As you would expect from the visionary talents of Tsui Hark and Ching Siu Tung, the film is an overwhelming visual spectacle, and a must-see masterpiece of New Wave Hong Kong cinema. While some of the miniatures and effects look tacky, you cannot deny the grand artistic scope and kinetic frenzy of the proceedings. You do not go into a film like this looking for realism, as everything is exaggerated to fantastic proportions. Even more impressive than the imaginative action sequences are the incredible gender bending performances of the two leads, Brigitte Lin and Joey Wang. Coupled with superb costumes, lighting, and cinematography, they dominate every frame they're in with amazing clarity and burning intensity. Yu Rong Guang also gives a strong and sensitive performance as a guy stuck in the middle of a political powderkeg, and is the only one who even dares to compete with the two female leads. While the plot is rather thin and disjointed, it is secondary to the action and visual splendor of this remarkable film.

The East is Red is also Swordsman 3, though viewing the first two films isn't necessary at all. You even get a nice little recap of the second film's ending at the start of East is Red. The first Swordsman film was an uneasy marriage between stately and elegant veteran martial film director King Hu (Come Drink With Me, A Touch of Zen) and Tsui Hark's production banner, which basically has never met a plot essential scene it couldn't whittle down to 30 seconds in favor of some action. Needless to say, King Hu and Tsui Hark sensibilities were like oil and water so the first film was unwieldy. The two sequel films are more stand alone, whiz, bang, outrageous fantasy action vehicles courtesy of visionary Ching Sui Tung (Chinese Ghost Story, Duel to the Death).

In a pretty quirky move, the villain of Swordsman 2 is the main character in The East is Red. I guess Jet Li, the hero of Swordsman 2, had become too big of a star to return. But, if a villain was ever enigmatic enough to warrant carrying a movie, it would be Asia The Invincible played by Brigette Lin (Chungking Express, The Bride With White Hair, Peking Opera Blues).

The film begins a few years after the menacing, eunuch leader fo the Sun Moon Sect plunged off a cliff, seemingly to his death. Asia The Invincible actually went into hiding, under a disguise, keeping to the ruins of his temple where the superstitious now fear to tread. Officer Koo (Rongguang Yu- Iron Monkey) is escorting a Spanish battalion to the area and aids them in finding some gun ships that were sunk just off the coast. So, a bunch of people poking around his crib sends Asia in to a rage, a rage that is furthered when Officer Koo informs Asia that he has become a mythological figure spawning cults that worship him and imposters that profit from his name.

Turns out, among those impersonating Asia is his old squeeze Snow (Joey Wong- Chinese Ghost Story, Green Snake). There are some ninjas after his head. He has a run in with a cult. Basically, Asia goes on a path of destruction, out to prove he isn't a mere myth and he'll destroy anyone that gets in his way, even his old flame who Koo takes a shine too. Yep, it's a hard life when you're a self-loathing meglomanical guy who sacrificed his sex for supreme martial art prowess and power.

East is Red is a pure cash-in movie. The second Swordsman film proved popular and helped usher in the new wave swordplay films that nestled into the early 90's Hong Kong box office, so they figured why not make another one? You don't need much of a plot, just a thin idea and a bunch of inventive action scenes to hang around it and you're gold. Enjoyment of the film hinges not on the story but one wether or not you want to watch ninja dwarves, transforming ships, and people doing high wire kung fu stunts.

Brigette Lin became the Garbo of Hong Kong cinema, a woman who specialized in strong roles and decided to abandon acting right as she seemed to be reaching a peak. Her role as Asia The Invincible started her being typecast in a wave of fantasy action films where she played cross-dressing badasses. She does a great job, but, unfortunately, one of the things that made the second film so successful was Jet Li. In the absence of a hero character, or anyone that is really an A-list martial arts actor, the action in East is Red is a bit lacking. Sure, Asia can do more gruesome things with a needle than Ed Gein, but overall the film ends up suffering from what I call ?Stuntman Syndrome,? where the stunt performers have to do so much stand-in work for the actors that the action becomes impersonal.

But, again, it does have ninja dwarves...

Watching this movie might be akin to getting hit on the head. At first. there is a great deal of pain, but once that subsides, there comes a feeling of almost contentment as things draw into focus. The East is Red throws so many things at the viewer, it's almost impossible to keep track of (much less catch) them all, but nevertheless this remains one of the most powerful films to come out of Hong Kong -- perhaps not concidentally at the apex of its' "golden age", where anything seemed possible and the only limits were the film-maker's imaginations.

Though technically a sequel to the ultra-popular Swordsman II, The East is Red is actually much more of a character study of sorts, rather than the straight out wire-fu extravanganza of the previous two movies. In true Hong Kong style, this is probably due more to the fact that only Brigitte Lin returns from part 2 (Jet Li was busy doing other films as his relationship with producer Tsui Hark was coming to a temporary end) than the film-makers' desire to explore Lin's character. This ostensibly would make for a much more linear movie than the star-choked previous installments, as besides Asia, there are really only three other main characters. However, Asia is given so many dimensions -- from savior to demon and everything in between -- that she become almost a cast unto herself. This leads things to get a bit confusing as Asia's motives (and their resulting actions) become a bit unclear, but the movie moves at a good clip, and Lin's mesmerizing minamalistic performance keeps things rolling well.

One must note the action sequences in this movie. They're almost impossible to describe in print -- one involves a midget Japanese warlord who hides behind an impressive set of armor complete with various gadgets, another has some sort of albino ninja who comes out of the skin of a beautiful woman -- but pure joy to watch in action. Even if you don't enjoy any of the other aspects of The East is Red, if you consider yourself an action or martial arts fan at all, you owe it to yourself to give this movie at least one viewing just on the strength of these sequences. Hollywood can try to copy and ripoff all the wire-fu they want, but this movie represents something truly unique to Hong Kong, and something that could never be replicated outside of it.

Today, there are clans that worship Master Asia. Their priests demand human sacrifices, appropriations to lure him back to Earth. There are also warriors and spiritualists who have named themselves Master Asia, demanding obedience or death from all. Their armies gathered around them, they strut like bantam cocks across the mountains and the seas, fighting Imperial soldiers, foreign warships, and each other. And there is a Courtier-Swordsman named Koo who seeks an end to these cults. He suspects that Master Asia is alive, haunting the lonely ruins along the Black Cliffs; if so, then this hermit is the only person with the power and the desire to stop the cults.

Koo is correct, but he is terribly wrong. Asia is there and he agrees to stop the cults, but as he wanders the countryside, his demeanor progresses from calm to violent and then to bloodthirsty; when he and Koo both happen upon his former lover, Snow, something snaps. Snow had taken on Asia's name after his presumed death, and now she leads a ship of Highland warriors until the day of his return; to Asia, however, this is the highest betrayal. Asia wounds Snow and Koo desperately, then flies off, vowing to kill not only his impostors, but all those who practice martial arts.

Koo and Snow are left bleeding on the ship, surrounded by men who worship Master Asia and want nothing more than to kill the Lowlander warrior and their false goddess.

It's hard to think of a series of films that have undergone such a change in tone in this short a time. The original Swordsman was done, by and large, as a tribute to King Hu, who had been one of the top directors of martial arts and fantasy films in the Sixties and Seventies. Hu co-directed most of Swordsman, and his classic touch was quite noticeable throughout the film. There was a Sacred Scroll, an Evil Master, an Eviler Eunuch, a Good Hero, and lots of exotic locations. When the idea of a sequel came up, however, King Hu was unavailable, so producer Tsui Hark went with his biggest director, Ching Siu Tung.

Consensus has it that Ching Siu Tung's style as an auteur consists of (at the risk of oversimplifying) three elements. Ching likes to tell stories from the point of view of an "ordinary man'', getting caught up in struggles beyond his powers. Ching's films also deal with romance; unlike Hark, whose characters are friends but never quite seem to fall in love, Ching's characters are passionately linked. And finally, Ching's films tend to have a very dark tone (especially where it ties in with the romance). A cursory review shows that Ching Siu Tung's mark on Swordsman 2 is highly evident. To touch on a few points of the plot, hero Ling falls in love with a vastly more powerful enemy, watches as she kills herself, then flees from death at the hands of those he had rescued. In this film, The East is Red, Ching shares directorial duties with Raymond Lee, but his presence is at least as strongly felt as in the previous film.

The key story in The East is Red lies in the personalities of and interactions between the three main characters, Koo, Snow, and Asia. Koo, feeling tremendous guilt over waking Master Asia, vows to kill the monster; if this means sacrificing everything that makes him different from and better than Asia, it is a price he is willing to pay. Snow has been cursed by her god, rejected by her lover. She decides that she cannot live without him, and begins weaving a plan to end her anguish, one way or another. Asia, meanwhile, discovers that power calls its own and drives away everything else. She is unable to find peace and soon finds herself walking inexorably down her old path, to an empire of flame and blood.

This is powerful stuff. By it, The East is Red had the potential to be one of the best films in recent years. Unhappily, flaws elsewhere in the film hold it back. First, the scope of the action is much too large for the theme. The story deals not only with the Highlanders, but with a warship full of Spanish treasure-hunters, a warship/submarine full of Japanese ninja/samurai, and a military camp full of Imperial soldiers. The main characters spend too much screen time interacting with these, when they should have been interacting with each other.

Second, and more importantly, the main characters seemed to change personality at the drop of a hat. Master Asia (played by actress Lin Qingxia) didn't have as much of a problem in this respect; he slid back and forth from ironic humor to rage, but it was always caused by the power boiling inside him and always influenced by events. Koo and Snow, however, seemed to switch from nice to nasty without warning or explanation. This is bad, but doubly regrettable in the case of Snow, because actress Wang Tsu Hsien is amazingly good at portraying subtle developments in character when she is given the opportunity.

There is a wildcard here, however, and that is that I may not have gotten the whole story the first time around. Some films lose their luster after one has seen them a few times. Others slowly reveal structure and substance. I'm betting that The East is Red falls in the latter category, and I intend to watch it a lot when it comes out on video.