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Chris_fk
Reviews
Chi bi: Jue zhan tian xia (2009)
Truly overly overrated.
First and fore Most.....i must confess that i did not watch part 1 because i was never a fan of Woo epic films like wind talker(i am a fan of face off for its stylistic action), and after much persuasion from my friends at how good this show will be..i decided..i would fork out money to watch.i must comment that part 2 was a straight forward film that did not require must backtracking to part 1..
when one enter the cinema..with a title like red cliff and a stellar cast.One would need no introduction to who they are or even question their acting capability..but the one doubt i had....was...john woo as the director...woo is a credible director when it comes to the action gun fight genre who pioneer the dual gun fight to the west...but a "epic" movie? well i have my doubts....
The Film tries to be smart..showing you the strategies and the individual character's intellect..it does succeed in making it a smart movie..but at the expense of "realism" don't you feel the character are often very stiff and unemotional and there were many often..to many of a comic relief..which i feel.doesn't quite well to this genre of Epic war movie..imagine Lord of the ring,saving private Ryan,brave heart gladiator.injected with tons of humor? what would it do to the mood and the tone of the film? ,many of us actually question the tactics,which woo fails to execute with realism and looks extremely flawed on screen..i din knowthat Zhouyu was a suicidal embracing tactician.i thought he would face his opponent face to face? the naval battle? it was a Massacre for caocao's force, i wonder what hurricane force wind did zhugeliang summon/predict with so much accuracy.it puts all meteorological service to shame..maybe he could tell us..when is the world gonna end? the wind spread so fast. it burnt caocao navy before he could utter anything..yes i know they are carrying gun powder on board.but think for a second..how far the fleet is..and how massive it is suppose to be..
You never feel attach to any character..and woo depiction of heroism is wasted/flawed,countless men and leader sacrifice their life, but sadly u feel none for them.why is this so? i keep wondering..when a character from another movie dies.u feel his pain,u sorry for him,u feel how great noble he is..but in this show..u feel none...many great leader are just looking to waste their life here.
the film's strategy is also greatly flawed...we all know how china produce great china Olympian.but this movie puts all their hard work to shame..Pole vaulting with one hand? in the middle of a war? what is this? caocao as dumb as to put someone who's great in soccer a platoon commander? imagine Wayne Rooney to lead the forces of England to battle just because prince Charles fancy him in soccer..is caocao really that dumb as woo depicts him in the movie...i totally cannot believe it..to kill 2 of his trusted navy admiral without even questioning much? Woo has another amazing ability to slow mo emotional scenes.the part about piggy and the good dumb guy.this is the only part i feel a slight emotional..but the whole war just seem to stop there..and allow a moment of sentiments.../grief to set in.
lin chi ling falling down..and how zhouyu runs faster than Neo in the matrix/or the china hurdle champion is just unbearable to watch....how the archer shot the arrow to trim caocao hair just put Leonidas to shame in 300...maybe Leonidas thinks Xerxes needed a tooth pick so he gave him a bigger one.. guys i could go on and on...
overall this films lacks the emotional grab..the tension isn't there. the character are more wooden than wood,there is only 1 saving private Ryan,1 return of the king,1 brave heart, 1 gladiator, and this show..chi bi.is just isn't it..john woo ruined what could be the best war epic in china history...
and Mr woo...enough with the pigeons/dove flying,we know you're fascinated by them