Swordsman II
Offering a directing gig to King Hu, whose career had since fallen into the doldrums, Swordsman (1990) was Tsui Hark’s opportunity to both work with and pay homage to his hero. It didn’t end well, with the legendary director barely lasting a fortnight on the project, the film quickly becoming sullied by extensive reshoots and the patchwork effect of its five subsequent directors.
So as Confucius (probably) said: be thankful for second chances. Picking up where its progenitor left off, yet superior in just about every respect, Swordsman II is a furiously paced wuxia epic par excellence. Directed by Ching Siu-tung – from a script by Tsui – in the backlit, wind-machine enhanced default aesthetic register familiar from many an early 90s Chinese genre movie (think Bonnie Tyler music video as directed by Mario Bava), it’s a high-flying, ninja star-riding, gender-bending adrenaline rush of swords ’n’ sorcery.