Cast Member: Yuen Bun

O Sing-Pui cooks up a stew of heavy-handed comedy, eroticism, romance and horror to send everyone home happy.

‘Heroes Shed No Tears’ is the kind of complex swordplay film that was attempted after the demise of the Shaw Brothers movie making empire, but often lacked the skilled control that Chor Yuen offered.

If they’d actually bothered to spend some time on the script or even just made a more likeable leading character, ‘Looking For Jackie’ could have been a half decent underdog story.

The real draw, and the skill of Chor Yuen, is to make an ensemble of eccentrics, oddball antagonists and superheroes appealing and a means of covering up the unapologetic holes in the narrative.

There’s therefore much to recommend this superior sequel, a film that takes the best elements of the original and invites viewers to contemplate a message beyond the common expectations of the genre.

It may be a routine swordplay flick that ambles along with little revolutionary, but ‘Roving Swordsman’ is nonetheless watchable enough to warrant a purchase.

It successfully manages to combine numerous genres to create a truly enlightening piece of cinema that shows just how unique Asian filmmaking can be.

This is a kung-fu film with enough substance and genuine quality to please even the most demanding or cynical movie fan – an assured recommendation.

As the film unfolds the perspective gets murky and Wai Ka-Fai’s juggling of the various elements comes into question.