Jet Li's name has been billed in the movie poster, but the movie does seem to use several prominent Chinese actors /actresses. If they wanted to use anymore it will have to be a CCP propaganda film.
Ok I exaggerate a bit, but I also recognised Gordon Liu who used to star in a lot of martial arts films in the 80s and 90s, and was also the villain in Fist of Legend, also opposite Jet Li. Again he is one of the villains. Also of note is one of my favourite actresses, Zhou Xun who is quite a versatile performer, able to handle modern roles as well as Wuxia fighting ones. So one of the Hoyts cinemas near where I live showcases some foreign films, and in this case I saw Flying Swords of Dragon Gate in 3D.
I am aware this was a "re-imagining" of New Dragon Inn. Now it was a while since I saw the original, however in it while the hero kills the bad guy, his lover also dies. The Inn owner who at the beginning of the movie is a disreputable woman who engages in murder etc likely falls in love with the hero and burns down the inn and follows the hero (who is still hearbroken).
Firstly, I like to point that if this is a re-imaging the chronology is different. This is set after the original inn has been burnt down and showcases how the former inn owner Ling Yanqiu (played by Zhou Xun) tries finding the hero Zhou Huai'an (played by Jet Li).
The usual Ming dynasty type plot occurs. Corruption in the eunuchs, and Jet Li's character is a swordsman who helps the good officials battle the bad ones. Their paths converge on the rebuilt Dragon Inn which is described as near the border of the Ming dynasty. Interestingly its supposed to be at the remnant of a city from Xixia (Western Xia, a country IIRC composed of Tanghut people whose nation was basically overrun by the Mongols 2 dynasties prior).
The eunuchs are hunting a pregnant maid who the Emperor's concubine wants dead. The reason being she kills all pregnant maids because they bring gossip and dishonour, although its implied that she does so because she doesn't want rumours that the Emperor has taken up with them (even though its known they became pregnant with other men).
The maid herself has been rescued by Ling Yanqiu (who poses as Zhou Huai'an to attract his attention) who brings her to the border. Jet Li's character Zhou Huai'an himself seeks out the corrupt eunuchs. Also in the inn are a host of interesting characters, including some characters from Jianghu*, Tartars led by a woman who apparently cannot speak Chinese and relies on her second in command to translate, a female pugilist and her male companion who bears a resemblance to the corrupt eunuch, each character having an ulterior motive for being there.
What was good.
1. The use of 3 D didn't seem simply tacked on. When the eunuch rides through beautiful Chinese scenery it looks really nice. Several times in the movie projectiles are thrown at characters. From the POV of the audience it really looked like the projectiles, be them logs or weapons or even cups looked like they were coming out to hit you.
2. The characters had different fighting styles. For example the Tartar female leader gets close to you and resorts to wrestling type moves. One of the villains wields dual swords to hold off Li's henchmen. Jet Li's character had to change his style (ie use different weapons) to match the "big bad".
3. The heroes aren't afraid to kill the bad guys.
No I kid you not, some films it gets irritating when they don't in these type of stories, where the only bad guys they are allowed to kill are the foreigners, but Chinese villains get treated with kiddie gloves. No such problems occur here.Zhou Huai'an blatantly tells one of the eunuchs in the opening scene not to worry if he cannot remember Zhou's name, because he will carve the name on the corpse so everyone knows who killed him. Thats before he kills him in front of the soldiers and rescues the good officials.
4. Three D looks awesome on wuxia fights. I loved when Zhou Xun's character descended and started attacking Ming soldiers.
5. The bad guy actually is powerful and gives the sense that this guy is bad ass in the first half an hour when he fights off Jet Li, and makes Jet Li struggle to hold his own. From that point on you know he and Zhou Xun are going to team up to fight him.
There was a twist I didn't see coming but that would be spoiling it. The twist itself is a bit of a stretch, however it didn't bother me that much. Perhaps fitting, in the end the movie came full circle with Spoiler
* the term Jianghu itself literally translates as rivers and lakes, however the meaning is not literal. It refers to the world of martial arts or the martial world, which describes the interaction between pugilists, their code of honour (which not every one follows) etc.