In a good Chinese costume drama, there is always an empire in turmoil, a bitter dynastic struggle, vast armies assembled in choreographed columns and balletic displays of martial arts—often by characters endowed with the power to fly.
Legend of the Black Scorpion possesses all those attributes and others as well. Making its way through select cinemas last year as The Banquet (it was the Milwaukee International Film Festival’s closing night feature), the film has been renamed and released on DVD. It is a fine example of its genre, richly bejeweled, lavishly costumed and spectacularly staged. Its Hamlet-like story of a usurping uncle who kills his brother, seizes the throne and marries the empress provides the trigger for movement in the forest of images crowding the screen. Stunt doubles and computer imaging were not employed. Black Scorpion achieves its dazzle with old-fashioned cinematic magic. The bonus disc includes an interesting interview with director Feng Xiaogang and other modestly engaging bonuses.
