bo (wu jing) travels to a small island, off hong kong, to kill and decapitate chairman ma (kau chim-man), a leader of a criminal gang who is hiding there. after carrying out his task, bo finds himself stuck on the island, as a monsoon warning has been issued and the ferry, that has just arrived, will not be leaving. what's worse, is that fat wing (lam suet) and a bunch of men frm ma's gang have just arrived on the island. bo's attempts to keep a low profile take a dent when he saves hiu wor (celina jade), a lady cop, from falling out of a tree. still, surely hanging out with a cop should be pretty safe...

so, yet another attempt by wu jing to fulfill the "next big thing" tag that he's been burdened with for the last thirteen years. he is, without a doubt, a very talented martial artist and, bless him, he does try. still, despite numerous, impressive supporting roles, he has never managed to carry a film on his own and take the next step in his career. i'm pretty sure i probably typed the same paragraph of text after watching 'fatal contact', which was a diabolical film, with outstanding fight sequences. 'legendary assassin' is a much better film, narrative wise - although it's still only mediocre, on that front, despite the vast improvement.

unfortunately, the action sequences are not up to the standard of 'fatal contact': although very watchable, they're wire heavy, tamer, less exciting than 'fatal contact', and nothing that your average teen idol, action star wannabe, couldn't pull off. a shame.

another wasted opportunity. maybe next time...