This film (also known as The Banquet) debuts as an American release through Dragon Dynasty, bringing the cinema of Feng Xiaogang to you. Xiaogang, a popular director in China, has concocted a Hamlet-inspired movie set in that country’s 10th century period. Ziyi Zhang plays a woman in love with Prince Wu Luan (Daniel Wu), who becomes the Empress Wan as well as her lover’s stepmother after marrying the prince’s father. The action is difficult to follow at the film’s outset, while the pacing grows cumbersome toward its middle. However, much of the action choreographed by Yuen Woo-Ping is impressive. On the whole, despite an effective cast and imposing sets, Legend of the Black Scorpion stumbles as alternately hokey and wearying. –forrest green III

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