A young deposed emperor flees his usurper brother and meets an athletically gifted fisherman (Hong Kong pop star Andy Lau Tak-Wah) who has a pet killer whale. Together they try to restore the king to his rightful throne but are hampered by romantic entanglements and the presence of a traitor.... [More]

A young deposed emperor flees his usurper brother and meets an athletically gifted fisherman (Hong Kong pop star Andy Lau Tak-Wah) who has a pet killer whale. Together they try to restore the king to his rightful throne but are hampered by romantic entanglements and the presence of a traitor. Maggie Cheung is cast as the emperor's beautiful bodyguard, while Anita Mui plays the emperor's betrothed; the longtime Taiwanese martial arts star Chang Yi also has a minor role. Frequent musical interludes punctuate well-choreographed sequences overseen by action directors Ching Siu-tung (CHINESE GHOST STORY) and Corey Yuen (NEW LEGEND OF SHAOLIN). Highlights include a finale in which the killer whale delivers a devastating martial arts blow. The use of the killer whale is not a rip-off of FREE WILLY, which was released shortly after this film; instead, the whale is symbolic of the oversize devil-may-care imagination of Hong Kong scriptwriters. During the end credits, there are several minutes worth of outtakes in which one can see Lau training the killer whale. [Less]