Dir: Chang Cheh
1969
*****
Chang Cheh’s original One-Armed Swordsman paved the way for a new-wave of wuxia
films and was a big hit for the Shaw Brothers, so a sequel was ordered fairly
quickly. Director Cheh returned as did Jimmy Wang in the title role and Lisa
Chiao Chiao as his wife. The story takes place some time after the events of
the first film and the One-Armed Swordsman is now a farmer who
lives peacefully with his wife working his land. While working his field
one day he is approached by two men, a white and a black sword master. They
invite him to a challenge on behalf of their masters, the Eight Sword Kings who
are challenging the masters of all rival schools in an effort to take over the
martial arts community. Any that refuse are murdered by the Eight Kings' twin
enforcers, the Black and White Knights. Our one-armed hero tells them he’s
never heard of them and tells them to leave. A local martial art school then
visit Fang Kang and warn him that the Eight Sword Kings will not take
no for an answer, they too don’t want to fight but decide it better to join
forces and fight, rather than suffer the consequences. Fang still refuses.
However, after capturing all the rival masters, the Eight Kings deliver an
ultimatum; all the rival schools' students must cut off their sword arms and
surrender the severed limbs to the Eight Kings, or the students' beloved
teachers will all die.The students return to the legendary One-Armed Swordsman
and ask his help, but he remains reluctant. When one student
kidnaps his wife to force him to help he becomes enraged and goes after them
but encounters the Eight King’s men. He finds his wife’s kidnapper dead and
another pupil gives his life to save her but is is only convinced into helping
them when a student actually does sacrificially chop his own arm off in despair
right in front of him. With his wife’s blessing, the One-Armed Swordsman
then prepares himself to contend with the unique styles and weapons
of the Eight Kings. The first king is the Winged Blade (or Flying Dragon in
another translation dub) who uses his speed and leaping prowess to attack from
the air. One-Arm bests him and his students with a variety of ground-based
traps. The second is Hooking Blade who wields a chained sickle. One-Arm defeats
him by hanging him by his own weapon from a tree, allowing him to eviscerate
him. Then he encounters Buried Blade who hides in pits before leaping out to
ambush his opponents. One-Arm bests him by chopping down bamboo to pin down his
students and then standing atop the trunks, keeping him out of reach of Buried
Blade's attacks to stab him with a bamboo spear. Next is the Whirling Blade who
wields a pair of bladed bucklers which can also be thrown as projectiles. He
waits at the entrance of the King’s school. One-Arm catches the blades on his
sword and flings them back at their owner, slicing through him like butter.
Mighty Blade uses his immense strength and giant two handed sword to overpower
his opponents. After luring him outside the Kings' fort, the students drop a
net over him to restrain him as they mutilate him. Thunder Blade wields
smokebombs and a sword whose blade conceals a smoke sprayer and a shotgun.
After using water to douse the smoke, One-Arm uses a cloth shield to block the
pellets before cutting him down. Thousand Blade (or One Thousand Fingers) the
only female King uses her sexuality to lull her targets into lowering their
guard before killing them with the many knives concealed in the sleeves of her
robe. After failing to seduce One-Arm, she is fatally stabbed by one of the
students she seduced and wounded. The Unseen Blade (the Unseen) the leader of
the Eight Kings uses deception and distraction to confuse his opponents along
with a collapsible sword whose blade can extend during battle and also has a
hidden hook. One-Arm uses his skill in close range combat and left handed sword
fighting to get inside Unseen's range and slice off his sword arm. In the end the
One-Armed Swordsman defeats the Eight Kings and their armies, but by that time
all of the sword fighting students who were helping him are dead. He leaves the
last King, Unseen, to be killed by their vengeful masters as he and his wife
return home. Return of the One-Armed Swordsman is an example of
a sequel preceding the original. The title character had already
been developed at this point, so really Cheh could just get on with telling a
new story, which is what he does without wasting any time. The various
different characters are brilliant – most wuxia films have one or two great
villains, this film has ten, each one as colourful as the last. The fighting
sequences are amazing with loads of wire work and trampoline stunts, keeping
the action flowing constantly. It is as epic as a small-set studio film could
ever be, with action taking place in various different locations. Its not just
the best One-Armed Swordsman film but it’s one of the best wuxia films of all
time. Fang is a complex hero – almost an antihero and the villains are serious
enemies and not cartoonish. There is no feeble attempts at humour and all the
supporting characters have depth to them. The direction is perfect, in fact,
everything is perfect, even the script – which is something that is often
pretty weak in martial arts movies. The original One-Armed Swordsman
was hugely influential but its follow up really paved the way in
terms of fighting scenes, character development and just plain awesomeness. If
you don’t like Return of the One-Armed Swordsman then the genre just isn’t for
you.
