Offering almost nothing in terms of plot and characterisation, Lau’s film is an often hilarious if skilful showcase of a series of dynamic action ‘spectacles’ one after another.

---

---

One of the longstanding arguments related to popular filmmaking, particularly in action films, is that they are never just a showcase for a series of ‘spectacles’ one after another. 

There is still some kind of narrative undergirding them or character motivation that propels them.  In other words, spectacle and narrative are often integrated in a meaningful rather than piecemeal way. 

Legendary Weapons of China appears to be one of those exceptions where the narrative is just an excuse to… well, showcase a series of ‘spectacles’ one after another. 

Though that can also be levied towards many of these Shaw Brothers productions of the time, the best ones like Lau Kar-Leung’s The 36^th Chamber of Shaolin (1978) or The 8 Diagram Pole Fighter (1984) have more thematic layers to them. 

Unfortunately, in Lau’s Legendary Weapons, the film is merely a vehicle to carry along action scenes that are mostly played for laughs. 

“It’s fine if revolt is for the right cause.”

Cue an extended sequence of a performer pretending to be a martial arts master in front of a lively crowd or another sequence that sees a voodoo doll being used to extract precise fighting movements from a cursed man. 

These sequences, while entertaining and hilarious, play on for far too long, to the point that we don’t quite remember where we are in terms of plotting, only to be reminded once in a while that someone is a wanted man, preferably dead. 

The climax brings all the eponymous weapons together as their exponents present their impressive skills wielding them against each other, with Lau explicitly adding text on screen for audiences to identify each weapon. 

And then it just ends like that without any care in the world, like a roller-coaster that has ground abruptly to a halt—well, who cares about plot and character intention when you have a movie that one can enjoy without the ‘burdens’ of narrative coherence and clarity. 

The fact that Lau himself stars in a leading role as that wanted man with supreme skills is perhaps his greatest tongue-in-cheek moment as a star director in the Shaw canon—that it is enough to be just him.

Grade: B-

---

Trailer: