Genre: Wuxia

It has numerous nods to the Shaw Brothers classics and harks back to those swordplay flicks of yesteryear, making you smile, cry, jump for joy and shout like a banshee, like any good martial arts film should.

Great all-round entertainment that shows Stephen Chow and the Monkey King myth at their finest.

If you enjoyed the first ‘A Chinese Odyssey’, then this second part is pretty much guaranteed to please.

‘A City Called Dragon’ is one of many 70s Taiwanese action films that deserve a wider audience and hopefully modest reviews like this can help.

Andrew Lau has a very obvious formula for making comic book adaptations and it’s one that is ultimately not very satisfying.

It is a film that deserves to be watched by fans of all genres though and, alongside classics like ‘Come Drink With Me’, acts as a perfect portfolio for the late, great King Hu.

‘An Empress And The Warriors’ is enticing enough to divert the attention, but without anything substantial within the duration it is quickly forgotten.

A tapestry of emotion, audaciously flashing backwards and forwards and shifting voice-overs to piece together the moments that have led the characters to the barren wastes of the desert.

This is a hugely entertaining film that undoubtedly ranks as one of the best that the swordplay genre has to offer.

Bathed in nihilism from the opening frames to the last and creates a gradual sense of doom that would befit the most ice-cold thriller of the 40s.

If you’re one who only digs more grounded, one-on-one martial arts action then you may want to look away, but fans of wuxia action are in for a treat.

‘Butterfly Lovers’ is a forgettable version of a legend that deserves a definitive screen portrayal – it has moments of interest, but proves to be an unevenly yoked movie.