The Duel (2000)

If you are inspired to watch this movie because you saw Andy Lau's and Ekin Cheng's names and picture on the title---don't bother. Ekin and Andy had very little screen time.
If you are inspired to watch this because you saw a badass swordswoman on a poster like I was---seriously don't bother.
If you thought A Man Called Hero and The Storm Riders were masterpieces---this movie is for you. It comes from much of the same team and might serve your viewing needs.

If you are looking for grand sword fights or kung fu, you won't find it here. The few sword fights were hindered by posing and sped up action and enhanced by terrible CGI. My grandmother would have looked like a martial arts master the way they filmed these blurry fights.

The women were portrayed as vapid, lovesick, airheads. Unless the translation was wrong on the copy I watched, one of them fell in love with her half-brother. Eww.

The star of this comedic marvel was Nick Cheung as an ancient James Bond wanna be, Dragon 009. He knew all the criminals, was a master of deduction and loved hitting on women and making innuendos about his 8 1/2 inch third leg. Charming. He made a mildly amusing lecherous investigator though his actions are quite dated now. For the most part, the movie was a dull murder mystery. I'm sure Wong Jing and Manfred Wong, the writers, thought the big twist at the end was brilliant but I saw it coming from a mile away. The duel in the title came at the end and was quite anti-climatic.

Some of the sets were nice although I've seen more opulent throne rooms in web dramas. Must have been a very poor emperor.

There were a few funny moments and interesting fights. This movie might hit the target with fans of the other two Andrew Lau/Ekin Cheng movies, but it missed the mark with me.

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