Review of Forbidden Legend of Sex and Chopsticks

I have seen a number of Jin Ping Mei adaptations that take great liberties for creating a protagonist much more sympathetic than Ximen Qing (or Saimun Hing as you are likely to hear in Cantonese) is actually portrayed in the novel. Frankly, being a typical social parasite who uses his material wealth and other possible means to serve his sexual appetite and to ensure the subjugation of lesser people, he is no likable fellow at all. However, "Sex & Chopsticks" move further than its predecessors did and creates a rather compassionate background to Ximen Qing's exploits. Even his cruelest act, the murder of Lotus' husband is justified with his deep romantic interest in the woman. In this sense, the film suffers from some defects not very different from those shared by most adaptations of classical literary works. On the other hand, veteran Norman Chui presents the convincing portrait of a sexual gong fu master and Japanese actresses are really worth their respective roles. The story is continued in the second film and I wonder how it is handled in the follow-up.