Kong saan mei yan (An Empress and the Warriors) (The Kingdom and the Beauty) (2008)

An Empress and the Warriors is one of those Hong Kong action epic costume dramas that doesn't take itself too seriously. In other words, it is good, but not great.

At a high level the story is a good one, which involves a princess taking the throne of a kingdom at war. Sadly, the film doesn't feel as epic as it sounds. At only 90 minutes, there are times where the movie is successful and those are the scenes without Leon Lai. The first 20 minutes, as well as the last 20 minutes, are where the pacing is pretty quick and all the action happens. It is in the middle where Leon Lai's dramatic scenes drag this movie down. These scenes are playful at times, however while taking a little away from the boredom, it also takes away from the seriousness that this film employs the rest of the time.

As far the action goes, there are the usual epic big battle scenes. Fortunately, there is enough in the way of one on one battles to display some good martial arts choreography. Donnie Yen, Leon Lai, and even Kelly Chen all get a chance to display some moves.

The acting is a bit of a letdown. Donnie Yen and Leon Lai are nothing special. The lovely Kelly Chen, who actually puts on an entertaining performance, adds to the childishness of the romantic drama scenes, that in the end hurt this film.

Despite some of the flaws of this picture, An Empress and the Warriors isn't a waste of time. Just don't try to hard to find a way to watch this.