Legends of the Condor Heroes: The Gallants (2025)

Tsui Hark's latest film is a cinematic adaption of the novel by Jin Yong (actually chapers 34 to 40). It has been mined for numerous other films over the years (including  THE BRAVE ARCHER series which I love.) with each set of filmmakers putting their own stamp on the tale.

The film follows the adventures of Guo Jin, a member of the Song, who was raised as the adoptive son o Genghis Khan. He had set out to find his way in the world and had fallen in love with a young woman name Huang Rong. She helped him become a great martial artist however they had a falling out, however when they calmed down they began to try and find each other only to end up in the middle of the war between the Mongols and the Jin armies. Complicating matters is the fact that a master named Venom West is seeking the secret of the Novem Scripture which will give him unlimited power.

This time out its a sprawling epic action/romance/fantasy that is heavily enhanced by computer effects. In all honesty if they didn't use effects this film could never have been made. Armies that big and wonders than enchanting don't exist in real life. Once you decide to ignore the uneven nature of it this film is a great deal of fun.

I had a blast with LEGENDS. Its a big epic of the sort few people attempt any more. The action is spectacular with a couple of bits resulting in my talking out loud. More importantly we have great characters. Sure some like Venom West are cartoony, but we still care about them.This is the sort of film that will make people fall in love with crazy martial arts epics...

...or mostly.  The problem here is that as good as the ends of the film are there is a deadly middle section that slows it all down. In the middle Guo returns to the Mongols and is heralded a hero. He is loved by princess, who had just rescued Rong from Venom West just before Guo's return. What follows is roughly an hour of soap opera as the two women pine for their man, the Princess unaware that Rong is the woman Guo threw her over for. It's not bad but is slows the film to a crawl.

That said the film picks up in the final third and it's full of rousing action.

I had a grand time with the film. I actually wish I had a chance to see this in 3D because some of the shots would have been amazing with extra dimensions.

A couple of people I spoke with compared this film to Hark's classic ZU WARRIORS  films, but honestly I liked this more. I appreciated that the film had a more solid plot than the earlier ones.

If you can get out and see this in a theater before it gets pulled, do so. It truly is a big screen movie.

Recommended.