Two master fighters team up to take down a crime boss who wants to rule the underworld with an unbeatable weapon!
The beginning of this film had so much potential. You have two guys dueling at the beginning who get attacked by assassins. They team up with a "I'm not going to let you kill him, only I get to kill him!" kind of relationship, which is always really fun. Seeing the sheer volume of assassins is entertaining because they're all weird and there's so fucking many of them. The scenes involving the search for the peacock dart are pretty fun!
The second half of the movie, unfortunately, drags. The duo gets separated and the person who becomes the main character is just like a void of character. He doesn't have any fun dialogue and his weapon gimmick is that he has a weird baton sword that he can spin around. It looks awkward to wield and results in a lot of combats where it's difficult to appreciate the choreography because his weapon is very dark and beneath his arm, making his attacks difficult to follow.
The final fight scenes was enjoyable but not too much to write home about. Honestly, the movie really lost me when the duo separated. The main characters had a fun dynamic and the actors had good chemistry. Maybe I'm just a sucker for characters that want to fight each other but have to work together.
I would say that overall this was a pretty middle of the road wuxia film. There is enjoyment to be had with the lavish sets and silly villains that constantly pop up. But I think there are more entertaining films in the genre I would recommend ahead of The Magic Blade.