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Swordsman II

"Those betrays me must be killed."
Starring: Jet Li, Brigette Lin, Michelle Reis, Rosamund Kwan, Shi-Kwan Yen
Rating: 9/10
Directed By: Ching Siu-Tung
Runtime: 99 minutes

Swordsman II (1992) is one of my favorite Martial Arts movies and the film that opened me up to the Fantasy-Fu subgenre. Fantasy-Fu is characterized by super-heroic main characters who use martial skill to pull off moves and physical actions impossible for real people, like running on the tips of grass blades. It was the closest thing in the 90's to Hollywood's recent super-hero boom only instead of Spider-Man and the Hulk you got Tony Leung and Donnie Yen flying around the countryside, wreaking havoc and destroying their enemies.

Director Ching Siu-Tung is a Fantasy-Fu legend, responsible for some of the greatest films in the genre like Storm Riders (2002), Chinese Ghost Story 1-3 (1987/90/91) and Stephen Chow's Royal Tramp (1992) but he is more well known for his visionary fight choreography, bringing to the screen the action in A Better Tomorrow II (1987), Butterfly and Sword (1993), Jackie Chan's City Hunter (1993), Heroic Trio (1993), Shaolin Soccer (2001) (one of Magnificent Bastards' favorites), Hero (2002), House of Flying Daggers (2004) and Curse of the Golden Flower (2006) among others. In Swordsman II, Ching gets his hands on a young Jet Li and, seemingly inspired by Jet's abilities, produced an epic fight film analogous to John Woo's Hard Boiled in the sense that Swordsman II is "80 percent action and 20 percent plot."

The loose story centers around two clans vying for a sacred scroll that grants the user supernatural powers. Ren Ying Ying (Rosamund Kwan) runs the Sun Moon Sect and has been pushed aside by upstart Asia the Invincible (Brigette Lin), her uncle who has usurped the clan for his own evil ends, imprisoning master Wu (Shi-Kwan Yen), the old clan head. Ren and her loyal followers flee and set up opposition to Asia. Jet Li and his posse of Kiddo (Michelle Reis), Buck-Tooth, Scumbag and Luke are traveling heroes who have decided to give up a life of action and lead secular lives. Jet's unrequited love is Ren and, of course, he vows his last mission will be the overthrowing of Asia the Invincible. That's the story in a nutshell but Ching Siu-Tung adds a creepy interweaving subtext which is at once mesmerizing and disturbing. "In order to practice the supernatural power one must cut his penis off first." Seems to me like a stiff penalty but one Asia is up for, so Asia is fast on his way to becoming a woman. When first encountered by an enamored Jet Li, Asia doesn't speak and plays off he's a chick so Jet, having sworn revenge on Asia, is unaware that his new crush is Asia. Some lovemaking and a few soul-crushing conversations follow, leading to one of the cruelest and funniest endings in cinema history.

The action scenes are fast and furious, with people leaping through the air and using devastating attacks that blow their opponents and surrounding area completely apart. The mere act of drawing a sword can cut people in half and energy can be sent through the ground to blow stuff up. All these moves have bad-ass names like "the Flying Bomb," "the Seven Star Rotation," "Separating Sword," "Fantasy Land Super Sword" (which causes a Fearless Hyena 3D effect) and "the Whirlwind Slay" among many other creatively-monikered actions. Asia the Invincible can fling tea lights and s/he is a master of sewing-needle-fu! In an homage to Dr. No (1962), when Asia Ursula Andress' from the water (for a dude she's pretty hot) and flings drops of water to dry herself she kills every plant in the area. Ren's right hand, Blue Phoenix (Fennie Yuen) can control snakes and shoot them out her sleeves; awesome ninjas throw bags of scorpions and ride giant throwing stars (some even travel underground and fight!); Master Wu utilizes the giant chains he was imprisoned with to unleash his righteous anger and knows probably the coolest move in all of kung fu - The Essence Absorb Stance, which sucks up every bit of an opponent except their clothes! Every fight is epic and constructed to make the viewer exclaim aloud (which will happen).

A note about the excellent translation:

"We are not even getting hot but the soup is already hot."
"Let's cover up our face with veil and we fight our way out."
"How to do with the soup?"
"I'll spare your life you if you show up and explain." - (He's standing right there.)
"She sneaks out to hang around."
"It's hard to find each other if we get lost."
"But are we living a secluded life? We could not kill all the time, then."
"Let's chat to confuse him."
"Let me take you out with the excuse of danger."
"Long live to Master."
"So many wild animals? Let's roast one of them to eat."
"There's problem in the inn. Lots of kungfu expert there."

Swordsman II is flat-out fun. The movie surprisingly contains a lot of strong female roles (rare for any film) and features a who's-who of Hong Kong talent that would go on to dominate the box office for the next decade. The story, though scant, is followable (especially for the subtext) and the fights breathtaking. For an extraordinary example of superhero filmmaking, check out Swordsman II. Followed in 1993 by The East is Red.