Review of Empire of Silver (2009) by Greg W — 03 Nov 2014

In "Empire of Silver," business is good for Master Kang(Tielin Zhang) and his banking empire, even with Manager Qui(Zhicheng Ding) being fired for embezzlement. On the personal side, there is the wedding of Kang's son, Fourth Master, who goes on his honeymoon with his new bride. And then everything hits the fan. By the time the smoke clears, the bride is dead, along with a couple of other people, Second Master is seriously wounded and Fourth Master has a nervous breakdown. That leaves Third Master(Aaron Kwok) having to take responsibility for once in his life.

"Empire of Silver" is set at the time of Boxer Rebellion, involving a banking dynasty and all the soap opera that goes along with that. That's more than enough material for a ten hour miniseries, much less a two hour movie like this one. So, it is no surprise that some of this story feels rushed and fractured at times. But as long as the movie remains clear about showing how one cannot be in total control of the future no matter how much one tries to manipulate events, then all is well, especially considering the handsome production.