Every bit as good as you’d expect from a film by wuxia cinema’s greatest auteur King Hu during his taiwanese era. Once again, his cinematography is a feast for the eyes (finally done justice by the recent 4k restoration as opposed to the subpar DVD releases preceding it) while the plot is a clever twist on spy- and heist thrillers, entirely set in a buddhist monastery. Like most of Hu’s later works, this contains a few action scenes but will probably disappoint viewers who came for the fights alone. This is more of a drama/thriller than an action film.