Reign Of Assassins Is Not Following The Norms Of The Wuxia Genre

REIGN OF ASSASSINS opens with an animated prologue telling the story of enlightened monk Bodhi, whose unmatched accomplishments in both Buddhist prayer and martial arts have ensured whoever now possesses his remains will become all-powerful. A gang of assassins, The Dark Stone, learns that a local official is in possession of half of Bodhi's remains and proceeds to massacre his entire family, only for Drizzle (Kelly Lin), the gang's deadliest member, to escape with the body.

Compelled to finally lay the remains to rest, Drizzle goes into hiding, has her appearance changed by a surgeon and resurfaces in Nanjing as the unassuming Jing (Michelle Yeoh). There she falls in love with local courier Ah-Sheng (Korean actor Jung Woo Sung), and plans to build a normal life. The Dark Stone is in hot pursuit however, and when Jing is caught up in a bank robbery and forced to use her signature water shedding sword technique, her location is exposed and Dark Stone leader Wheel King (Wang Xueqi), together with Lei Bin (Shawn Yue), The Magician (Leon Dai) and newly recruited Turquoise (Barbie Hsu) descend on Nanjing, determined to kill Drizzle and retrieve Bodhi's remains.


Set in ancient China, Zeng Jing (Michelle Yeoh) is a skilled assassin who finds herself in possession of a mystical Buddhist monk's remains. She begins a quest to return the remains to its rightful resting place, and thus places herself in mortal danger because a team of assassins, The Dark Stone, is in a deadly pursuit to possess the remains which holds an ancient power-wielding secret.

There are several elements in the film that are not following the norms of the wuxia genre, or rather breaking its barriers possibly in mind of reinvention to inspire and excite. Instead of vying for divine martial art manuals and exquisite weaponry, the pilgrims are brawling with one another over two halves of a deceased kungfu monk's corpse in hope of reigning as the top martial arts master who is second to none.

Leading the campaign is The Dark Stone, a powerful sect that features an alliance of Lei Bin (Shawn Yue), Lian Sheng (Leon Dai), Xi Yu (Kelly Lin), and Cao Feng (Wang Xue Qi) the leader of the pact. When Xi Yu went rogue and disappeared with one half of the remains, the rest came hunting down her trails with the help of a new replacement Zhan Qing (Barbie Hsu).

Among other things, the picture works well as a playful domestic comedy as it observes Drizzle and Jiang adapt to married life; the notion of a skilled warrior trying to protect her unsuspecting, slightly dopey husband is played with a tenderness that yields unexpected emotional dividends at the film's bloody finale. Pic reps a fine showcase for Yeoh (too little employed in this sort of high-flying action vehicle since 2000's "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon"), whose Zen-like elegance renders her command of swordsmanship and hand-to-hand combat all the more impressive. Jung, who played "The Good" in "The Good the Bad the Weird," has an endearing, affable presence, and is eventually granted an opportunity to display his own action prowess. Barbie Hsu and Shawn Yue effectively round out the DSA squad.

As directed by Stephen Tung, the action is seldom as cleanly choreographed as one would like, often rendered a kinetic blur by Cheung Ka-fai's editing; still, the style suits Su and Woo's giddy, unpretentious tone. Production design and costumes are evocative but not too lavish, and Horace Wong's widescreen lensing proves as nimble as the characters.