Thomas M REIGN OF ASSASSINS is a high budget, traditional martial arts epic that should please many viewers who liked CROUCHING TIGER HIDDEN DRAGON, a film that also boasted superb fight choreography, lavish sets, an emotionally charged story set against a parallel, mythological Chinese background, spectacular cinematography, effective music and a string of memorable characters - and, like REIGN OF ASSASSINS, wasn't innovative in any way. What TIGER did better than most of the slew of wu xia epics that have been flooding Asian cinema since the early 1990s (e.g. ONCE UPON A TIME IN CHINA by Tsui Hark) included presenting a fairly stringent storyline and fleshed-out central and supporting characters. The latter are two aspects that Hong Kong screenwriters aren't particularly good at, or simply just don't seem to care about.Director/screenwriter Su Chao-Pin clearly aims for an intriguing and coherent plot with colorful and developed characters, too. He largely succeeds, after a hectic and mildly confusing first 10 minutes. Once the central figure, Shi Yu (first played by Kelly Lin) is transformed into Zen Ping - and, thus, Michelle Yeoh, the story gains profile and depth. Yeoh plays a former elite assassin and member of the martial arts order "The Dark Stone", led by mysterious kung fu expert Cao Feng (Wang Xueqi). 800 years earlier a monk with supernatural powers had died; and assassins, politicians, bankers etc have been looking for his bodily remains ever since so that when they track it down they can benefit from its healing powers. A bit of a stretch I know, but read on: Shi Yu/Zen Ping has stolen the body and is now living peacefully with her new husband, Jiang Ah-Sheng (played by Korean "Musa" star Jung Koo-Sung) in some border town. But, of course, she hasn't heard the last of "The Dark Stone" yet. Soon her former fellow assassins have descended upon the town to look for her and the body. They are a colorful lot, including the particularly nasty and sexy Ye Zhan-Qing (played by Taiwanese singer and TV personality-turned actress Barbie Hsu) who does not shy away from disrobing to seduce elderly suitors (Don't get your hopes up, boys: It's half-naked backs and shoulders only).The performances are mostly up to par or better. But while Michelle Yeoh's role is the most substantial in terms of screen time and profile, she is frequently upstaged by various supporting actors, especially Barbie Hsu as Ye Zhan-Qing. While initially presented as a scheming and unscrupulous bitch (She's qualified to joining "The Dark Stone" by having killed her groom and his father), Hsu manages to imbue her role with a degree of vulnerability. When she finally gets her comeuppance - and in a particularly cruel way, too - the viewer cannot help but empathize with her and feel *some* pity. Wang Xueqi lends suitable gravitas and quiet authority to his role as the clan leader earlier in the film, but also conveys the actual desperation and loneliness of Cao Feng later on.Korean star Jung Koo-Song is the weakest link in the cast mostly because his role requires to him to be blandly friendly for the greater part of his screen time. There's a twist though to his character which is fairly ludicrous but still works.REIGN OF ASSASSINS boasts excellent photography (movement and framing), and veteran Stephen Tung Wei's fight choreography ranks with the best I've seen in a long time. Unfortunately, the "modern" quick cutting undermines his work, if just a little bit. Peter Kam, better known for his music for modern action thrillers, delivers an appropriately varied and serviceable, if not truly imaginative, score that mixes orchestra, Chinese folk instruments and electronics. John Woo produced the film and is credited with "co-direction", but his trademarks (slow-mo fighting, melodramatic excess, the occasional flock of white doves populating the frame) are nowhere to be found. Thankfully, I might add.REIGN OF ASSASSINS is a highly satisfactory and polished entry in the wu xia/wire fu genre that will appeal to both veteran kung fu/sword fight movie fans and "newbies". It does not add anything new to the genre but manages to come off as above par in almost every respect. Recommended.

Paul Magne Haakonsen For some reason I had been putting it off to get around to watch this movie. And that was a mistake on my behalf, because this is most definitely a great movie, and a well worth addition to any fans of the Asian swords play and martial arts genre. As epic as "Hero"? Nah, but it is a close ringer.Supported by a really good cast, "Reign of Assassins" has a solid story that is well executed and well-told on the screen. There are several layers to the storyline and depending on what you want from the movie, you will take something different with you when the movie ends. I am not going to summarize the storyline here, as it would require too much space, and this is the type of movie better seen then read about.Yes, this is Wire-Fu at its best, but then again, so are many of the great swords play and martial arts movie to come from Asia. And whether or not you like the Wire-Fu movie, that is a matter of personal preference. I do, however, enjoy them, and I enjoyed this movie quite a lot.I was especially impressed with Michelle Yeoh's performance in this movie. I must admit that so far I have only had a so-so relationship to most of her movies, as they haven't been as outstanding as this one. But she really dazzled me with this movie, and I do believe that I will re-visit the older DVD movies with her on the cast list in my DVD collection any time soon."Reign of Assassins" is a definite must watch for fans of epic movies such as "Hero" and the entire genre of these particular types of movies. "Reign of Assassins" is in all its complexity a very beautiful movie.

Subbarao Gollapudi This is for sure a good movie to watch!!!Maybe after Crouching Tiger.. this is a movie that I watched more than ones...The action scenes are not too hyped.. and do not defy gravity... The screenplay was well donePlot of the movie was also well built and the characters keep opening up one after the other. Of course there was age showing on Michelle but still she has that ability left in her to take up these roles and live to the expectations.Definitely a good movie to watch..

mmushrm I really enjoyed this movie and have to say its one of the best movies of this genre that I have seen in awhile. The fight scenes were good, nothing that disregards the laws of physics and gravity too much. Quick action sequences, no shots that goes in slow motion and focuses on the flow of the hair kind of effects. The characters are so-so. I will not say that they are overly interesting but they don't distract from the story either. The best part of the movie for me was how it actually caught me off guard. The plot twist actually made me laugh as I never saw it coming and I thought I have seen it all in martial art movies.There are some parts that are funny some that are sexy. parts that are exciting and parts that are wholesome. I really recommend this movie. Don't let the rather formulaic and somewhat confusing opening throw you off. Its good :)