On September 3, 2010, Reign of Assassins had its premiere at the 67th annual Venice Film Festival, where it met acclaim from critics.

A narration tells of a legendary Indian Buddhist monk, Bodhi who found the art of Kung Fu and the belief that his mummified remains has mystical powers.

The Dark Stone gang, having found that half of the remains are in the Prime Minister Zhang's hands, sends assassins to kill him and his son Renfeng.

The Dark Stone gang's leader, Wheel King, recruits and trains a new assassin, Turquoise, a merciless girl who murdered her fiancé and in-laws on her wedding night.

The Dark Stone gang are still in pursuit of Drizzle and the mummified remains, and one of their top members, Fatty Chen, is mysteriously assassinated.

The Wheel King, having obtained the remains, attempts to use the power to restore his bodily "defect"; he was castrated as a boy and uses the cover of being a low ranking eunuch to hide his criminal activities.

The idea for making Reign of Assassins came about when producer Terence Chang was looking for an action film to star Michelle Yeoh.

[1][7] Yeoh had initial doubts about the role as she had not used her martial arts skills since Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.

"[9] Terence Chang and Su Chao-pin said that they wanted to take wuxia writer Gu Long's approach of "having many characters, and add mystery and suspense to the plot".

[1] Principal photography began on October 4, 2009 in Songjiang Town, Shanghai, China, and then moved to Hengdian World Studios.

Terrence Chang stated that Woo spent "more than a week" directing a fight scene featuring his daughter Angeles as an assassin.

Heavy rains made production go over-schedule and a huge outdoor temple set had to be moved indoors to avoid further delays.

[23] The Hollywood Reporter wrote "the beautifully balanced story finds time for humor and a piercingly romantic finale.

This lush visual treat should have no trouble finding kung fu audiences, with crossover potential to the Western art circuit.

"[2] Variety gave the film a positive review, referring to it as "A delightful martial-arts romp that makes up in wit and exuberance what it occasionally lacks in clarity and finesse".

[24] Screen International wrote that "It might lack the sheer visual poetry of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, but its scenes of sword-play are wonderful and once the story gathers momentum it is absorbing and entertaining."

and went on to praise the acting of Michelle Yeoh calling her a "wonderfully charismatic talent, aging gracefully but still retains a poise and style that really sets her apart.

But when many recent martial arts films can barely tell a complete story and are hyped only by lavish sets, Assassins stands out as entertaining and special.

"[26] Malaysiakini also compared the film to Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, writing that "The movie sort of goes back to wuxia's roots, where the plot revolves tightly around the Chinese philosophy and relationship.

"[27] Today gave the film three stars out of five, saying that "the storyline borders on the illogical at times – Su's script will get you sniggering...on-screen moments between Yeoh and Jung are uncomfortably stiff.