A gorgeous if overall vapid popcorn action film set as a period drama piece. Not a horrible, and not a bad watch, but overall disappointing in it’s story and even battles, though the production design and particularly the armor is absolute eye candy. A film set in a fantasy China that never existed, between unknown warring kingdoms it is ultimately a message about the uselessness of war, but the message seems diluted, and you actually picture the kingdom being taken over at the end for being week. Oh well, this is one that is best not to think about too much, just let it wash over you visually. At least Kelly Chen Wai Lam is as cute as ever, even if she still has that semi blank look to her through much of the film.

The kingdom of Yan has always been known as a land of warriors, and is constantly at war, but when the king is wounded in battle, he passes on his mantle to an adopted orphan Myong Xuehu (Donnie Yen Ji Dan) who is the lands most successful general, but doesn’t really want the job. The problem is that the king’s ambitious nephew Wu Ba (Guo Xiao Dong) will stop at nothing to get the job, and even secretly kills the king when he hears the news. When Myong Xuehu is supposed to be sworn in, instead he passes the mantle to Yan Feier (Kelly Chen) since the king left his sword with her. This is highly irregular, as it is supposed to be a male, but Feier agrees to be trained by Myong or as she calls him brother Hu in the ways of war for the good of her beloved country. And Myong starts to beat the hell of her in many training exercises, which she can never top him. And we see that they both care about each other, even if this is the only way they can show it. Of course Wu Ba isn’t taking this lying down, and he sends out assassins with poison to kill the princess, who hit her, but she manages to escape, with the help of a doctor living on his own named Fuan Lanquan (Leon Lai Ming).

REVEIW CONTAINS SPOILERS...

Fuan Lanquan saves her from the assassins and then nurses her back to health. At first all she wants to do is leave, but slowly she begins to like him a great deal, and he her, though he has no idea who she actually is. Lanquan lives all alone in the woods, and is working on making a hot air balloon to fly above the earth in, and Yan Feier starts to help him. She is happy, but he reminds her, that she said she must leave as soon as she is healed.

And Myeong Xuehu is looking for her, and while looking finds the sword of a a warrior of a land of the best warriors, but they were all defeated, and every man, woman and child though killed 20 years before.

Yan Feier comes back and runs into Myeong Xuehu and they return to the capital, where she gives up her power, doing what her father wanted and returning the power to Myeong Xuehu, so she can leave, but Wu Ba can’t stand it and splits off to take Yan by force, while Feier returns to Fuan Lanquan just in time for the first hot air ballon ride.

Of course Wu Ba isn’t done withe the Princess, and he sends the assasins again, though this time with incurable poison, and they attack Yan Feier and Fuan Lanquan. Fuan is hit and knows it is fatal, but tells her he can cure himself like he did her, so she can rush to save her land.

Myeong Xuehu is meanwhile battling the superior forces of Wu Ba, and while doing a great job, he is outnumbered, and gets captured, just as the princess arrives, and she challenges Wu Ba to a duel, and manages to win and kill him, and once again take the throne, but first she rushes back to find that Fuan is dead, and vows to make piece. Instead of continuing the war now in Fuan’s name Yan Feier resolves to make piece with the lands around it.

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Nice message, but then her lands would have been defeated and taken by some other warlord. A nice popcorn film with no substance, and little cohesiveness, at times it feels like different movies stuck together.