This is not the Shaw Brothers movie "The Assassin" from 1967. It seems the review written by user fongsaiyuk has this movie mixed up with the 1967 Shaw Brothers movie "The Assassin". That is understandable because of the story similarities. Also the opening sequence with Jimmy looks like it was shot on a Shaw Brothers set. Jimmy even has his pucker puss on like he did in the Shaw Brothers oldies.
This movie was made in Taiwan in 1971. That year Jimmy Wang Yu walked out on his Shaw Brothers contract and made seven movies for various production companies in Taiwan.
It opens with three officers talking about the war. Cut to Jimmy finds the man he was paid to kill. The man is in bed with another man's wife. Jimmy earns his payment before the opening credits roll by. He should have insisted on at least half in advance because he gets stiffed and has to sell his sword to pay his bar tab. It ends up in the wrong hands but he gets it back after coming to the rescue of an escort company under attack.
The middle of the movie drags a bit. Jimmy is hired to kill people and it gets morally ambiguous. Plus he starts talking to a girl. (That would never happen in a Chang Cheh movie.)
Though starting a new career in a new nation, Jimmy sticks with what got him to this point. To be fair, it is typical that when movie people find something that works they beat it to death. Jimmy is keeping his 1960s Shaw Studios persona. That includes what I call his "I just sucked on a lemon" facial expression. Keep tuned fans and watch him change into the brawler. the mad man of martial arts movies, when he makes his flying guillotine movie.
For this movie I can only rate it average for the year and genre. Though it delivered as expected it was minimal meeting of expectations.
