Invincible Swordsman - Another Adaptation of Jin Yong's Popular Martial Arts Novel

Few days ago, I watched this Chinese movie that I have also been eyeing when it was released during vacation with my wife. It was very challenging since very few cinemas left showing the film. In fact it was no longer available in Indonesia from yesterday. Anyway, here's more on the movie.

Brief Story Line

Ling Huchong (Tim Huang - The Forbidden Depths, Captain Han TV series etc) was the Huashan sect disciple who always had mind of his own and dislike following rules of martial arts world. Due to some reasons, he was expelled by his teacher Yue Buqun (Zhang Lu - Undercover TV series etc) but later become the direct student of Grand Master Feng (Sammo Hung - Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In, Mr. Nice Guy etc) and learnt even greater skills.

Despite his wish to leave Jianghu behind, Ling Huchong was drawn to major problem caused by powerful & vicious martial artist Dongfang Bubai (Zhang Yuqi - The Mermaid, Ice Fantasy Destiny TV series etc) who took over the demon sect from its former leader Ren Woxing (Terence Yin - My Dear Bodyguard, Love Contractually etc) and wanted to rule the world. Everything became complicated when Ling Huchong unknowingly befriended Bubai while various righteous sects were trying to kill Bubai.

So what would happen to Ling Huchong? And how would the story conclude? You could find out in this movie.

End of Brief Story Line

As soon as I read the snyopsis of this movie, I immediately realize that it was based on another popular martial arts novel titled "The Smiling, Proud Wanderer" or "Xiao Ao Jiang Hu" by Jin Yong. You would have known his name if you have read my previous posts that he wrote the Condor Heroes trilogy, Fox Volant of the Snowy Mountain, Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils and many others that have been adapted to multiple movies and series. This novel though, did not have that many adaptations and I think I have only watched three TV series and one movie before so I might have less memory of its complete story compared to Jin Yong's other works.

Anyway I think this movie did not have the greatest start as it was a bit confusing due to lack of characters introduction and background to give proper context. But after a while, I could finally get the story better (which would be a big challenge for those who have not seen any of its past adaptations such as my wife). The story became more interesting when Ling Huchong started his adventure and get to know Dongfang Bubai. Throughout the whole movie, I thought the story telling was quite well done and those two main characters were properly portrayed by Tim Huang and Zhang Yuqi (aka Kitty Zhang). I also thought that Sammo Hung did pretty decent playing as Grand Master Ren.

In addition to those names I mentioned above, there were several support cast such as Yun Qian Qian (New Kungfu Cult Master etc) as Huashan disciple & Yue Buqun's daughter Yue Lingshan, Xuan Lu (Who Rules the World TV series etc) as Ren Yingying and few others. Other characters from the novel also appeared here, though they were more of minor capacity.  The movie was directed by Luo Yiwei who did not seem to have vast experience yet, except as screenwriter of Ultimate Secrets and director of Swords Drawn. I did see prolific producer's name Wong Jing credited as writer and executive producer. One thing for sure, when I was watching this, I really felt similarity to the 1992 film Swordsman II starring Jet Li and Brigitte Lin which made me feel the movie to be more like its remake. Even that catchy and nice Swordsman's theme song was played here multiple times.

The most enjoyable part in this movie for me was definitely the fight sequence. They were mostly done beautifully and the swords move looked pretty graceful. I could not see the action director here (probably Sammo Hung?), but whoever it was, I think he/she did a good enough job. I was satisfied watching this one as it gave the strong wuxia feel. It was definitely not the romantic costume drama that seem to be released a lot recently, although the film did have some unexpected romance. Oh I was also surprised about the character Dongfang Bubai here whose gender was clearly defined and completely different from the novel/previous adaptations. You would understand it better if you have seen this.

Overall, this film would be enjoyable for wuxia lover like I am, especially if you like Jin Yong's works. Obviously watching TV series would give you better understanding of the characters and appreciate the complete story, but this one I think provide sufficient essence of Ling Huchong's character as the free-spirit swordsman facing the cruelty of the martial arts world and his unique relationship with the evil Dongfang Bubai. However the movie did not have a proper closure which I am unsure if it's their plan to make a sequel or just simply follow blindly Swordsman 2. Regardless as a standalone martial arts movie, this one was quite entertaining for me and also brought some nostalgic feeling of watching wuxia story. So if you like Ling Huchong's story, then likely you would enjoy this one but if you want to know his complete story, it's best to watch the various TV series adaptation available via streaming.

Mike's movie moments rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars