw it, and I'm honestly struggling to remember the plot at all. Reading the plot summary helped, but the details still don't come. Which is strange, because the plot actually has some cool ideas and twists. But like with some other John Woo films, it honestly feels like the movie is going through motions, not really trying. There's no passion to it, no real originality aside from its technical quality.Or perhaps I just wasn't in the right mood to see a film that particular evening. Nevertheless, it's a movie worth seeing if you've liked Woo's other efforts or you're a fan of Yeoh. Or if you're just a wuxia fan, honestly. It's not the best example of the genre you've likely seen, but it has enough good things in it to please.
When I watched this movie I thought I would get another average martial arts flick with no story at all. But I was quite surprised; it had me entertained and gave me a few surprises. Especially the plot twist at the end. What I like a lot is the symbolism in the movie. Like the scenes with the rain were sweet and the stuff about karma. The characters weren't too boring or exaggerated. It was a nice touch to see one of the assassins have a wife and kid like a normal person. The fighting scenes were nicely choreographed. Overall it was an entertaining movie to watch.
The Dark Stone gang is tracing the remains of a Buddhist priest, because the rumour is that the person who owns those remains will rule over the kung fu world. One of the assassins kills the person who owns half of the corpse, and then makes off with it, thereby betraying her gang. She then meets Wisdom, a martial arts master turned monk, who teaches her that her deed was wrong; she therefore seeks a physician who can change her face for her, turning her into Zeng Jing (the lovely Michelle Yeoh). In her new identity, she becomes a fabric merchant in the big city, where she meets and falls in love with messenger Jiang A-sheng (Woo-sung Jung); soon they marry and appear to have a tranquil life together. But all is not as it seems; not only is Zeng Jing not who she says she is, but neither is Jiang A-sheng, and in the meantime her old gang, among others, continues to search for their erstwhile companion - and the remains of the monk....This 2010 film was Michelle Yeoh's first wuxia film since the acclaimed "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon," and she is as beautiful and graceful as ever, playing a rather complex character who is adept at hiding who she really is, yet capable of sincerely falling in love even when she's, perhaps first and foremost, a killer. The martial arts fights are amazing, but never silly-looking, and the supporting characters are all well-drawn, including a young woman brought into the gang to take Zeng Jing's place, a "magician" who uses both martial arts and magic to defeat his enemies, and the leader of the Dark Stone gang, a eunuch who wants nothing more than to be a "real man," yet who is more skilled a fighter then all of them. Must of this story takes place in city-scapes and at night, so we don't have the lovely landscapes sometimes seen in historical martial arts films, but with Yeoh illuminating the screen with her graceful presence, who needs mere trees and mountains?
The good: Story, casting, acting, characterization, and cinematography all top notch. The bad: The all frequent flash backs (not the remembering but 2nd or 3rd re-use of the same scene) killed some of the continuation for me. The event in the beginning was cut into shreds for me. The ugly: Some of the seemingly rehashed elements (even though they may not be), turned me off. Like the surgery reminds me of face-off: not the same technically but.. The fate/destiny and letting go piece a bit heavy handed.Still a 7
