If you're somewhat of a Donnie Yen fan and film completionist, there's probably not much I can say to stop you from seeing this movie as you're going to check it out regardless. That darn curiosity. After In The Line of Duty 4 and Tiger Cage 2 (two of my top 10 martial arts movies), it's hard to watch the cast of Donnie Yen, John Salvitti and the mighty Micheal Woods go to waste under the weight of an unimpressive direction and small budget. There's no heart or real effort put in this movie.
With a title like 'Crystal Hunt' you might expect or hope an action-adventure movie perhaps in the style of Jackie Chan's 'Armor of God' but all the actual adventuring is comprised of a short mountain hike near the end of the movie. The rest of the 'hunt' is mostly comprised of uninspired foot-chases and shoot-outs, and then the titular 'crystal' isn't even relevant yet! As for the crystal, it's supposed healing powers are never explained or shown. So, what was the point? Oh yes and you're probably interested in at least the fighting? It's just not very good. While Donnie is in good form as always, the choreography and set-ups aren't really to write home about. If you're going to see this movie to cross that entry of your Donnie Yen list, just make sure it's on a lazy Sunday afternoon; don't make it the highlight of your evening. Because it won't be very shiny. Probably also skip 'Cheetah on Fire', it's in the same boat as this movie. If you're really interested in checking out some earlier low-budget Yen movies, I'm recommending The Holy Virgin vs The Evil Dead. It's very silly but I found it to be way more entertaining then this one. Plus, that flick arguably has the best tracking shot in movie history (those who've seen the movie know what I'm talking about).
