Review: Oh, Sammo, where did it all go wrong? You’re a big chubby chunk of Chinaman and I love you, but you have to stop wasting your time on these piss-poor movies.

Even though most people had looked at the title Flying Dragon, Leaping Tiger and assumed that this was a spoof of a certain Ang Lee movie, this has very little in common with that particular movie, though it does seem possible that the producers would secretly like a piece of the Crouching Tiger pie.

The problem is, the plot is over-complicated and contrived, and comes across as nothing more than a soap opera with swordplay. The persistent bouts of melodrama, accompanied by a tackily emotive synthesised orchestral soundtrack only serve to clog up and slow the movie down. We are supposed to be moved, but often the hammy acting and forced emotion alternates between unintentionally amusing and irritating. In fact, so much time is devoted to watching people dribble blood and clutching their breasts, that it is at times reminiscent of the group death scene in the spoof ‘Kung Pow – Enter the Fist’.

The fights, usually armed (with swords, dummy), are competently choreographed, with a hint of wirework, but never amaze. In fact, the initially interesting backdrop of desert and mountains eventually seem to limit the fights, giving the combatants nothing but a flat, open surface to fight on. The few times that this pattern is broken, when characters fight up the side of a steep incline, and atop a stone tower, we are shown what could have been done if lovely lumpy scenery been utilised more.

Looking on the bright side, it’s good to see Sammo going back to period films, and Cheng Pei Pei taking advantage of her post-CTHD comeback. Jade Leung is gorgeous, and does a good turn as a young rebellious girl with a knack for kicking ass (not at all like Zhang Zi Yi in CTHD, oh no!). Louis Fan Siu Wong is here too, but despite him being quite watchable, it is hard to watch him without thinking of him as the pretty-boy from ‘Story of Ricky’, wearing a Tank-Top and chasing remote control aeroplanes like a model from a gay clothing catalogue.