dangermousie | Reign of Assassins - delicious fighting fun (Reply)

(Nope, not spoilery pic)

Mr Mousie and I just finished watching the Chinese wuxia flick Reign of Assassins, starring Michelle Yeoh, Jung Woo Sung, Barbie Hsu (as a homicidal sexual maniac of all things) and a bunch of other people.

LOVED IT.

The story revolves around remains of kung-fu powerful monk. Supposedly possession of them is supposed to give you mystic powers and so everyone wants them. Our heroine, Drizzle (Michelle Yeoh) is someone who in most other stories would be a man - a weary swordfighter with a hidden past who wants to give up and not fight, but the world won't let her. She was one of the assassin sect who stole the remains from the previous owner, but she's had a change of heart since - she took and hid the remains, changed her name and face, moved to Nanjing, and now lives peacefully as a silk merchant. She has even gotten married to Ah Sheng, a good-natured man who doesn't have a drop of kungfu ability (Jung Woo Sung). Only - the assassin sect has finally tracked her down. Will she be able to fight them off? Redeem her karma? And maybe deal with the fact that her husband is not exactly all he seems?

Anyway, this movie is really really awesome, sort of like a wuxia Mr & Mrs Smith, only with characters I actually like. It has no pretentions to arthouse, but if a bit of fighting fun with awesome protagonists is what you are looking for, this may just be the flick for you.