Review of Red Cliff (2008) by Walter M — 14 Feb 2011

"Red Cliff" starts in 208 A.D. as Cao Cao(Fengyi Zhang) has just become Prime Minister. That is only the beginning for him, as he seeks to consolidate power under the authority of the emperor. First off is the south that is governed by Sun Quan(Chen Chang) and Liu Bei(Yong You). In battle, they are roundly beaten by Cao Cao's forces, even while they try to protect as much of the peasant refugees as they can. Their only hope consists of forming an alliance with Zhou Yu(Tony Leung).

While it is the first movie John Woo has filmed in China in some time, "Red Cliff" is still something of a departure for him, as to my knowledge, it is the first pre-20th century period piece of a such an epic stature that he has made.(For the record, this review refers to the deluxe international version.) His lack of experience in this genre shows. For example, Woo's strength has always been with stylish action sequences and there is no shortage of them here.(My personal favorite is the arrow trick.) But these are inappropriate when attempting to depict a war, as one character puts it, where there are no winners. However, Cao Cao is the clear villain, as he seeks only power for himself and spends most of the movie stroking his beard while the other side is an underdog, ragtag operation. That's not to mention all of the misplaced sentimentality on display. On the plus side, nobody flies during the movie.