Zhang’s latest, an espionage thriller set in 1930s Manchuria, mostly works as a violent, intricately-plotted genre exercise about spies and traitors. 

It doesn’t always work, but Zhang Yimou’s delayed new picture, about a man trying to find a reel of film that contains a shot of his long-lost daughter, features stunning performances from Zhang Yi and newcomer Liu Haocun.

A return to form in some ways, Zhang’s monochrome martial-arts drama is visually gorgeous but not always compelling.  

Fairly entertaining inasmuch as it is a CG-fest ‘historical fantasy’ with spectacular visual flourishes, but ultimately generic and mechanical in its execution.