I thought I was onto a bona fide winner with The Revenger, but despite a really strong start, a glut of indistinguishable secondary characters and bewildering plot developments make it far less successful over all.
The action kicks off with kung fu wanderer Shao Tu (Ti Lung) defending the oppressed, his righteous ways making an enemy of the villainous Mao Kao, who wants the do-gooder out of the picture so that he can seize control of the province. Mao Kao's wishes are granted when Shao Tu gives up his vigilante lifestyle after falling for beautiful young woman Ping (Shih Szu), who he rescues from a trio of bandits.
Unfortunately for Shao Tu, he eventually discovers that Ping is actually Mao Kao's sister, the woman having been convinced by her brother to play the part of an innocent victim in order to distract the warrior from his quest for justice. Feeling betrayed, Shao Tu sends Ping packing, ignoring her claims that she really loves him and unaware that she is carrying his unborn child. Shortly after, Mao Kao lures Shao Tu into a trap, where he is killed and decapitated.
Years later, and Ping's son - Chou Shu (also played by Ti Lung) - is all grown up, but doesn't seek revenge for his father's death: all he wants is to find dad's bones and lay them to rest, which leads to plenty of fighting and killing anyway.
So far, so good, but then it all gets increasingly difficult to follow, to the point where I gave up trying to keep track of the whys and wherefores (I never did understand why numerous people referred to one very obviously female character as 'Mister') and just concentrated on the kung fu, which is frequent and well executed, with lots of cool weapons. Ti Lung is as great as always, with plenty of impressive moves, and although director Hsueh Li Pao struggles with the storytelling, his ability to capture a cool fight is not in doubt: the battles are fast, furious and varied, with sword work, spear work and excellent use of a 3-section-staff.
The final showdown between the good guys and the bad guys in Mao Kao's HQ is jam-packed with impressive combat, but also features several really dumb moments, most notably Chou Shu's sword turning red for no reason, and Shao Tu's booby-trapped skull triggering a massive explosion at the end.
6/10. The first half is solid kung fu cinema; the second half is very hard to follow, but the frequent martial arts scenes make it bearable.
