I went to watch this movie not knowing what it was about, thinking it was just another Chinese period movie with old martial arts thrown in... Let me just say the costumes and set were beautifully done.
Someone put a lot of effort giving the movie character and feel for the period. From the start to the end I was always amazed at the amount of detail placed in the set and costumes, which brings it to life for the movie goer.
The storyline is basically Hamlet, and if you have ever watched Hamlet you can see the parallels in the story, but in Chinese with added martial arts goodness. The only downside you could guess how it was going to end and sadly unlike Western movies it doesn't keep you in the grips of your seat wondering "would the prince make it this time..."
I found that towards the end I just wanted the movie to end I guess if you know the age old tragedy story by Shakespeare people die and in this movie they die tear jerking realistic deaths, no PG here...
The acting is serious excellent, I can only understand Cantonese but when the words are spoken with such emotion and the acting so well done you don't need to understand the language to feel the movie. Certain scenes are such a treat, eg the love song is so beautifully done, the martial arts are second to none *going to leave scenes out not to spoil anything*.
The only downside is if you know the storyline of Hamlet you can guess how everything is going to go.
I do hope you check it out well worth a watch and it is damn impressive coming out of China... The PRC is coming out with such talent nowadays!
Zeroing out. JC
I don't know if I put anything that is really a spoiler but this is my first review of a movie, hope it helps users here decide if they want to watch this movie or not, adding the spoiler just in case...
Someone put a lot of effort giving the movie character and feel for the period. From the start to the end I was always amazed at the amount of detail placed in the set and costumes, which brings it to life for the movie goer.
The storyline is basically Hamlet, and if you have ever watched Hamlet you can see the parallels in the story, but in Chinese with added martial arts goodness. The only downside you could guess how it was going to end and sadly unlike Western movies it doesn't keep you in the grips of your seat wondering "would the prince make it this time..."
I found that towards the end I just wanted the movie to end I guess if you know the age old tragedy story by Shakespeare people die and in this movie they die tear jerking realistic deaths, no PG here...
The acting is serious excellent, I can only understand Cantonese but when the words are spoken with such emotion and the acting so well done you don't need to understand the language to feel the movie. Certain scenes are such a treat, eg the love song is so beautifully done, the martial arts are second to none *going to leave scenes out not to spoil anything*.
The only downside is if you know the storyline of Hamlet you can guess how everything is going to go.
I do hope you check it out well worth a watch and it is damn impressive coming out of China... The PRC is coming out with such talent nowadays!
Zeroing out. JC
I don't know if I put anything that is really a spoiler but this is my first review of a movie, hope it helps users here decide if they want to watch this movie or not, adding the spoiler just in case...