Admittedly, Seven Swords explodes onto the screen in fine form. The action is brutal, in your face and surprisingly violent. The story is simple, but fast paced. The characters are believable. The fight choreography dazzles. The cinematography and art direction are captivating. Indeed, I found myself wondering exactly what it was that made the critics moan so furiously.
Then it hit me. As the movie progress, its steamer whistles thin, coughing occasional death rattles as the plot drags itself up an arduous, bouldered mountain slope. For a period of what feels like forty minutes, virtually nothing happens, that is to say, nothing of particular interest or necessity to the story.
Characters that you might have liked at the start of the movie become irritating, their behavior confusing, and choppy, fitful editing does not help to make anything much clearer. You will quickly begin to notice how the majority of the female leads, in particular Green Pearl, rely on panting and gasping like they're giving birth in order to convey almost all their emotions. As I sat, drenched by the tumultuous waves of dialog, I found myself being invaded by that empty feeling I get when I repeat a word a hundred times over until it loses all meaning.
Unless you are endowed with the almighty patience of Buddha, you will find yourself silently screaming for the film to MOVE!!!
And it does, eventually, career downwards at breakneck speed into a flaming, physics-defying finale in which all seven Masters get to send up sparks. Trouble is, most people will have gone home before the fireworks.
Then it hit me. As the movie progress, its steamer whistles thin, coughing occasional death rattles as the plot drags itself up an arduous, bouldered mountain slope. For a period of what feels like forty minutes, virtually nothing happens, that is to say, nothing of particular interest or necessity to the story.
Characters that you might have liked at the start of the movie become irritating, their behavior confusing, and choppy, fitful editing does not help to make anything much clearer. You will quickly begin to notice how the majority of the female leads, in particular Green Pearl, rely on panting and gasping like they're giving birth in order to convey almost all their emotions. As I sat, drenched by the tumultuous waves of dialog, I found myself being invaded by that empty feeling I get when I repeat a word a hundred times over until it loses all meaning.
Unless you are endowed with the almighty patience of Buddha, you will find yourself silently screaming for the film to MOVE!!!
And it does, eventually, career downwards at breakneck speed into a flaming, physics-defying finale in which all seven Masters get to send up sparks. Trouble is, most people will have gone home before the fireworks.