This entry in the venerable Sammo Hung's filmography feels a bit like it is going through the motions, holding no real surprises to those who are well versed in the genre. But the star power shines through enough that at least you won't be bored during the proceedings.

This sort of feeling is a bit incredulous and may come off as pompous -- your typical spoiled internet kvetching -- given that this is a "typical" early 1990's Hong Kong production in that it is stuffed to the gills with talent both in front of and behind the camera. Andy Lau, Anita Mui, and Maggie Cheung were huge stars at the time and Sammo had solid support with Corey Yuen and Ching Siu-Tung handling the action direction. You would think that anything presented by this team would knock it out of the park.

In the end, though, there is very little of the inventive action or humor which are Sammo's trademarks. What's in here is good -- though obviously the stars are heavily doubled -- there just isn't enough of it, with a lot of the movie dominated by exposition scenes that drag at times, especially via the version watched for this review via the Hulu streaming service, which was dubbed (farily poorly) into English.

With two action directors, five assistant directors, and five assistant action directors, one has to wonder exactly how much Sammo actually did direct here. Supposedly, Sammo only briefly worked on the set, lending his name to the production to give the release more weight in the crowded marketplace of this time period, where literally dozens of these types of films were being put out every year. Not surprisingly, this sort of film-making by committee never truly succeeds -- but given the somewhat dire state of many modern productions, even a half-baked effort from years past is welcome viewing material for increasingly weary eyes.

RATING: 6