Qiao Feng (Donnie Yen) is an orphan, who is raised by a couple who found him randomly at their door. He grows up to be excellent martial arts fighter, achieving higher ranks through several missions and earns the title of the Master of the Beggar gang. His identity and loyalty gets questioned, being accused of murder which forces him to quit the gang. Further, he finds out his adopted parents are murdered and he is accused of that as well. This breaks him and puts him on the path to find the true killer and on that path he will learn brutal truth about his own identity which will turn his world upside down. How does he come to terms of the new reality and fight back, forms rest of the story.
The action sequences are well done though I am someone who doesn't enjoy a Wuxia film always. The problem was with the narrative as initially the story went too fast in introducing Qiao Feng's character, right from his childhood to him being the chief of Beggar gang. Even him getting accused of murder also doesn't give enough breather to buy into the premise or this character's plight as everything happened so fast. It is only after the introducing on Azhu, the story picks the right pace, giving enough to follow the story.
The screenplay feels overstuffed but it is the predictability that bogs it down. There is no mystery behind who were the killers. The pace too gets uneven and the lead pair lacked any chemistry to sell their love story. Once again, it was the action sequences that carried the film through with the reveal of the mystery saviour in the end which somewhat helped build enough curiosity for the sequel. My rating is strictly for the action sequences and the reveal in the end. I wish the sequel will have a better sequel that presents the drama aptly.
The action sequences are well done though I am someone who doesn't enjoy a Wuxia film always. The problem was with the narrative as initially the story went too fast in introducing Qiao Feng's character, right from his childhood to him being the chief of Beggar gang. Even him getting accused of murder also doesn't give enough breather to buy into the premise or this character's plight as everything happened so fast. It is only after the introducing on Azhu, the story picks the right pace, giving enough to follow the story.
The screenplay feels overstuffed but it is the predictability that bogs it down. There is no mystery behind who were the killers. The pace too gets uneven and the lead pair lacked any chemistry to sell their love story. Once again, it was the action sequences that carried the film through with the reveal of the mystery saviour in the end which somewhat helped build enough curiosity for the sequel. My rating is strictly for the action sequences and the reveal in the end. I wish the sequel will have a better sequel that presents the drama aptly.