After watching this movie for the first time yesterday, I was debating with myself as to how to rate it. Then I slowly started to realize that it is without a doubt one of the best martial arts movies I've ever seen! Even though I was dead tired, I couldn't keep my eyes off the fight scenes for even a second, and that goes for pretty much all the fights, not just the last one.
The story is actually a bit refreshing, and at least tries to be a little bit more original than usual, and I must say it kept me hooked for most parts throughout, and that's not bad for a Kung Fu-movie. However, it suffers from the same flaws as all venom movies; so many characters who look and act alike are thrown in our faces and they die like flies. There's no way you can keep track of who's who and who does what, just as usual. Chiang Sheng sums it up pretty perfectly when he dines with Lu Feng in the beginning: "I must introduce you to my men, but still with so many I can't introduce them all". That's exactly how I feel too. Lo Meng and Su Chien are absent from this movie, but it's actually forgettable since the "substitutes" make a really good job and the extras are just as good as ever. Lo Meng and Su Chien are, as we all know, usually killed of halfway in most movies anyway, so Masked Avengers doesn't really suffer from it.
The fighting is outstanding, and simply flawlessly choreographed. The venom mob really got their fighting choreography together in the early 80's and the result of their hard work can be seen here. The end fight is epic with tons of lethal traps, outrageous deaths and slick editing.
A movie that you can watch a 100 times and not get tired of. Watch it immediately!
