+ Good plot (clever schemes, a touch of mystery), a lot of outdoor scenes, good acting and NO obvious goosebumps-raising "pose"-acting or tropes that are so pervasive and cringey (e.g. hero catches a falling heroine, looks at each other in the eye, time pauses.....)

- Unrealistic martial journey from zilch (no foundation) to expert in a matter of weeks (months?) with few hints of practice (other than the very initiation to basic blade skills)

- Very, very, very crappy action pulls down the rating by at least 1 - 1.5 stars. I truly cringe every time it builds up to a fighting scene because more likely than not, it frizzles out or skipped completely!!! A lot of foreplay ..... and that's it! Totally unsatisfying.

Where there's fighting, there's so much slow-motion of v ordinary moves (eg just barely avoiding a blade) that it irritates. Maybe the actors and actresses are so rotten with action choreography that the only way to get away with it is to fill the scenes with close-up slow motion?