Made in the latter days of the mighty Shaw Brothers Studio, Lady Assassin is a fast-paced swordplay epic with an interesting plot.
The old reigning emperor is on death’s door, and his most ambitious and amoral son plots to cheat his way to the throne. But taking power is the easy bit. Staying on top will prove much more difficult…
A simple plot, yes, but done with some style and good performances by the lead actors. Lau Wing, known mostly for his roles in the Bruce Lee movies, is cunning in his role as a son of the emperor who will stop at nothing to be the next leader, especially when he finds out that his younger brother, played by Max Mok, is going to inherit the powerful position.
Norman Chui is excellent as the swordsman bodyguard of the younger son and uses his skill to protect him at all costs. Lau Suet-Wah is the lady assassin of the title, who is the daughter of a patriot (Ku Feng) who just wants equal rights for the oppressed people.
The choreography by Poon Kin Kwan, Choi Chun Wing and Yuen Tak (who also has a small role in the film) is edited at such a fast pace but is excellently done. The fights are plentiful, and the finale lives up to the build-up with a Japanese swordsman thrown into the mix for good measure.
The ending is very sudden, although this was very common for Shaw Brothers films of this period. This is an enjoyable action film with good performances, and it is presented here with a great 2K remaster with rich colours and pristine image. The audio gives you just the Cantonese language track with English subtitles, no English dub option, and I’m not sure if one was done for this film.
Extras are, From Child Actor to Fight Coordinator – An Interview with Poon Kin-Kwan which is an interesting conversation about choreography and stuntwork in Hong Kong for this period. You also get a trailer , reversible sleeve and a poster.
88 Films has released the Blu-ray in the UK and the USA at the same time.
FILM – 7.5 PICTURE – 8 AUDIO – 7 EXTRAS – 5
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