From Hark Tsui, the director and producer of Inspector Dee, and countless others, and featuring Jet Li, whose IMDB profile lists 45 movies, this movie has its moments. After all these years, I’m surprised to see new weapons like the daggers with hooks that cause them to spin around and fly off in new directions, often pulling out another dagger, sending both flying. Or swords that shatter into spinning boomerangs. Like Inspector Dee, FSDG features several very interesting looking actors — compelling figures. I especially enjoyed the Tartars or Mongols (identified as both) whose faces are covered with tattoos. As in many of these films, there may be more powerful females than males, certainly no fewer. And lovers are brooding and doomed to separation. If you think two guys sword-fighting inside a tornado must be the end, there’s another half hour after that, with a few surprises, even. Not that I’m recommending this movie.
Flying Swords of Dragon Gate (2011) – IMDb
Set three years after Dragon Inn, innkeeper Jade has disappeared and a new inn has risen from the ashes – one that’s staffed by marauders masquerading as law-abiding citizens, who hope to unearth the fabled lost city buried in the desert.
Director: Hark Tsui