Rarely will you see a movie made with such exquisite attention and competence to the craft -- the same self-mastery that the lead characters are supposed to have as itinerant soldiers. There are two love stories, and they both work, absolutely beautifully. The cinematography is so good this movie should have 10,000 posters. The overdone satisfies: a lady does not spill her tea while defeating twenty attackers; leap from a roof with no pain and no sound, who couldn't use that ability? The team even expertly flaunts the limitations of the effects (such as a swordfight up and down live bamboo).
