Schlocky would-be actioner from the once prolific Phillip Ko Fei (‘Ultracop 2000’), ‘Millennium Dragon’ isn’t even saved by a fleeting appearance by the great Yuen Biao and a last splurge of entertaining action.

Mainly (bizarrely) set in Moscow (and bookended with some admittedly cool desert locations), the flick sees no-nonsense bad guy bandit Hon Fok-Fui (Chin Siu-Ho) and his mean-looking, gun-toting sister (Lily Chung) getting their hands on a priceless, and potentially deadly, artifact that various parties also want to get their hands on. Sensing the profit of said artifact, partners Ma Sar (Yuen Biao) and Chui Jor-Yin (Choe Jae-Seong) steal it and present it to their antique dealer boss. Only then do things go south when Ma is seemingly killed in retaliation, and a Chinese agent (Ben Ng) also turns up hot on the tail of the artifact.

What follows is a lot of confusion, minimal action, and a finale that just about makes it worth sitting through the rest of the film. First and foremost, and despite top billing, this is not a Yuen Biao flick as he disappears for much of the running time. He pops up again towards the end (this is no surprise and blatantly obvious!) to dish out a few action beats but it’s all too little too late. He’s also lumbered with an unfortunate hat and oversized jacket, and the bulk of the plot and action is handed over to Choe Jae-Seong and Ben Ng, who spend a good chunk of time vying for the affection of various female protagonists caught up in all the priceless artifact chasing trickeries.

This would be all made tolerable if there was any sense of fun and energy but there isn’t, and most of the action in the first hour is dull and leaden, and all over too quickly. With the plot set-up for treasure hunting action, this should have been a whole lot more entertaining but despite some of the cast’s best efforts it’s just dull, plodding, and at least 10 minutes too long. Ko at least orchestrates some decent gun-play action come the final 30 minutes but it’s not enough to save the flick, and when Biao does finally show up again he barely gets to fight.

Shame, as this could have been a fun 90-minute actioner with Biao leading the charge in multiple fights. Biao completists and Ko Fei enthusiasts may get more out of it but otherwise just a missed opportunity.