Good start, but then it gets ruined

Better Late Then Never

Excellent characters with emotional depth. My wife, daughter and granddaughter all enjoyed it...and me, too! Very good movie! You won't be disappointed.

One of the best movies of the year! Incredible from the beginning to the end.

To answer many viewers who thought "Sword of the Assassin" looks like of Chinese origin, it is because IT'S COPIED from Chinese origin. In Vietnam "Sword of the Assassin" is widely known to have plagiarized from several Chinese and Korean movies. This is the same movie called "Blood Letter" but the filmmakers switched the title to "Sword of the Assassin" after Vietnamese social media exposed the plagiarism. It's a big scandal in Vietnamese language media and social media. Some Vietnamese language links: Youtube video "Vietnamese American movie director plagiarize more movies"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7z0tYECq_ZA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7SGx04TL4SM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x0y8YdFddrM Now you know the reason why everyone said how "Chinese" the movie is. Historical influence is no excuse for modern plagiarism, look at Korean movies they had same historical influence but didn't plagiarize and developed a unique Korean cinema. The director had a history of plagiarizing foreign movies and claiming author, particularly he was the first filmmaker investigated for plagiarism by Vietnamese cinema regulators and found to have plagiarized "Shattered"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WttzaJg2WdI The Vietnamese subtitles in the "Sword of the Assassin" expose video say after the director was found guilty for plagiarizing "Shattered", he now copies from different movies and combine to make it harder for the public to find out original source.

If story telling is an important element for movies such as this one, then the script writer and the director have failed miserably in this category. The lack of continuity and characters development made the film unbearable at some points and extremely boring at others. The acting is adequate but not believable at various crucial scenes. The camera techniques/angles are above average. The costumes are much better than other Vietnamese movies of the same genre. The fighting sequences meet international standard, but sadly, without any originality. Every martial arts moves and every use of weapons (from swords to sabers, from staffs to spears, from bows and arrows to daggers… ) can be seen taken from or modeled after other famous Chinese martial arts movies such as Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, Curse of the Golden Lotus, Hero, House of Flying Dagger, etc… especially, in the use of wire work (or "wire fu" as it is known) and several grand scale scenes. In fact, action coordinator Johnny Tri Nguyen can be mistakenly identified as either a student or a prodigy of the famous action coordinator/director/actor Woo-ping Yuen, Tsu Hark, or Jet Li. On the same track, even with the best categories for the movie are art direction and cinematography also somehow can be seen as a copy of those Chinese movies mentioned above. This movie is more of a Chinese movie than a Vietnamese one. Another irritation factor is the unnatural voices of the actors and actresses with awkward talking scenes which can cause the audience to cringe at most conversations in the movie. This is a critical weak link in every Vietnamese movie. Vietnamese people don't talk like that in real life, why do they talk like that in movies is unthinkable. Is it because the Vietnamese so used to watching Vietnamese dubbed Chinese movies with that kind of annoying and clumsy voice over that it's become a norm to them? After all, this movie is like a book with its beautiful cover, print works, but its content is filled with terrible writing and clichés; pleasing to the eyes but not much for the mind. Epic?… it certainly is not!… But, it's a watchable movie for a lazy day with nothing better to do.

How do you review a Martial Arts movie?Essentially TMAH can be categorized as the first Vietnamese production to attempt a full-scale historical martial arts story.And what is really enticing about historical martial arts stories? 1. Epic landscapes, historical beauty and dramatic costumes 2. Riveting Moralistic Story-plot of betrayal, revenge, love, justice, friendship, power and greed 3. Captivating sword and martial arts choreography and effects 4. Mesmerizing heroes and devastatingly evil villainsYou could review it against the many successful mega-epic historically accurate and mesmerizing productions from the best of the world, or you could review it from the scope of what it achieved within the budget, storyline, execution and for the market it was made for.I choose the latter.Okay, so TMAH is not 'Ang Lee' beautiful or deep in its plot twists nor even as epic as many world-class mega-million dollar sword flick or martial arts productions out of Hong Kong, China, Korea or even Thailand studios of today. But, we have to keep in mind that Vietnam's post-war movie industry is still in its infancy. And for that it is simply inspiring!And while I agree that the characters could have more depth in their acting, the landscapes and costumes could have had less of a Chinese influence, the plot could have been less expected, the heroes and villains expanded further plus the execution of the choreography more refined; the crux is TMAH is still a great watch simply because it had enough of all the elements to make it a great first foray.All the leading and supporting characters give a good account of themselves without overacting, especially first time leading lady - Midu, who gave an impeccable performance as a young strong willed, sometimes temperamental but lovable sister seeking justice!Even the extras look fully committed to their world. When the scenic shots hit the mark, they really are stunning. And there is enough creativity in the action choreography to leave you impressed. The effects could have been more polished but the music and sound effects unlike even some great epics, are beautiful and crisp. I am especially drawn to the double arrowed flying assassins!Ultimately, is there room to improve? Definitely. But more importantly I sum up the entire movie as an epic milestone for Vietnamese film-making...and best of all, it can only get bigger, richer and better from here on.

The plot of "Thien Menh Anh Hung" is pretty much banal. I feel like each moment of the film reminds me of something I've seen in the past. Nothing new. Nothing exciting. What bothers me the most is that the film adopts too many features of Chinese martial arts movies, to such an extent that it really becomes a cliché. Victor Vu definitely didn't spend enough time and effort on developing a unique style and plot for his blockbuster.The beautiful cinematography somehow makes up for the film's lack of originality. It does a great job of portraying beautiful scenery in Vietnam, and adds a great deal to the success of the film.