One of my all time favorites.

A Masterpiece!

I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

There is a long tradition of puppetry in China that most people outside of there never get to witness or appreciate. The puppeteers can do things with the puppets that are astounding compared to the more conventional puppetry of the West. This movie is based on a very popular Taiwanese TV show and is an extension of it.The plot is very typical of other Wuxia films and really isn't anything special. The characters are very wooden but that's due to the style of puppets used. Mobile facial expressions are non- existent. But watching the amazing movements of the puppets during the action scenes makes up for this. The sets are very elaborate, more so than any live action wuxia.A unique film and I enjoyed it but it's not something I would recommend to the average martial art movie viewer.

First I was amazed by the puppets and CGI decors and demons. The story starts with a birds eye view flight over a barren landscape of peaks. There's a parallel world with a big sword fight against ultimate evil. Nearly 2 hours later in the real world you've seen a stunningly artistic masterpiece.Swords, spells, warriors honour, I Ching, peace, immortal evil, and funny unfriendlies. Yes, after some amazingly fast and powerful killing, The Unfriendly introduce themselves as clumsy or cool or childish dudes with a cool gang name and a sense of humour. I laughed out loud after about a 15 min.! The fights are few but long, all new and unique(And I have seen a lot), over the top of even Hero. The magic does that trick. And the puppets.At first the beautiful, fast moving puppets distracted me with their skills. Excuse me, their masters skills. But after after a few minutes it leaves you in awe, wondering what the hell is happening. With the story, the wonderful landscapes and the last two hours in general...I'd like to conclude with a wish for a movie with The Unfriendly in leading parts!

This is just a movie version for a long-standing series in Taiwan. It's the national pride over there since the puppeteering techniques were passed from father-to-son. And like father-to-son all the voices you hear are done by the puppeteer. The main character and his side-kick are old characters. As is his arch-rival (don't know how to pronounce his name but he's easily distinguishable since he's the puppet with the best looks).In the movie all the sets are made in proportion to the puppets whereas on TV all you see is the back-drop and a stage so this movie is definitely worth seeing if you're into this kind of stuff.

This movie is completely insane. It's basically a like a crazy wuxia epic along the lines of Swordsman II, Zu, or Bride with White Hair but with kick-ass puppets. While the puppet's have minimal facial articulation, the range of movement is absolutely incredible. The filmmakers have managed to integrate puppets, wire-fu, CGI magic effects, and live backgrounds in a way I wouldn't have thought possible. On the downside, the plot is fairly impenetrable, characters behave very stupidly, and there isn't as much fighting as one could hope for. Nonetheless, this movie is worth it - it's completely out-of-control and you're not likely to have ever seen anything like it. Give it a try.Here's my stab at the plot - An evil demon named Mo Kuei is causing trouble so various heroes get together to put him down. Afterwards, his flunkies (who look kind of like Skeletor toys and have the very cool name of The Unfriendly) try to use magical keys get a hold of the titular wish-granting Sacred Stone either to free Mo Kuei or to prevent his final destruction (I wasn't clear on this). In the meantime hero Huan-Jen and his sidekick team up with pretty Ru-Bing and reluctant swordsman Lord Hong-chen to recover the Sacred Stone, wipe out The Unfriendly, and put down Mo Kuei once and for all. However Ru-Bing's father The Great Protector still harbors a grudge against Huan-jen for failing to come to his aid years ago, and has his own plans for The Sacred Stone i.e. world domination and repairing his ruined face. The Protector schemes to use his daughter and Hong-chen against Huan-Jen to acquire the Stone, which has a nasty secret of its own.