Rating: 3.5

The first twenty minutes are a barrage of over-stylised visual tricks and self-conscious winks to the audience; these begin to dissipate as the story continues, but it takes optimism to endure these early weaknesses.

‘Headshot’ is often a thrilling ride and once again showcases Iko Uwais at the top of his game and that Indonesia is one of the biggest innovators in modern martial arts cinema.

The themes may have dated, but the opportunity to see Cheng and her three able co-stars play off each other is not to be passed up.

It may be relatively incident free and not as prestigious as many of its contemporaries, yet this is still a film that earns mild commendation.

‘Hero Of The Beggars’ is not a patch on ‘Security Unlimited’ or the many other classic Michael Hui hits, but it still achieves its simple edict of entertaining the audience.

‘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.

It might not be an essential Woo flick but one would be doing themselves an injustice in not checking out this early but highly entertaining action flick from the director.

It will probably be appreciated much more by the local audience but there is enough to enjoy for international viewers.

This is not a comic masterpiece and doesn’t amuse in quite the manner that it imagines it does, but with a leading man of Fu Sheng’s calibre this is almost to be forgiven.

‘House Of Flying Daggers’ has too many trappings of an arthouse production that screams ‘self-conscious’ throughout.

It doesn’t rank up there with the best of any genre but for a lightweight action-comedy it is worth a watch.

The production has enough genuine laughs, sharp satirical swipes and overall skill to be rated as recommended viewing.