classicsoncall Review of Flying Swords of Dragon Gate

Flying Swords of Dragon Gate (2011)

"Tell me whose body I'm going to pickle."

[7/10 · 31 March 2019]

I don't think I've ever watched two martial arts movies in a row until the other day, and by some strange cosmic coincidence, they were both Hark Tsui films. Well, maybe not that strange because I called them up after watching the trailers for both on a DVD, and they both arrived at the same time. The other film in question was "Detective Dee: Mystery of the Phantom Flame", which I found to have a fairly original story line and some exceptional stunt work. Other reviewers on this board called it hard to follow and a mess in general, which I took exception to because it wasn't that difficult if you paid attention. Well now the shoe is on the other foot, and even though I paid attention, I have to say that the story for me started off with one idea (the hunt for pregnant Su Huirong (Mavis Fan), and wound up supporting an entirely different one, (the search for the Xixia treasure gold). That much I followed, but it wasn't easy considering the large cast of characters, many of whom resembled each other, which tended to confuse who was who as the story progressed. Besides, there was so much going on in the way of action sequences and fighting that it took away from the main story. I did stick it out till the end of the picture, but quite honestly, by the time it got to the finish line, I was more than willing to take the advice of Chang Xiaowen (Lun-Mei Kwei), who stated quite succinctly, "Well, it's hopeless, let's go".