But what makes it interesting over its Hong Kong parent is the way the cycle has been twisted into a propagandist piece by the Chinese. For more than half the running time the film it is a light and entertaining fantasy  romp with no purpose other than to entertain. But that turns out to only really be an extended deus ex machina and quite unexpectedly toward the end the plot is twisted in an entirely different direction. It goes from what looks like the climactic build-up to a promised confrontation with the bandits and instead becomes about trying to spur the Emperor, who has become corrupted by the pleasures of the palace, into action. In the particularly downbeat ending, the hero of the piece manages, as he lies dying poisoned, to persuade the Emperor to fulfill his promise about fighting the bandit invaders. The film fades out with the narrator telling us that the next day the Emperor returned to wine and women. The whole pro-peasant, anti-imperialist message is obvious.