The original Blood Simple is a great movie, and the changes here in setting, time and culture do work rather decently, but it's brought down by its misplaced attempt at comedy which goes on to cheapen the stakes and the tension. The characters weren't all that well written and the set designs appeared cheap. The ending too, despite being almost entirely identical to Blood Simple, fails to have the punch and impact of the original.
Overall, it's somewhat amusing, thanks mostly to the weight of its source material, but ends up being an underwhelming project on every other regard. Not in character for a Zhang Yimou movie!
Overall, it's somewhat amusing, thanks mostly to the weight of its source material, but ends up being an underwhelming project on every other regard. Not in character for a Zhang Yimou movie!