| Overall Grade: |
B- |
|
| Story: |
B |
|
|
| Acting: |
B |
|
|
| Direction: |
C+ |
|
|
| Visuals: |
A- |
|
|
A review by a Chinese
by RobinL (movies profile)
Apr 11, 2007
331
of
450 people found this review helpful
I watched this movie in July when it just came out in China. The actually translated name of the movie is actually, "ten sides amuscade" (an old chinese adage used to describe the situation which a troop got into a trap).
OK, let me talk about this movie in a Chinese perspective.
Perhaps because I've watched too many martial art movies, this movie, if categorized in the kind of martial art, is not particularly terrific. The plot is somewhat old-fashioned that two gangs (in this case, the government and the rebels) clash together and as it goes on, conspiracy and love embroider with the martial art fightings.
More importantly, the theme of which reflects the overall value of the movie is featherbrained. I believe the real classic martial art movie, not only to exhibit the spetacular fighting scene, moreover it's to give audience more insights about the depth of world (or life). This movie on the contrary--if I am not very much mistaken--surrounds a point of love. I do not mean that I despise love. But this individual feeling as repeatedly emphasized again and again in the movie creates a rather weary and tedious effect: nothing creative, nothing new.
While critisizing much of its imperfections, it's is worthwhile to give some credits of its visual. Director Zhang Yimou keeps the advantage of his work through his outstanding aesthetic perspective. The visual effect of the fighting scene is well-designed. The borrowing of the nature into the movie, such as the bamboo and grassland, is quite remarkable.
I'd say there is nothing wrong in this movie. It's not, however, the kind of movie you expect to be called as a masterpiece. In comparison of HERO, I think it improves somewhat; yet Director Zhang Yimou and his movie have a long way to go. |
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