Mediocre box-office disaster, unrecognisably based on books 2 and 3 of Jin Yong's novel series. (Reportedly, this film did a great deal of damage to Gong Li's career.) Incoherently scripted, it also suffers from highly uninspired direction, cardboard characters and boring action sequences. Advertised as "having special effects like Dragonball (the animated Japanese manga)", which are less than convincing. A big disappointment.

[Reviewed by Iain Sinclair]