Writer: Chor Yuen

‘Clan Of Amazons’ is an elegant swordplay film that shows how entertaining the genre can be when the various components are properly blended.

‘Death Duel’ is a bleak, nihilistic swordplay film that embodies all of the qualities that one expects from a Chor Yuen adaptation of a Gu Long story.

The director has taken complicated source material and distilled it into something arresting before, but here he finds too many sub-plots to balance and too many characters to accommodate.

‘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.

‘Legend Of The Bat’ suffers from the same problems as its predecessor, namely its headache-inducing twists and turns.

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.

While I normally find myself quite happy to suspend disbelief for a Gu Long/Chor Yuen collaboration, ‘Swordsman And Enchantress’ is a real test of my patience.

‘The Convict Killer’ is held together by the confidence of the man behind the lens and the excellent cast gathered together.

Lau Wing may not be an accomplished screen fighter, but it is his portrayal of Lu Xiaofeng that earns this a moderate rating that it otherwise would not deserve.

Even fans of the convoluted martial world of the swordplay genre may find ‘Jade Tiger’ a tiresome 90 minutes.