Explosive
Summary
One of the best Shaw Brothers films due to its snappy camerawork, tight editing and insane fights scenes – including a balls-out swords slicing through bodies climax – The Lady Assassin is almost wall-to-wall action and fights with wuxia acrobatics and wild one-against-many heroics. It’s completely satisfying with a freeze-frame final shot of a body being sliced in half from the skull downward! What a rush! Filmmaker Tony Lou made a zinger here with this one, and it’s a doozy.
Plot: Possible successors to the emperor’s throne fight each other to the death for their chance at power.
Review: As the current Emperor lies on his deathbed, slowly expiring, the question of who will succeed him heats up amongst possible successors. His long roster of sons range from the completely innocent to the power hungry and mad, and when one of the sons – the 14th (played by Mok Siu-Chung) – is decreed to be the rightful successor, the 4th son (Tony Liu) plots against him by trying to bribe the 14th son’s bodyguard, a man with integrity and unbeatable kung fu (played by Norman Chu), but the bodyguard refuses, and thusly greatly insults the 4th son, who tries having him killed. But no matter how many men (sometimes all at once in an all-out assault) the 4th son throws at him, the bodyguard emerges victorious. Using ninjas and assassins when all else fails, the 4th son finally finds a worth adversary for the 14th son’s bodyguard: a lady assassin (played by Leanne Lau) whom the bodyguard already has affectionate feelings for. When the bodyguard is eventually defeated by treachery, the lady assassin turns against her employer when she realizes he’s evil and that the bodyguard was a good man, just trying to ensure the rightful heir inherits the throne. The 4th son hires Japanese mercenaries to kill her, but when she fights back, she goes ballistic!
One of the best Shaw Brothers films due to its snappy camerawork, tight editing and insane fights scenes – including a balls-out swords slicing through bodies climax – The Lady Assassin is almost wall-to-wall action and fights with wuxia acrobatics and wild one-against-many heroics. It’s completely satisfying with a freeze-frame final shot of a body being sliced in half from the skull downward! What a rush! Filmmaker Tony Lou made a zinger here with this one, and it’s a doozy.
88 Films brings The Lady Assassin to Blu-ray (it’s numbered #45 on the spine as part of their “88 Asia Collection,” and the HD transfer is completely satisfactory with sharp image and sound. Special features include a slipcover (for the limited edition), a booklet, interviews, trailers, and more.