Review Movies: Red Cliff | John Woo | sword fighting | Hong kong | Face Off | Mission Impossible | Asia | Chinese history | Emperor Han's domination

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The Review - AT THE MOVIES with DAN CARRIER
Published:11 June 2009

Prime minister Cao Cao, played by Zhang Fengyi, prepares for further battle

Two hours of sword fighting? Big Woo!

RED CLIFF
Directed by John Woo
Certificate 18

DIRECTOR John Woo went from Hong Kong to Hollywood, cutting his teeth on the boundary pushing stunts of Asian Kung Fu flicks before being handed marvellously giant pots of cash by Hollywood studios to create similar stunt fests in California.
After bringing us such action flicks as Face Off and Mission Impossible, he has now returned to Asia to tackle a ripe old tale based on Chinese history. He says: “Chinese historical epics are rarely depicted with the scale and technique that is found in Hollywood blockbusters”, and this is his attempt to do something about it.
It is a long and convoluted story that Woo has revelled in not squashing into a manageable chunk. The general thrust is this: we are taken back to 208ad. Emperor Han’s domain has been racked by civil war and it has taken the armies led by ambitious prime minister Cao Cao to subdue factions across the vast nation.
Yet in the south, two warlords are not content for Emperor Han to be their ruler, and so Cao Cao hatches a plot to take his millions of warriors to subdue the pair. While this may seem like some straightforward Blair and Bush-style nation building circa Gulf 2003, we slowly learn of Cao Cao’s other motives, which include the burning desire to renew his acquaintance with the clever and beautiful wife of one of his main opponents.
There are incredible moments, with much based on the battle scene choreography that has made Woo famous and the giant vistas the intrigues of the armies are set against.
But after a while you become a little immune to the various metal implements being thrust into flesh – and I don’t want to become immune to such horrors. The countless gruesome deaths are tedious.
With wave after wave of close-up fighting, this is the picture house equivalent of shock and awe, and that is ultimately its downfall. However well made – at a cost of £80m it is the most expensive Chinese language film yet – however grand and skilful, this is essentially watching brutal sword fights for 148 minutes.

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