Yi tian tu long ji: Mo jiao jiao zhu

What initially seems to follow the classic path of seeking revenge, gradually and somewhat indistinctly shifts into a "political" battle, confronting the main characters with love, and the story is occasionally lightened with coarse humor. However, the director's lazy work, relying on the power of digital effects (which, by the way, look like they're from an amateurish school or the 1970s), and "flying ropes" cannot be masked even by the pseudo-cool visual aspect, which, besides the aforementioned digital tricks, utilizes an incredibly chaotic camera. The "extended" (I hesitate to call them "slow-motion") shots are everywhere, just like the flashy low-angle shots, which were meant to add more style to the characters but likely would have fulfilled their function better if the fight scenes weren't so frantically edited. In this way, the protagonists not only lack style but also some fighting charisma because, at times, you can't even tell which side has the upper hand in the whole mess. It all ends up as a terrible bore, from which not even a joke about Jet Li's erection could rescue the film, and that hardly needs any further explanation. (06.09.2005)