Good story, Not enough for a whole film

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

Blistering performances.

There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

Over the years, I've come to accept that an intelligent plot isn't always high on the priority list for many martial arts films, but rarely have I seen such a humongous pile of random claptrap as Blade of Kings. About two minutes into the film and I was completely lost, dumbfounded by the rapid succession of seemingly unconnected elements thrown at the viewer with little or no concern for narrative cohesion or logic.Amazonians who all look Chinese, the fabled sword Excalibur, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, the Star of Rex, the Lord of Armoury, The Haunted City, cave people with fake fangs, women with moustaches, men who turn into women, a mystical stone plaque, a really bad CGI hawk: just some of the nonsensical garbage that goes to make up what is easily the worst film to feature either Donnie Yen or Jackie Chan. Hell, I'm willing to bet that this must also be one of the lamest movies to star 'The Twins', Charlene Choi and Gillian Chung.Yen's fight against Chan (who plays a living statue) is, unsurprisingly, the highlight of the whole film, but when the rest of the kung fu is so lame, all enhanced by wires and crappy computer effects, that really isn't saying much. I'm not a quitter when it comes to bad films, but half an hour into this incomprehensible dreck and I have never been so sorely tempted to hit the stop button. 1/10

In the mythical land of Huadu, Charcoal Head, a humble boy born to rule an empire must undertake his journey to claim his throne. It is an epic action adventure combining romance, fantasy, comedy and cutting edge Hong Kong style martial artistry.While this film had some good humor, a decent plot and some very odd twists and turns (and a running gag about mustaches)... it just fell short for me for one big reason: the special effects. The effects are very well done, much better than the flotsam SyFy pumps out, but it still takes away from the idea of a martial arts movie.Case in point: Donnie Yen is an amazing martial arts master (as seen in the "Ip Man" films, among others) and in one scene he fights Jackie Chan. Why did this need special effects? Instead of having glorious natural movements, you have to add in cheesy computer graphics and aspects that clearly were not there? Chan and Yen do not require this -- they are (or at least should be) a selling point all their own.That aside, it was pretty decent. I am unclear about the character "Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon"... this film seems to borrow from the film of that name (what with the silly flying). But is this an homage? A cheap ripoff? Why use that name within a film that clearly is not connected to the classic, or even on the same level? Oh well. Still a good movie. Not the best martial arts film, and certainly not the best from Well Go, but worth seeing. It is too bad that American audiences had to wait eight years for this to finally be released... we need more Donnie Yen and Bingbing Fan.

Last year's Twins Effect was surely one of the worst movies of the year, due to its corny dialouge, laughable action sequences and lack of plot. This year, it looks like Twins Effect 2 will have almost the same honour. Only the HK movie industry could manage to churn out nonsensical sequels one after another.On to the plot: The leads, Twins play citizens of a kingdom in which men are slaves and women are the rulers. They help a guy fight the female emperor. End of story.Nothing really makes any much sense in this movie, it suffers from the same faults as the first one. The saving grace is probably Jackie Chan's cameo, in which there is a brilliant fight sequence.My recommendation: Only hardcore fans of Jacky Chan/Twins will watch this crap. 1/10

SpoilersThe first Twins Effect made some attempts at `seriousness' (loosely defined): serious horror in vampires, serious romances (ending in deaths) and serious characters (in Anthony Wong's character). The results were mixed. While some praised Anthony Wong's acting, many felt that it was a mistake to attempt to make the movie more than what it was, a popcorn summer flick.Abandoning all attempts at seriousness is good for Twins Effect II. The plot, if there's one, is smorgasboard style. One interesting reference, probably not intentional, is to Gilbert and Sullivan's Gondoliers, where one of the two guys are suspected to be a king, so that one of the two gals entertains the expectation of being queen. The turnout is different though.The most `serious' thing in the movie is the fight between Donnie Yen and Jackie Chan. None of Chan's usual clowning, but a seriously choreographed martial arts sequence we have here. This one is almost as good as the duel between Donnie Yen and Jet Li in Heroes. Only "almost", as Jet Li is still the best.