Review of Red Cliff (2008) by Rob S — 02 May 2010

I was in Fry's the other day, and saw this movie on the shelf. I had no real knowledge of this flick other than it had such a limited release that I wasn't able to see it when it came out in the theater- it is the only time I've bought a movie without having seen it first. So before I begin this little review, a few caveats:

First, I grew up watching Chinese movies, so overdramatic acting, for me, is to be expected when watching a Chinese epic. Also,this is a review of the intertational release, not the version released in the US which was much shorter. Lastly, I don't watch dubbed versions, I'd rather read the subtitles- I find that a lot gets lost in translation when trying to squeeze it in to mouth movements (I speak Chinese and let me tell you, by saying that some voiceovers are awful translations I am being kind). Ok, enough rambling.

I had no idea that this was a 4 1/2 hour epic. That being said, I can't begin to imagine what a cut down version squeezing this two part movie into 2 hours would be like. Covering a pivotal time in ancient Chinese history and culminating with the battle at Red Cliff, I think this movie really needed the four plus hours in order to give it the depth and scope required to make it good. Actually, in the very beginning, I would have been happy to see even more explaination for the set up (this may be mainly due to my ignorance on this subject matter, but I always want to see a solid set-up in an epic anyway).

The acting was exactly as one would expect from a Chinese epic- a bit overly dramatic at times, but it was solid and you can tell watching it that the actors enjoyed playing their parts. A special note, the relationship between Zhou Yu (Tony Leung) and ZhuGe Liang (Takeshi Kaneshiro) is especially well done. I really liked their banter.

Plot wise, this is just what war epic lovers like me enjoy- rooting for an underdog who is battling a force with superior man power. Nothing surprising, but nothing banal either.

The visuals in this movie reflect its huge budget and are really engrossing- if you like movies for nothing but beautiful battle sequences alone, you will certainly enjoy this one. It is very pretty to watch- and it didn't cross that line into "too artsy" for a battle movie that I see in a lot of these kinds of films.

Overall, having no expectations either positive or negative before seeing this, I am pleased and surprised... if you like epics, don't let the length deter you, this one was fun to watch.