Review courtesy of Hong Kong Superstars (www.hksmag.co.uk)

This is the biggest cinematic hit of recent times in Hong Kong taking something in the region of HK$30 million at the box office. This is still a relative disappointment though as the "related" film "The Stormriders" (1998) took over HK$40 million (I say related because a large percentage of the cast and crew worked on both films and their style isn't dissimilar).

It is indeed a star-studded cast : Ekin Cheng ("Young And Dangerous") , Shu Qi ("Gorgeous") , Nicholas Tse ("Gen-X Cops") , Francis Ng ("Bullets Over Summer") , Yuen Biao ("Dragons Forever") , Anthony Wong ("Beast Cops") , Elvis Tsui ("Sex And Zen II") and the UK's Jude Poyer ("Hitman") all feature. The film is sumptuously shot by Director Andrew Lau ("Young And Dangerous") and there are more special effects shots than you can count on your fingers and your toes put together.

Sounds like a good film right ? Considering all the talent that was behind as well as in front of the camera and the obviously huge - in Hong Kong terms at least - budget this rates as a major disappointment. There are a lot of positive things that can be said for it but sadly the script (not so much in terms of dialogue but rather in terms of its structure) hangs around the ankle of this film like a ball and chain constantly bringing it down - there is also the matter of the special effects.....

I can't say that they are technically bad because they are not - they are very good by Hong Kong standards. How can I put this ? If I didn't know better I'd swear someone had spiked the special effects department's food with some mind-altering substances.

I've nothing against effects heavy pictures when the effects serve their purpose (to aid the telling of the story) but in this case the weight of effects swamps the picture and exacerbates the negative aspects of a less than ideal script. To rip a line from "Jurassic Park" - they were so excited by the idea that they could that they did not stop to think whether they should !

I don't want it to seem like I'm totally down on this film so here are some good points - you get to see a swordfight between Anthony Wong & Francis Ng which isn't something I thought I'd ever see in a film (a gunfight yes but not a swordfight). Also one of the characters wears a mask that looks like it would be equally at home in a Japanese wrestling ring (that's a good point to me anyway).

Before I sign off let me recount to you the silliest moment in the entire film - Hero (Ekin Cheng) meets his son (Nicholas Tse) after a great many years and they have quick chat on a rooftop before Hero flies away to the moon (literally) in a single bound. You have to see this film if only to see that one scene - it is a true unintentional comedy classic.
A lot of people liked it (HK$30 million isn't chump change) but I'm sorry to say that for me it had the words "This should have been good but wasn't" written through it like a stick of Blackpool rock !