IF YIMOU Zhang's awesome martial arts epic Hero left you feeling giddy with excitement, then you may need to sit down.

The Chinese director's follow-up - another gravity-defying extravaganza of death-defying swordsmanship and acrobatics - is even more sumptuous and exhilarating.

Indeed, such is the grandeur, the bold invention and staggering complexity of the fight sequences in House Of Flying Daggers, it's hard to imagine how anyone will match - let alone surpass - this film for pure visceral thrills, for quite some time.

At the film's heart is a tragic tale of star-crossed lovers, set against the political intrigue of the rapidly decaying Tang Dynasty.

An underground alliance called the House of Flying Daggers gains massive support in Feng Tian County, close to the Imperial Capital, by stealing from the rich to give to the poor.

Captains Leo (Andy Lau) and Jin (Takeshi Kaneshiro) are ordered to capture the leader of this mysterious sect.

They suspect that beautiful pavilion dancer Mei (Ziyi Zhang) is the daughter of the old leader so they hatch a devious plan: Leo arrests Mei, then Jin pretends to be a renegade warrior called Wind and rescues the damsel from her prison.

Sure enough, Mei leads Jin to the secret headquarters of the House of Flying Daggers, but en route, he begins to fall in love with his prey.

Danger lurks all around for Mei and Jin and they come under attack from all sides.

But the pretty dancer is not as helpless as she seems and has a surprise or two in store for the undercover officer.

House of Flying Daggers is a visual treat. Every frame shimmers with colour and director Zhang moves gracefully through the story, marrying the action with tender romance.

The three leads complement rich, nuanced performances with wondrous acrobatics and pirouettes.

Zhang has never looked more radiant and she generates a smouldering screen chemistry with Kaneshiro.

Acclaimed fight choreographer Tony Ching Siu Tung excels himself, orchestrating two bravura set pieces that defy superlatives.

The first is an ancient game of Simon Says involving 50 drums and a bowl of beans, which sees Ziyi pushes her gymnastic prowess to the limit.

Later, our collective jaw drops during a hyper-kinetic skirmish in a bamboo forest that puts Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon to shame, with warriors flying through the air, criss-crossing in a miasma of clashing swords.

In a word, breathtaking.

Rating: 9/10