Review of Dragon Inn (1967) by Kate J — 14 Oct 2006

New Dragon Gate Inn is a film that should have been a lot better than it actually is. It has a great cast including Maggie Cheung, Brigette Lin, Donnie Yen and the lesser Tony Leung (not to be mistaken for the greater Tony Leung). It has a great premise (which is basically an inner siege at Dragon Gate Inn) and interesting character dynamics. However it ultimately fails. The main reason is because it doesn't really know what it wants to be. Is it an action adventure? Is it a romance story? It is horror? It is comedy? There are elements of cannibalism and extreme violence that the film doesn't need and leave a bad taste in the mouth. The wuxia fight scenes are good, if edited a bit too much. They are made from bits and pieces rather than choreographed movements. There's also fairly humorous moments when you can clearly see Brigette and Maggie being stunt doubled by men.

Brigette Lin and Maggie Cheung are basically what make the film worth watching. They are superb. Brigette was originally written to be the main character (and in terms of plot she still it) but due to injury she sustained on the set her role was drastically cut and Maggie's role was increased. However Brigette makes a large impact in her scenes and her presence is felt all over the film. Maggie however comes out as the surprise here delivering a marvelous comic performance whiched showed her versatility at a time when.