Sorry, this movie sucks

Highly Overrated But Still Good

Fresh and Exciting

if their story seems completely bonkers, almost like a feverish work of fiction, you ain't heard nothing yet.

An intense drama with superb production design.It's the kind of drama that we used to see in our childhood with family politics involved and the fight is for the throne. Who is going to be the heir? How to take the throne from a king who is good at fighting but not so kind at heart? This forms the whole story and indeed that is what is the whole movie.Characters are shown as they are, and slowly as the film progresses, their real motives are revealed. From crown prince to the empress to a doctor, everyone is doing something for themselves and its their selfishness that has drowned them. At the beginning, I thought it would be hard to understand story, but as things got simpler, I started actually disliking it. It's a complex story with every character being pivotal to the culmination of the story, yet with each detail revealed I was getting to know more of the story and as knowledge grew, interest reduced and that's what happened. Yet, this is a very hardcore drama and a great drama too. We don't see so much of politics involved and each character plotting against the other in many films. Now, before I go ahead reviewing anything, costume design and set design which combine into production design are aspects I loved this movie for. The climax fight that is choreographed superbly shows a glimpse of how authentic the whole film is. From beginning to the end, the palace, the kings costume, the queen's embroidery each has it's own distinct artistry and all are beautiful. Gong Li as the empress has showed great variation in emotion and so did Chow Yun Fat as the emperor. All others showed emotion well. Sound design was good tooNow, this is good movie and not a great one though, a 3/5 is what I think is apt.

This is a film from Director Zhang Yimou about Emperor Ping (Chow Yun-Fat) of the Tang Dynasty and his newly crowned Empress Phoenix (Gong Li), who has developed a secret affair with her elder stepson, Prince Wan (Liu Ye). In addition, the Emperor's controlling ways over the kingdom have been challenged and questioned by middle son Prince Jai (Jay Chou) and the ailing Empress. This all leads to a brilliant and dramatic display of rebellion, corruption, jealousy and war as Prince Jai and the Empress attempt to overthrown the evil Emperor.The setting of the magnificent Forbidden City was done in such beauty and color that it will leave you in awe at its stunning display of majesty and power. I have visited the Forbidden City a few times and it was great to see it portrayed in the movie when it was the home of powerful royalty.The costumes used for the cast, especially that of the beautiful Empress, were exquisite and elegant and, at just over an hour and a half, this movie had just the right amount of drama and action to make it entertaining and worth the view when I first saw it on a plane ride.***spoiler ahead*** I wished that the ending could have been different, for example, showing the Emperor getting a taste of his own bitter medicine. However, I guess it just shows how far a king would go to preserve his legacy and grip on power and how even the most powerful and seemingly prosperous family could meet its decline through greed and misfortune. ***spoiler ends*** Overall, it's a stunning movie that really showcases the majestic and supreme life of royalty in ancient China.Grade B

This is, quite plainly, a dreadful movie. It's hard to believe that this is the director of The Road Home. The golden costumes--tinsel, tinsel, tinsel--that so often fill the screen are laughably gaudy and cannot be justified on the basis of historical accuracy. The exquisite Gong Li chews up the scenery and then spits it out, and the grimaces of the Eldest Son when he discovers that darkest of secrets-- predictable with a capital P--are difficult to watch without smiling sadly and sympathetically for the actor. My knowledge of Mandarin is thin, so I had to watch the movie accompanied by the English soundtrack...my Lord, what overheated clichés are shoveled in our direction. There is not a death scene in the movie (and there are many) that doesn't involved writhing, screaming, and an obligatory facial closeup. The final battle was, I suppose predictably, more like the stylized mass choreography preceding the Olympics (Yimou was responsible for those, too) than anything that might actually have happened in battle. If you want to see Yimou do something like this much more adroitly, I recommend House of Flying Daggers or even Hero. This film, to put it plainly, is a waste of everyone's talent.

As usual, director Zhang Yimou classically embellishes this film with plenty of symbolic color in possibly the darkest of subjects. A underlying fight, a quiet struggle, and many outwardly physical conflicts find themselves in this amazingly moving film. This film is not a date night movie for the weak of heart, it is a visual masterpiece and a heart-wrenching struggle set in a spiral of events which to us now may only seem barbaric. The leading character, played by Li Gong, is a favorite actress of Yimou's and has taken the lead in many of his best films. Her superb performance alone may constitute watching this film as she creates a stern and beautiful character whom we both adore and misunderstand. Her character's great strength is frightening, even in her weakest moments.