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Venice Film Festival line-up revealed, including Takashi Miike’s new samurai film

Andrew Heskins — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 09:00:11 +0000

The full programme for the Venice Film Festival has been announced, including new films by Takashi Miike and Tsui Hark, and the adaptation of Haruki Murakami’s Norwegian Wood

There are several upcoming treats in store at the Venice Film Festival, which is often host to a first glimpse of some of the more interesting Asian films (and, in some cases, the nearest to the mainstream that they get).

There’ll be a lot of interest in Takashi Miike’s latest film, a (doubtlessly very personal) take on a samurai tale, 13 Assassins, which also happens to be a co-production with the UK. Also on show will be the highly-anticipated version of Haruki Murakami’s Norwegian Wood by Tran Anh Hung, the first full length novel Murakami has allowed to be adapted.

Hong Kong stalwart Tsui Hark is also in competition with Detective Dee and the Mystery of Phantom Flame. I, for one, have fingers crossed that we see a true return to form.

Out of competition there’s more from Miike, Zebraman and Zebraman 2: Attack on Zebra City; the latest from Infernal Affairs director Andrew Lau, The Return of Chen Zhen; The Child’s Eye 3D, the first Chinese/Hong Kong 3D film(?) from (who else but) the Pang Brothers; Reign of Assassins by John Woo and Su Chao-Pin starring Michelle Yeoh; Shock Labyrinth 3D by Ju-on: The Grudge director Takashi Shimizu; and Space Guy by Zhang Yuan.

The festival runs from 1 to 11 September, and hopefully we should get to see some of the fallout soon afterwards…

See the official Venice Film Festival site »

Venice Film Festival

Andrew Heskins — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 18:08:18 +0000

The full programme for the Venice Film Festival has been announced, including new films by Takashi Miike and Tsui Hark, and the adaptation of Haruki Murakami’s Norwegian Wood…

Hong Kong stalwart Tsui Hark is also in competition with Detective Dee and the Mystery of Phantom Flame. I, for one, have fingers crossed that we see a true return to form.

Out of competition there’s more from Miike, Zebraman and Zebraman 2: Attack on Zebra City; the latest from Infernal Affairs director Andrew Lau, The Return of Chen Zhen; The Child’s Eye 3D, the first Chinese/Hong Kong 3D film(?) from (who else but) the Pang Brothers; Reign of Assassins by John Woo and Su Chao-Pin starring Michelle Yeoh; Shock Labyrinth 3D by Ju-on: The Grudgedirector Takashi Shimizu; and Space Guy by Zhang Yuan.

The festival runs from 1 to 11 September, and hopefully we should get to see some of the fallout soon afterwards…

See the official Venice Film Festival site »

The Storm Riders

Andrew Heskins — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 09:00:29 +0000

With the long-awaited sequel The Storm Warriors out next Monday, we look back at the original adaptation of Ma Wing-Shing’s comic book Fung Wan, directed by Andrew Lau (Infernal Affairs)…

In ancient China, the appropriately named evil Lord Conqueror (played by Sonny Chiba, The Streetfighter, Legend Of Eight Samurai, Kill Bill, on particularly fine raucous, bellowing form) learns from a Buddhist prophet that his future as ruler lies in two children, Wind and Cloud, and sends his legions out, King Herod style, to find and bring them under his wing and kill anyone who gets in his way.

But the final part of the prophecy must wait 10 years, as Wind (Ekin Cheng, Tokyo Raiders, Heroic Duo, Forest Of Death) and Cloud (Aaron Kwok, Murderer, Divergence, Saviour Of The Soul) grow up to be the most powerful weapons in Conqueror’s arsenal.

Wind is kindhearted, oblivious to the truth that his father Whispering Prince (Alex Fong, One Nite In Mongkok, Portland Street Blues) was killed during a dual with Conqueror. Cloud, on the other hand, is fully aware of the part Conqueror played in his father Striding Sky’s (Rongguang Yu, Mulan, New Police Story, Musa: The Warrior) death, and has become bitter, a cold and ruthless servant.

When the second part of the prophecy us revealed, that Wind and Cloud will not only make him, but also be his undoing, Conqueror sets about setting them against each other. This only results in backfiring on him, with his daughter Charity (Kristy Yang, A Man Called Hero, The Duel) murdered by his own hands.

Soon both Wind and Cloud have reasons to revenge themselves on Lord Conqueror, but can they work together to do it?

When The Storm Riders debuted at cinemas in 1998 it marked a turning point in Hong Kong filmmaking, the introduction of a high percentage of CGI effects that were (at that point) state-of-the-art. Even now the effects stand up pretty well. And that was kind of the point, co-produced by Hong Kong based Centro Digital Pictures, the film can be seen as much as a calling card for their work as it can a blockbuster, and really proved that HK could match Hollywood special effects.

Still riding the success of the Young And Dangerous series, which turned Ekin Cheng into a star and is attributed with glamorising triad life to teenagers of the time, this one-time Wong Kar-Wai cinematographer invigorated the wuxia genre, which had waned in popularity since the early 90s, setting the scene for Ang Lee’s Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon a few years later.

Taken from the successful long-running manhua, or comic book series Fung Wan by Ma Wing-Shing, it’s interesting to look back on The Storm Riders and see how reverent it is to what came before. In the same way that Wing-Shing referenced the martial art novels of the 50s and 60s, Lau looked to the big screen adaptions, such as those by the Shaw Brothers studio.

In particular it’s the series of Gu Long adaptations by director Chor Yuen such as The Magic Blade and Death Duel that come to mind, as Each character is announced with text on screen. The later Buddha’s Palm seems quite an influence too, with that films attempt to imbue martial art powers with post Star Wars effects. Lau doesn’t stop there, there’s the casting Chiba with his long history in Asian film; the childhood scenes and stylised vision recall Ronny Yu’s The Bride With White Hair; and the dual between Conqueror and Whispering Prince in a bamboo forest pays homage to that in King Hu’s Touch Of Zen, much as Lee would do a couple of years later in Crouching Tiger.

Yet unlike Lee, Lau brought a more modern sensitivity with him. He pulled on those modern references from Young And Dangerous, with slo-mo action scenes with more in common with pop promos, and fights set to dance music (rather than more classical Chinese influence music), much as The Matrix would do a year later. This was wuxia re-interpreted for the post-MTV generation, echoing Tsui Hark’s early, anarchic take on the genre in The Butterfly Murders, and was probably the biggest step on since Hark’s own Zu: Warriors from the Magic Mountain and Ching Siu-tung’s A Chinese Ghost Story.

With an all- star cast, including Shu Qi, Michael Tse and Anthony Wong, The Storm Riders is still a highly enjoyable film, reaching the right balance of narrative and action (unlike it’s successor!).

Unsurprisingly, it was immensely popular. Inspiring another Ma Wing-Shing adoption, A Man Called Hero and the similarly themed The Duel, both also starring Ekin Cheng, and setting the scene for Hark to revisit his earliest triumph in the disappointing CGI led Legend Of Zu. Lau then tried an (unofficial) attempt at bringing computer game Tekken Fist to the screen in The Avenging Fist and rebooting the Wisley character (Legend Of Wisley, The Seventh Curse) in Wesley’s Mysterious File, before moving on to the Infernal Affairs series that finally made his name internationally.

The Storm Warriors is released Monday 12 July on Blu-ray and DVD by Cine Asia.

Vengeance

Andrew Heskins — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 09:00:41 +0000

A French co-production, Johnnie To’s superb (partly) English debut pays homage to Jean-Pierre Melville’s classic Le Samouraï…

Francois Costello (Johnny Hallyday) comes to Macau to get revenge for the ruthless shooting of his daughter and her family, from which only she has survived.

By chance Costello comes across a hit carried out in his hotel by Kwai (Anthony Wong, Infernal Affairs, Exiled, Beast Cops), Chu (Lam Ka-Tung, Ip Man, Mad Detective, Infernal Affairs) and Fat Lok (Lam Suet, Breaking News, One Nite In Mongkok, The Shinjuku Incident). It turns out there’s more to Costello than meets the eye, he himself was once a hitman.

He employs the trio to find out who killed his family, which soon pits them against there own boss George Fung (Simon Yam, S.P.L., Triangle, Full Contact, on top form as the villainous triad leader).

There’s only one problem: Costello has a bullet in his brain from his former career that affects his memory, and soon he won’t even remember what he wants vengeance for…

Originally inspired from a conversation between ARP Sélection founders Michèle and Laurent Pétin and Johnnie To in Cannes, while distributing many of his there, the Pétin’s quickly fell on the idea of co-production with To, spouting the possibility of getting Alain Delon to star.

From that nucleus came an idea not to simply create a mainstream repeat of his previous works, but rather a fully fledged homage to a film that inspired so many Hong Kong action thrillers – Jean-Pierre Melville’s classic Le Samouraï in which Delon starred as the fated hitman. He even names his lead after Delon’s character Jef Costello and dressing Hallyday in an identical, if black rather than white, overcoat and hat.

(Ironically Le Samouraï was released in 1967, the same year as Seijun Suzuki’s Branded To Kill, which pulled on many similar 60s influences and style.)

Most famously, of course, it was John Woo’s The Killer that made references to that film, but there’s something of Le Samouraï in the approach of every Hong Kong film to the premise of an assassin’s life – even if much of that comes from the influential work of Woo and his peers Tsui Hark and Ringo Lam in the mid 80s. Bizarrely it started something of a love affair between Hong Kong and France and, in particular, films about hitmen.

This interplay is best illustrated in Luc Besson’s Nikita and Leon, the latter pulling heavily on The Killer picture of a ‘kind-hearted killer’ for inspiration. Another example would be Christophe Gans live-action adaption of manga Crying Freeman, which also included a helping hand from HK editor supreme David Wu.

Here To, with regular writing collaborator Wai Ka-Fai, imagines a world where Jef Costello’s character survived, and left the world of the assassin behind him – but not far enough. Of course it’s a shame that Delon turned down the role, but Hallyday makes a fair stand in.

So does that make the film a little too introspective? Perhaps. It’s true it’s laden with references to delight HK film fans, which might account for it’s somewhat mixed critical reaction. Yet personally I don’t think they impact on enjoyment of the film. Instead it stands up to repeated viewing, beautifully shot by cinematographer Cheng Siu-Keung with a great if slightly Goblin-esque score by Lo Tayu, there are several iconic scenes – the showdown in the rubbish dump being just one standout.

It also handles repeated viewing well, as we learn the reason behind Costello sometimes odd behaviour, his fading memory, his reactions become clear. This intriguing premise, a little reminiscent of Momento, echoes Park Chan-Wook’s revisionist look at revenge in his Vengeance trilogy – essentially robbing the idea of all it’s power. Lok asks wouldn’t you choose to forget if you had a chance, Kwai replies that it wouldn’t stop him.

Full of To regulars, the cast once again shines: from Anthony Wong’s performance as a jaded hitman no longer satisfied to follow his bosses whims, to Simon Yam’s delicious villain, for all purposes a less fruity but still highly enjoyable version of his Full Contact character. Lam Suet is on fine comedic form as Lok, Lam Ka-Tung fine as a brooding but fiercely loyal meber of their gang, not to mention solid support from Cheung Siu-fai (Breaking News, Murderer) and Michelle Ye (Accident, Murderer).

As I’ve mentioned previously, it’s part of an interesting stab at an international market for Media Asia, with their similarly To inspired Russian/Swedish co-production Newsmakers. In English and Cantonese in equal parts, with French thrown in, it’s a pretty effective effort at bringing new audiences to Johnnie To’s work – which makes it odd that Optimum didn’t attempt some sort of limited theatrical release as they have for some of To’s other movies.

No matter, it’s here now. Highly recommended…

Vengeance is released on Blu-ray and DVD by Optimum Home Entertainment today.

Breaking News

Andrew Heskins — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 09:00:03 +0000

A great thriller by Johnnie To and wry look at how 21st century news is broadcast all rolled into one – Hong Kong filmmaking at it’s best…

When a police operation to catch a ruthless gang of bank robbers goes wrong, live cameras broadcast footage of a police crying and begging for his life on Hong Kong television.

Deciding to turn the gangs capture into a public relations exercise, police Commissioner Rebecca Fong (Kelly Chen, An Empress and the Warriors, Infernal Affairs, Tokyo Riders), engages the press to watch Hong Kong’s finest successfully and efficiently bring down the gang, now hiding in an apartment block with father Yip (Lam Suet, Exiled, Election, Mad Detective) and his two children hostage.

Things don’t go to plan, though, as the apartment block also contains two assassins, soon holed up in the same flat, and the tenacious detective in charge of the original operation, Inspector Cheung (Nick Cheung, Exiled, The Beast Stalker), who refuses to give up even when ordered.

Soon the gangs’ leader Yuen (Richie Ren, Accident, Sniper) gets the better of Rebecca’s plan and starts turning the tables on the police’s version of events. In this game of wits, can the police win the publics confidence, let alone capture the criminals?

Undoubtedly one of Johnnie To’s finest works, shamefully it was the Russian language remake Newsmakers that brought me to it – a film that stands alongside Infernal Affairs as one of the best Hong Kong movies of the last decade. As fine as remake was, it really doesn’t compare to the original.

Utterly enthralling from the start, it’s in the sort of film that can totally engross you in moments, the kind that can make you forget where you are watching it in chucks on a tiny screen. (Trust me, I’ve tried!)

The infamous opening tracking shot beautifully sets the pace. Mellow music plays while To follows the action spiralling from a peaceful if lively street with cops staking our their intended arrests, to an all out gunfight and even a bazooka explosion.

All the time the camera weaves in an out of buildings, up and down the street, from above and below, in the sort of perfectly choreographed way that would make Brian DePalma jealous. He forces us, the audience, to be constantly one step behind, eternally a spectator.

(It also brilliant sets a core theme of one level of cops inadvertently stepping into larger operations, the beat cops step into Cheung’s operation as he does exactly the same later.)

A wonderfully wry observation of our modern consumption of news media, flippantly played out like a reality TV show, it’s hard not to draw parallels over the authorities inability to control the media with China’s own habit of wanting to control the Internet (an observation that can’t have been lost on its original Hong Kong audience).

With superb performances by the cast, including Johnnie To favourites Nicky, Suet and Richie, Breaking News is a superb thriller, even if you don’t like thrillers!

A genuine Hong Kong classic!

Newsmakers

Andrew Heskins — Fri, 14 May 2010 09:00:11 +0000

Very capable remake of Johnnie To’s Breaking News moves the action to Russia, but the question is do we really need one…?

Seems like it’s not just Hollywood that’s looking to Asia, and particularly Hong Kong, for it’s inspiration – as this Russian language remake proves.

(Though in fact the films origins are more complicated than that, being co-financed by the Swedish Film Institute and Media Asia, the producers of the original, and helmed by Swedish director Anders Banke, Frostbite, aka Frostbiten.)

When an police operation led by tenacious police detective Smirnov (Andrey Merzlikin) to bring down a gang of ruthless bank robbers goes disastrously wrong – causing chaos on the streets of Moscow all unfortunately caught on camera by a film crew chasing a celebrity – the head of the police forces PR department Katya (Mariya Mashkova) sees an opportunity to use the same news media to broadcast the police’s triumphant capture of the criminals and restore public faith in their services.

Katya organises all the media to watch them arrest the bank robbers, now holed up in an apartment with a taxi driver and his two kids – turning it into the worlds biggest live reality TV show. Things don’t exactly go to plan, however, as the gang’s leader Herman (Yevgeni Tsyganov) gets wind of their plan and soon learns how to manipulate the media himself, and Smirnov won’t give up and isn’t interested in the polices public relations. Oh, and it turns out they are not the only criminals hiding in the block of flats…

Johnnie To’s original Breaking News was one of the highpoints from the last decade of Hong Kong cinema, proving the country is still ahead of the game when it comes to creating the best action movies in the world. (Though To’s influence over HK cinema over that time has been undeniable anyway.)

A wry look at how 21st century news is broadcast 24 hours-a-day, it can also be seen as a thinly veiled metaphor for China’s attempt to control the media (sometimes pretty effectively, looking at Google’s experience in the last few months). It was also one heck of a great thriller.

Director Anders Banke’s interpretation keeps pretty close to the source material. He may steer clear of the original’s elaborate tracking shot, somewhat sensibly, but loses out on what that gave To’s movie – wonderfully setting the pace and making the audience themselves unwitting witnesses attempting to follow the action, rather than defining their points of interest. For the main part Banke’s version is too close, at points following the original almost scene for scene, even echoing the use of split screen. (And you thought Scorsese’s The Departed was too similar to Infernal Affairs at certain points?)

Those similarities, however, highlight the changes.

Banke finds the parallels between Russian and Chinese control of the media, here highlighting the clash between transparency and higher ranking officers want to remain unscrutinised by the public. It’s noticeable that one main difference in the themes of the movie is that the police force, unlike in the original, are considered less effective than plan corrupt. (Proved in one early disparity between the films when two street police unwittingly walk into the operation in the original they are distracted, here they are just bribed.)

The criminals are just as ruthless, but are here seen as thrill seeking drug users – an aspect that adds nothing to the story. It’s also noticeable that Herman is ultimately more ruthless than his Hong Kong counterpart, being far more serious about killing his hostage. But if the criminals and police are made to appear worse, the families father is more honourable – there’s no failed attempt to escape leaving his kids with the gangsters.

The screenplay, adapted from the original by Sam Klebanov and Aleksandr Lungin, brings some fine, witty additions to the central theme of news media, from the first TV news crew to film the criminals, caught in the continual worship of the minor celeb who in this case was involved in a minor car accident, to the sponsorship of the broadcast by water company Valhalla.

Soon though these ideas begin to get laid on a little thick and self-consciously (something To managed to avoid) when a promo director is employed to cut the footage and cites that he thinks the lead gang member could be a TV star. There’s a conversation about delaying the capture till primetime, to get better ratings. By the time a TV producer from Sweden turns up to offer Katya a job, it’s all got a little too much to take. (Not helped by an ‘hilarious’ cutaway to Banke’s previous film Frostbiten.)

Indeed, despite Banke’s fine efforts on the action scenes, the pace seems to lose it’s way towards the end, failing to capture the mounting tension of To’s film. That said, it’s a pretty decent remake, well acted and shoot, that manages not to infuriate anyone who’s seen the original. It’s just not as good…

Interestingly, Media Asia’s involvement in this co-production hints at a bigger game plan by them – with Hong Kong revenue dropping on a yearly basis, why not get involved in international remakes of your films? It’s better than letting American studios cream all the profit.

Don’t believe me? Just look at Johnnie To’s English-language debut Vengeance, co-produced by Media Asia and Milkyway Image with France’s ARP Sélection… (review coming soon!)

Newsmakers was released by Showbox Home Entertainment on DVD and Blu-ray and is available now.

DVD: Jiang Hu

Andrew Heskins — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 22:26:04 +0000

Directed by Wong Ching Po (A Decade Of Love; Mob Sister) and starring Andy Lau (A World Without Thieves; House Of Flying Daggers; Infernal Affairs), Jacky Cheung (Bullet In The Head), Shawn Yue (Dragon Tiger Gate; Initial D – Drift Racer; the Infernal Affairs trilogy) and Edison Chen (The Dark Knight; the Infernal Affairs trilogy), JIANG HU is a stylish gangster thriller.

Andy Lau stars as Triad boss Hung Yan-jau, whose celebrations to mark the birth of his first son are overshadowed by his having to intervene in an internal power struggle amongst his men. Despite the possibility of the situation exploding into all-out gang warfare, Hung is reluctant to take the extreme action advised by his long-time friend and closest ally, Left Hand (Jacky Cheung), who recommends the assassination of not only the troublemakers, but of all members of their immediate families. Claiming to have Hung’s best interests at heart, Left Hand takes it upon himself to order the elimination of those who threaten Hung’s position.

Meanwhile, a parallel storyline is unfolding involving two ambitious young gangsters, one of whom is hoping to climb the ranks within the criminal underworld by accepting a seemingly suicidal mission to murder one of Hong Kong’s most powerful Triad leaders…

A powerhouse cast of Hong Kong cinema’s finest actors helps propel Wong Ching Po’s dynamic thriller to a superbly stylised showdown on the city’s rain drenched streets and a climactic twist that brings the movie’s two plots together in a pleasingly dramatic finale.

JIANG HU (cert. tbc) will be released on DVD (£15.99) by Palisades Tartan on 30th November 2009. Special Features include: “Making of” featurette; music video; trailer; 2.0 and 5.1 Dolby Digital and 5.1 DTS Surround audio options; optional English subtitles.

On DVD today: A World Without Thieves

Andrew Heskins — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 09:00:40 +0000

One of the first films from the newly relaunched Palisades Tartan label – reborn from the legendary Tartan Films label, which went bust last year – is A World Without Thieves. Written and directed by Xiaogang Feng (Assembly; The Banquet), one of the most successful film directors in China, and starring Andy Lau (Three Kingdoms; House Of Flying Daggers; Infernal Affairs), Rene Liu (Double Vision; The Personals), You Ge (If You Are The One; Legend Of The Black Scorpion), Baoqiang Wang (Assembly; Blind Shaft) and Bingbing Li (The Forbidden Kingdom; The Knot), the film is billed as a thrilling crime caper with plenty of action and more than a hint of romance to spice things up.

Lau and Liu star as a master pickpocket from Hong Kong and a femme fatale grafter from Taiwan, respectively. Partners in crime and passion, they swindle their way across China until one day she suddenly decides to call it quits, both to her egregious lifestyle and to her entanglement with her lover. It is at this crossroads in their lives that they run into a humble peasant with a very large consignment of cash. It’s an encounter that will alter their fates forever…

A World Without Thieves (cert. 18) is released today on DVD (£17.99) by Palisades Tartan.

Win a trip for two to the London Premiere of Thirst, and meet director Park Chan-wook in person

Andrew Heskins — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 09:00:32 +0000

Palisades Tartan, the reborn imprint of the Tartan Films label, are offering a chance for two to attend their UK premiere of Park Chan-wook’s Thirst and meet the director in person…

A winner and two runners-up will be randomly selected from those who enter. The grand prize winner will win a trip for two to London to attend the UK premiere of Thirst at the Curzon Soho cinema on Monday 5th October 2009, hosted by Metrodome Distribution in association with Palisades Tartan UK. The winner and a friend will also have the opportunity to meet and have lunch with the film’s celebrated director, Park Chan-wook. The grand prize includes roundtrip transportation to London from the major airport or train station nearest to the winner’s home address, as well as overnight hotel accommodation for their stay in London.

The two runners-up will each receive a copy of the Vengeance Trilogy DVD Box Set released by Palisades Tartan UK.

To be in with a chance of winning, all you have to do is visit Palisades Tartan’s competition page between now and midnight on Wednesday 23rd September 2009 and enter your details.

» Enter the cometition here

In July 2008, the highly respected US company Palisades Pictures and its parent company Palisades Media Corp acquired a majority of Tartan Film UK’s 400-plus film library assets and branded their new division Palisades Tartan. Now bigger, better and bolder than before, Palisades Tartan will continue to expand on an already distinctive and provocative catalogue of films and to re-introduce the most popular elements of the former Tartan label to a whole new audience through DVD re-releases and exclusive DVD box sets, as well as through brand new releases in both the theatrical and home entertainment markets – starting with next month’s theatrical release via Metrodome Distribution of the eagerly awaited vampire movie Thirst from Old Boy director Park Chan-Wook.

Future releases also include A World Without Thieves, written and directed by Xiaogang Feng (Assembly; The Banquet), one of the most successful film directors in China, and starring Andy Lau (Three Kingdoms; House Of Flying Daggers; Infernal Affairs), Rene Liu (Double Vision; The Personals), You Ge (If You Are The One; Legend Of The Black Scorpion), Baoqiang Wang (Assembly; Blind Shaft) and Bingbing Li (The Forbidden Kingdom; The Knot), the film is billed as a thrilling crime caper with plenty of action and more than a hint of romance to spice things up. Out on Monday, 21 September.

Red Cliff II

Andrew Heskins — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 09:00:31 +0000

Say what? Another two hours to find out how the Battle of Red Cliff actually goes? Is it worth it? Oh yes, all you John Woo fans out there, it really is…

For Asian audiences, the first part of John Woo’s epic Red Cliff was something of a teaser: over two hours running time and still we don’t get to the eponymous battle itself. Worse still, once all the major characters have been introduced – particularly General Zhou Yu (Tony Leung) and Sun Shangxiang (Zhao Wei) – the film manages to leave behind its slow, political machinations to become a wholeheartedly enjoyable affair. It left us with a battle sequence on such an epic scale it managed to dwarf those in Lord Of The Rings, full of tricky formation manoeuvres and trademark Woo slow-mo backsliding, baby saving and even a pigeon, ahem, I mean dove reference (yay!)

So part two should be full stream ahead for the decisive historic battle itself then? Well not quite…

As you may have guessed from the pace of the first film, it’s going to take a while to get to the battle itself. First there’s Sun Shangxiang going undercover in the enemy Cao Cao’s (Zhang Fengyi) army, making something of an unlikely spy (all be it a classic Chinese premise) who befriends a soldier promoted to commander due to his great cujo (that’s football to you and me) playing.

Then an outbreak of typhoid in Cao Cao’s camp, which Zhou Yu honourably decides not to use as an advantage against him in this war – only to have Cao send the dead bodies of the infected into Yu’s battlements. As more become infected, the alliance between Sun Quan’s (Chen Chang) kingdom and the displaced populace led by Liu Bei (You Yong crumbles. With Liu unwilling to let any further harm come to those under his protection, they leave Sun forces to face Cao’s already far greater army.

(Which is nice, considering they got them into this war in the first place!)

Zhou Yu and master strategist Zhuge Liang (Takeshi Kaneshiro) must use all their wiles to give them an advantage against Cao – but what chance do they really stand?

Well, I don’t think I’ll be spoiling things by telling you that, ultimately, John Woo pulls out all the stops for a satisfying conclusion that beats the first for all-round entertainment, even if it lasts (nearly) another two and a half hours.

I have to admit to retracting my original review, that the Western release, which effectively cuts the running time in half, would be an improvement. Though the film takes its time, now we have the enjoyable interplay between the characters. And if the script is, typically for Woo, a little simplistic at times, its beautifully shot by cinematographers Lu Yu (Lifetimes, Shanghai Triad, Breaking the Silence) and Zhang Li (The Banquet) and more importantly, brilliantly played. Truth is there’s little from this half I’d want to see lost, particularly as the most likely cuts will be that characterisation and the delicate cultural references that help describe their motivations.

As previously mentioned, Tony Leung is compelling in his role as Zhou Yu, and Zhao Wei lights up the screen (though to my mind still seems too modern for a historical drama). It’s nice to see such a particularly strong female in a John Woo movie, and even the rather insipid character of Xiao Qiao (newcomer Chiling Lin) proves she has more ‘balls’ than most of the male cast.

Zhang Fengyi also makes an impressive lead as Cao Cao (a welcome return to the big screen since playing the assassin in Chen Kaige’s The Emperor and the Assassin) bringing complexity to the role of a leader more bound up in his own ambition than actually evil per se.

Takeshi Kaneshiro, on the other hand, becomes rather annoying, spending most of the film either smugly smirking to himself, or just on the cusp of tears, or worse (and this is a look to master) both! Oddly having taken centre stage in the first part, Liu Bei and his supporting characters take a back seat in this film – a plot necessity that may well make better sense in the Western edit.

All of which leads us to that definitive battle, the one the whole point of the film resides on. Is it really worth it? Well, it gets off to a shaky start. Despite it’s impressive scale, the naval battle is nowhere near as exciting as you’d like it to be. Namely due to the night time setting and high contrast of the flames, the action is confusing at best, and not on the level of Peter Weir’s Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World, for instance. (It may look better on the big screen or Blu-ray versions?)

Yet of course, it’s on land where Woo finds his strongest footing. Once again this marathon skirmish bears comparison to that of Lord Of The Rings: The Return of the King, as Zhou’s forces attempt to conquer Cao’s battlements, with massive explosions and yes, that borrowed Chinese Army at his disposal. Together with action chorographer Corey Yuen, there are plenty of great moments and ‘Woo-ism’s’ to keep both fans and general cinema audiences happy: a rope turned into flaming whip; heroic sacrifices; a classic Woo three-way (with swords not guns); and one hell of a finale that goes a long way towards outdoing even The Killer and Hard Boiled… not quite, but nearly!

(You might well ask yourself why he made such a mess of Windtalkers, though one can mainly put that down to the American production.)

And by avoiding the overly hysterical, overly melodramatic nature of recent historical dramas, Woo has created a film that can transcend even Western audiences. (Let’s not pretend that we’re aiming for any kind historical accuracy here.) Easily the best Woo film in over a decade, I only hope he can put his increasing poor Hollywood record behind him (I mean, Paycheck anyone?) and keep future projects up to this level.

It’ll be interesting to see how audiences react to the edited version of Red Cliff in UK cinemas. Early signs are the Western edit has been somewhat harsh, as you might expect from losing two hours of screen time, but it’s still a great ride.

Red Cliff, the abridged Western version, is released in the UK on 12 June by Entertainment Films.

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