A Chinese historical war epic of the first order, John Woo’s return to filmmaking at home received a five-hour running time in its release there—earning a record box office
—but this version is in the two-and-a-half-hour range. Maybe some of the drama was lost as a result in this, the austerity edition, where some of the deeper character details are smudged in a sprawling cast. But the compensations in the film’s form and structure are many, especially the elaborate wide-shot battle sequences, perfectly choreographed hand-to-hand combat and the poppy-bright arterial fountains, seamlessly enhanced with CGI, all of which approaches Peter Jackson-levels of scale. After the hollow Windtalkers and Paycheque, this is really something. And fans of Woo’s work will thrill to a never-better signature dove sequence at the one-hour mark.
This article appears in May 13-19, 2010.
I really liked this film. For you to really enjoy it, you have to have some sort of familiarity either with the Warring States period in China, or have some sort of familiarity of The Romance of the Three Kingdoms. You have to remember this film was made for people who have had this story burned into their brains, by other films, video games, books, and TV. It’s much like Tolkien or Shakespeare for an English speaking audience, and even then, there’s nothing like it in the Western world. With the exception of maybe Mel Gibson’s treatment of the William Wallace story.
If you know the story behind the film, you don’t wonder why Zhuge Liang is so revered, or why Guan Yu is so feared, or why Cao Cao is the main villain. With that, you can dispense with figuring out characters, and why they’re doing what they’re doing. With that in mind, it’s a treat to see the biggest battle in this epic get the John Woo treatment. I can’t wait for part 2!