During China's Ming Dynasty his eunuchs have assumed considerable power with one running the East and West Bureaus which act as spies and the nations strict police; they also don't want the emperor to know that they are corrupt. During an operation to crack down on those who would expose them the head of the East Bureau is killed by Zhao Huai'an. Meanwhile the emperor's chief concubine has had the West Bureau execute three courtesans who got pregnant and ordered them to hunt down a fourth. This fourth one is about to be killed but is rescued by somebody claiming to be Zhao Huai'an; this is witnessed by the real Zhao. The fake Zhao and the courtesan head to the Dragon Gate in where they hope to wait out an approaching sandstorm. There are many others there drawn by a legend which says that a city, with lots of treasure, will be uncovered during such a sandstorm. By the time the storm arrives the West Bureau has arrived, there is also a man who looks almost identical to its leader; a group of Mongols and various bandits… conflict is inevitable and when it comes things get confusing at times.As this film got underway I quickly prepared to be disappointed as the opening scene featured some very obvious CGI… thankfully after that things improved somewhat and the effects towards the end where much better. The story was a little confusing at times with a large cast of characters, some of whom look identical… ultimately this doesn't matter too much as we can tell who the main characters are except when there is deliberate confusion. There is plenty of solid action which fans of Wuxia style fighting are likely to enjoy. The cast, which includes Jet Li, does a fine job. Overall this isn't a classic of the genre but it is still well worth watching.These comments are based on watching the film in Mandarin with English subtitles; an English dub is also available but I can't comment on its quality.

I find this film much better than the original. In the original the fights were too weak and fake. Here the fights have more power, although the one in the Cyclone was weakened by not so good special effects. Still I must completely disagree with a reviewer who almost destroyed this movie with his comment about too many special effects. "Thanks" to him I was imagining something terrible and I am glad to have watched the film! I think who saw the "New Dragon Inn" will enjoy this film more, because he will know some of the story, and of the Characters. There are better films of course, but this is a good movie and absolutely deserves to be watched, if you like intrigue and martial arts. Characters are good, the plot is not great but IMO better than in the original, and the style of fights, even if not the best, is for me better than in the original, because more appropriate to what I started to like since when I watched Hero. I would give it 7.5 if I could.

Following Dragon Inn this film takes visual effects so freaking far that they overshadow and ruin the majority of all fights scenes in the movie. I love movies like House of Flying Daggers, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, and classics like Enter the Dragon. This has none of the redeeming qualities of those movies. I watched this mainly because of Jet Li's presence in the cast, and sadly that didn't help. His fights are also injected with too much CGI, and over done wire effects. I would have hoped he would pick a better film to make his return into wushu epics. I will go watch Hero or Fearless now to wipe my mind of this general bs. Overall 5/10 and I will, sad to say, not be buying this on bluray or DVD. What a disappointment.

Raymond Lee is credited as the director of one of my favourite Hong Kong Wuxia film NEW DRAGON GATE INN (1992, a 9/10), but the real puppeteer is the producer Hark Tsui, the godfather figure in the heyday of Hong Kong Kung Fu sensation during 80s and 90s. So nearly 20 years later, when he decided to make a sequel of the original film, with a pristine cast (top- billed by Jet Li, Xun Zhou, Kun Chen and an assemblage of domestic celebrities from mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan), my expectation was quite high (as I rarely watch any Chinese films now), also Tsui's previous detective-action big-budgeted vehicle DETECTIVE DEE AND THE MYSTERY OF THE PHANTOM FLAME (2010, a 7/10) has somewhat rescued him from his career ennui since the millennium, so god forgives me if I hadn't prepared for the worst, and this film is an utter disaster. The storyline has never been at least fluent enough to let the audience know what is happening and the reactions ignited by various plots are beyond any possible interrelations, so at most 45 minutes later, I cannot care less about the story and I believe I am not the only one. The cast is quite awful, Jet Li is too old to resurrect Tony Leung Ka Fai's original role and Li is literally only 5 years younger, so basically it's just a strategy for the sake of the action part, and every earth man knows Li is not a talented actor besides his Chinese Kung Fu. So as gifted as Xun Zhou, their emotional interaction is for naught. The only saving grace if one must pick is Kun Chen, who has two different roles (including the unexplained doppelgänger in the dramatis personae), at least leaves some vague impression in the shattered hotchpotch of direly fake CGI effects in the desert, a treasure-hunting chicanery and many other ridiculous and incoherent twists.Gosh, I have already dwindled my quota of Chinese films each year to the maximum of 5, and this megalomaniac film could have successfully grabbed tons of money in the box office during the Spring Festival season does baffle me so much, is the market really so parched that poor audience would simply take anything would quench their thirst no matter how illogically laughable the quality. I feel so worried and upset towards the future of Chinese film ground, the scale of cinemas is enlarging day by day but basically is where tasteless garbages consecutively reside.