Legendary Amazons (Mandarin)

The movie takes place during a war between the Song and The Western Xia, and feature the Yang Family clan, which consists, as the film title suggests, of a range of ass-kicking women, ranging from the severe matriarch Taijun (Cheng Peipei) to the obligatory eye candy (Cecilia Cheung).

At the start of the movie, we are treated to a sequence that ostensibly shows each of the `amazons` and their slick skills on their weapons of choice. Sadly, that`s about as far as the show goes in terms of character development, as the titular amazons are as interchangeable in personality as your run-of-the-mill Dynasty Warriors hack-n-slash video game, which the film seems to go to great lengths to mimic.

The plot is incoherent, the deaths laughably histrionic (everyone spews blood from their mouths when they die), and the action sequences, which could have been the saving grace of the film, are dull at best, and inadvertently laughable at worse.

If you’re looking for a film that is reminiscent of Braveheart (1995) or The Woman Knight of Mirror Lake (2011), you`re in for a big disappointment. If, however, your idea of a good time is a movie that involves flying aunties, a human bridge spanning a treacherous ravine, and (goodness gracious) great balls of fire, then Legendary Amazons may prove to be just enough entertainment to be worth the price of entry.

SUMMARY: Legendarily Kitsch

RATING: 2 out of 5 stars

Raphael Lim