New Dragon Gate Inn

China is in the grasp of despotic eunuch rulers who carve out their own regimes away from the Emperor's gaze. One such is Cao (Donnie Yen) of the Dong Chang. When Minister of Defence Yang Yu Xuan threatens to reveal Cao's treachery to the Emperor, he and his kin are executed.

Cao spares two of Yang's children, but only because he hopes to thereby lure the general's allies out into the open. Sure enough, a group led by Qui Mo Yan (Brigitte Lin) appear to rescue the youngsters, but manage to evade Cao and his fearsome Black Flag force.

The rebels arrive at the isolated Dragon Gate Inn, the last stop before the pass through the desert, where they are joined by their leader – and Qui's paramour – Zhou Huai An (Tony Leung).

Alas, worsening weather conditions means they are unable to leave the inn before a group of Cao's men, posing as merchants, also arrive.

With inn-keeper Jade King (Maggie Chueng) and her men keen to keep their bandit activities secret (in a somewhat macabre Sweeney Todd-style twist, they also use their victims to make the "pork buns" the other guests eat) the stage is set for all manner of cloak-and-dagger intrigue and action – especially as Jade has taken a fancy to Zhou…

This remake of King Hu's 1966 classic Dragon Gate Inn is another triumph for Tsui Hark, the man who, through his Film Workshop production company, arguably did more than anyone else – John Woo and Jackie Chan included – to raise the bar for Hong Kong cinema through the 80s and early 90s. (Sadly, it should be noted that one of the casualties of Hark's innovations was Hu, his Hark-produced Swordsman being a disappointment that suggested he had been overtaken by the younger cineastes he had formerly inspired.)

Director Li Hui Min captures the spirit of Hu well, merging balletic flying swordsman action with a sharp-eyed attention to detail; assured grasp of character and mood; and seemingly effortless shifts in scale, from the epic scale of the early exterior scenes with their sweeping desert panoramas and armies to the more intimist dramas of the studio-bound inn.

Among the uniformly excellent performers the honour of first among equals has to go to Maggie Cheung as the fiesty, selfish innkeeper who gradually learns from the self-sacrificing Zhou and Qui what it means to be a hero. Yet, in Lin and Leung's defence, fans could point to the fact that Cheung's Johnny Guitar-esque loveable rogue role is naturally a rather meatier one than their more upstanding characters. Or, to draw a Star Wars comparison for those who don't know their Nicholas Ray movies, think Han Solo compared to Luke Skywalker.

A cat fight where Cheung and Lin bare their claws is a particular delight to watch, managing to be tres sexy yet coy about nudity in a way that a Hollywood production could probably never match.

None of this is, however, to say that, for all its pleasures, New Dragon Gate Inn is perfect.

The story seems to move in fits and starts at times, a feeling exarcerbated by the relatively convoluted plotting and somewhat abrupt way in which characters are introduced and/or dispatched. This is not, however, necessarily a sign of bad writing. It seems more that the film is following a different model – Hu's – to the one most viewers will be accustomed to. (Art fags will feel surprisingly at home, the Hu idiom being more akin to that of art cinema than Hollywood or more typical Hong Kong productions.)

Unfortunately, the unusual approach does impact negatively on the final battle. While the showdown between in the middle of a swirling sandstorm is an unquestionably impressive piece of action film-making, the sheer what-the fuck-ness of the move that finally wins the day feels a touch too left-field and thereby oddly anti-climactic.

Rather more akward is the idea of Jade and her staff butchering select victims to feed to other guests at the inn. Though the intention was clearly to play for laughs, it's frankly offputting and steers way too close to the Category III territory of the likes of Bunman for comfort. (To continue the Star Wars analogy, imagine if that film had dwelt on Han Solo's early years as an Imperial pilot, detailing Imperial atrocities committed whilst "only obeying orders" in loving detail.)

But these criticisms aside New Dragon Gate Inn remains an entertaining piece of Wu Xia action and another reminder that there are plenty of quality Hong Kong films out there just waiting to be discovered by new audiences in the wake of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.

(Those interested in King Hu can find more information here)