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HOUSE OF FLYING DAGGERS
(Rated 18)
Zhang Yimou’s ‘Flying Daggers ’ hurtles through the air with the greatest of ease and jumps on to the ‘Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon’, bandwagon. It is another anti-gravity, subtitled love story in which people fight for their ideals even when it robs them of their heart’s desire. Set during the ninth-century Tang Dynasty, the s t o ry is initially a martial-arts-spiced period thriller about two imperial deputies trying to infiltrate a rebel organization known as the House of the Flying Daggers. The Daggers are oriental Robin Hoods who steal from the rich, give to the poor and all that Captain Leo (Hong Kong film star Andy Lau) arranges for his friend Captain Jin (the striking Taiwanese/Japanese matinee idol Takeshi Kaneshiro) to pose as a dissolute playboy and visit the Peony Pavilion, where a blind courtesan named Mei is rumored to be a member of the rebels. The film’s real hero, however, is cinematographer Zhao Ziaoding, who successfully crafts a fantastic flurry color, sound, and sensation. The sequences of balletic martial arts action will roundhouse you breathlessly into the back of your sofa. Yet the movie amounts to frustratingly little so that by the time the credits roll you’ll have been entertained even though you won’t have the foggiest where the plot disappeared.
Verdict: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
M a rtial arts extravaganza let down by wafer thin plot
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