House of Flying Daggers

Ok seriously, after browsing my other favorite movie site: comingsoon.net, I happened upon this upcoming movie “House of Flying Daggers”. Seeing that it was an import, I tried my luck on EBay and had a copy sent to my home immediately. My expectations were a bit high being that Zhang Ziyi was in it and also Takeshi Kaneshiro from “The Returner”. I am pleased to say I was not disappointed.

From the beginning of the movie one is taken by Zhang Ziyi, her lithe moves can’t be conveyed in words and the dances and subtle flying is a pleasant beginning to this story. Her character is what essentially drives the movie, through her mysterious story and the charming wiles of Kaneshiro’s character. They pull you into themselves with some action sequences to break their romance chemistry here and there but never distracting from the mystery of their relationship. That in itself is what rated this movie high for me, it was not very predictable and even when it was near the end I was doubting my own instincts in guessing it’s outcome.

If you are an afficionado of good love stories or a veteran to foreign writing and screenplays, I would say this movie is a must-see. For the audience members who are merely interested in seeing another “Hero” (yawn… sorry) or “Crouching Tiger…”, they may be a tad disappointed since this movie focuses more on the deeper aspect of the character’s relationships, rather than their swordplay or anti-gravity. I was very happy I saw this, and will be going to the theater to see it again. Very well done.

Written by Greg Dragon – who has written 365 reviews on Spicy Movie Dogs.

Cinephile and opinion writer, Greg Dragon has been a fan of movies since the 80's when Kung Fu theater was all the rage and Roger Moore was James Bond. As an opinion writer that has reviewed Box Office releases on a number of prominent websites, Greg is the founder and lead critic of Spicy Movie Dogs.