The Emperor’s Sword (2020)

- Country: China
- Action Director: Ma Yulu
- Directed by: Chen Haonan, Zhang Yingli
- Starring: Hao Yilin, Mu Fengbin, Pan Ruoyao, Xu Chang-chao, Yang Qiyu, Zhao Qihang
Sumptuous, moody wuxia with a modern twist; a constantly moving, robotic arm camera used during the action sequences, and a weird, gimmicky motion-sensor technique which zooms between takes in incredibly artificial slow-motion. It’s actually quite distracting, and clearly doesn’t work. During an action scene, the camera seems to pause on completely random parts of the frame. Then there’s the shoddy visual effects used in post-production. It’s a shame, because it detracts from a film with some accomplished moments; a Hero-lite story set after the death of China’s first Emperor, Qin Shi-huang, and in the tumultuous period before the start of the …
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