Cast Member: Raymond Lam

While Derek Chiu’s latest film is an acceptable blockbuster, the wit and style of the director’s earlier works is sadly fading away from him.

‘New Kung Fu Cult Master’ isn’t a great film, maybe not even a very good one, but there’s enough strengths here to make you eager to watch the second part.

It’s watchable (though don’t dare take your eyes off it for a moment or you’ll miss at least three dramatic revelations) and confidently put together, but satisfying as a conclusion to the big story it is not.

Yu’s epic is often stunning to look at, is a lot less stuffy and longwinded than many a recent Chinese period epic, moves at a fair clip and delivers a surfeit of adrenaline surged spectacle.

Alan Mak’s uninvolving film lacks a real narrative hook and an empathetic romance, but most of all it lacks the needed sentiment that covers a multitude of cinematic sins.

Fairly tame fun that will easily appease the ADD generation who are hooked on special effects. Go into it with that frame of mind and it’s likely that you’ll find an adequate time filler.