Set in 895 AD (after the decline of the Tang dynasty), a rebel army known as "The House of Flying Daggers" create an uprising across the land. When blind showgirl Mei (Zhang Ziyi) is arrested upon suspicion that she a member of the Flying Daggers, the local deputies who arrest her set up a plan where she will inadvertently lead Jin (Takeshi Kaneshiro) - a deputy posing as a playboy bandit - to the Flying Daggers' secret location, as fellow deputy Leo (Andy Lau) shadows their every move. Yet Jin's mission becomes complicated when he and Mei unexpectedly fall in love, setting up a showdown between Jin and Leo.
Like Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and Hero before it, House of Flying Daggers contains great movie making, while also taking on the themes of love, honour and betrayal within the Wuxia martial arts genre. This is both a blessing and a curse, since it insures a good watch but does not hold an original premise.
A much more sensual and sexual entry in the Wuxia genre, director Yimou Zhang brings with him numerous elements found in Hero. This includes the return of production designer Tingxiao Huo and costume designer Emi Wada, who both provide magnificent, colourful contributions to this feature. Xiaoding Zhao's cinematography is excellent, seizing the lush colours and majesty of nature as the film roams through the forests of China, and the snow covered hills of the Ukraine. Composer Shigeru Umebayashi's score of heavy percussion mixed with light melodies is very good, and the use of additional special effects work very well, as do the excellent sound effects.
The film features a number of impressive fight sequences which were choreographed by Siu-Tung Ching, with highlights being a thrilling battle in a bamboo forest against an army of deputies armed with bamboo trees; and a climatic sword fight on broad, snow covered land, one of the more bloodier fight scenes seen in a Wuxia film, and also one of the more effective as the blood dripping crimson red clashes with the pure white ground.
Yet the most impressive piece of choreography I have seen in any of these films is "The Echo Game" scene. Challenged to the game by Leo, Mei is surrounded by a circle of drums on poles. Leo throws a nut at a drum, and Mei must duplicate the sound with the weight of her long silk sleeve. The more nuts that are thrown, the more sounds Mei must duplicate, in the process creating an everlasting sequence which showcases Ziyi Zhang in all of her beautiful, butt kicking glory. Takeshi Kaneshiro (who has the look and charisma to make it big on the Western stage) provides excellent chemistry, while Any Lau's supplies smouldering intensity in spades.
With his second consecutive martial arts film, Yimou Zhang's House of Flying Daggers is a slight improvement over Hero. His characters are much more passionate and animated, and in turn his actors give much better performances. The only problem is that a lot of these movies are beginning to look and sound exactly alike, which does not help in the originality stakes. But as a Wuxia film it is recommended viewing.