Cast
Forget Hero -- that cult hit was just Zhang Yimou's warm-up for this martial-arts fireball that throws in a lyrical love story, head-spinning fights and dazzling surprises. Two Tang Dynasty officers -- pretty-boy Jin (Takeshi Kaneshiro) and rough-hewn Leo (Andy Lau) -- try to trick Mei (Zhang Ziyi), a blind dancer, into leading them to the Flying Daggers, a group of insurgents. Jin and Mei fall in love while Leo simmers with unrequited lust. The director of Raise the Red Lantern, a former insurgent himself in China, proves himself a poet of bamboo-forest fights and duels in the snow that could make a tiger crouch. Prepare your eyes for popping. And don't be fooled by Zhang Ziyi's delicate beauty -- this babe can kick your ass.
PETER TRAVERS
- Credited Casts:
- Mei (Zhang Ziyi)
- Jin (Takeshi Kaneshiro)
- Leo (Andy Lau)
- Yee (Song Dandan)
