The art of war done John Woo style, Red Cliff is an entertaining and grandiose return to form by the master of action cinema.
Returning to his native home of China after floundering in Hollywood for far too long, Woo unleashes all of his abilities upon a large canvas, shedding over a decade of mediocre filmmaking within the American system.
Originally distributed in Asia as two films released one year apart, this Western version has been cut to one 2 ½ hour epic which is no more lacking in brilliant action choreography and thoughtful performances, yet is notably absent in character development. That it still comes off as one of the better releases this year says something about its uncut version.
Awfully bad voice over narration sets the stage: it is 208 AD, and leaders of two provinces have joined together to defend themselves against the ambitious and ruthless Prime Minister Cao Cao (Zhang Fengyi), who has taken over the majority of China in order to usurp the Emperor of his throne.
Although heavily outnumbered, chief advisor Zhuge Lang (Takeshi Kaneshiro) and Grand Viceroy Zhou Yu (Tony Leung) create a strategy using their meagre resources to fight back against Cao Cao in a final stand at Red Cliff.
There is an alluring strength and wisdom to these characters, noble warriors of wisdom and virtue who stand their ground against a great villain. Leung in particular is very good, inhabiting his Grand Viceroy with a thoughtfulness that bubbles away under the surface. Kaneshiro also stand out as the intelligent and cool strategist.
Yet above all, they are martial arts bad asses, and what a treat it is to watch action choreography that is not only visible (i.e., no shaky cam) but creatively entertaining, confirming Woo’s status as the master of stylised violence.
Red Cliff’s scope is large, with CGI used to enhance its already overloaded pallet. Yet for all of its excessiveness, Woo manages to make all of its elements work, which speaks volumes about where the lauded filmmaker is in terms of his filmmaking ability. |
