Imagine the sparseness of classic oaters matched with the energy of martial arts movies and you've got what Kim Jee-won has wrought.

You don't feel the mad passion of Sergio Leone behind it, but a steadily spreading grin that never stops growing

With a nod and a wink to Sergio Leone, South Korean filmmaker Kim Jee-woon delivers a slam-bang western set in Manchuria after the Japanese invasion in 1931.

... ensure that the audience never forgets the discord which exists between the three principles and the fact that military action is always one bad day away from catching up with you.