this would get 10 stars outright if would only "judge" from the perspective of the most well done "grand" fighting scene (medieval war clash) that i would say, to this date, has no match out there(the way jet Li deals with the canons deployed).
however, while the message is right in its morality by "acceptable" standards, it sets the movie ,as a whole ,not much apart from the previous genre drama movies, if one looks on a "fresh" take war subject matter. as someone here has mentioned already, "war is hell" indeed, but to engage the viewer , the director and screenwriter must explore the causes of war not just simply "use" the human emotions to develop sympathy for such tales especially the ones based on actual history as this one claims as well.i would add at this point that the recent Chinese made "battle of wits" is way superior to this one when it comes to a very similar plot but with better told and untold analysis of "cause and effect" issues. if i would consider this alone, the following feature would only deserve the 5 stars for its mediocrity.
coming to acting, that is pretty good, i would not say special, and jet Li seems better at it then the previous ones( i guess the plot being a serious subject matter helps as well in seeing him as such). the supporting cast give above average performances. the soundtrack is quiet good as well, especially during "build up" sequences. the movie lags a bit in the middle and the epic scale in second part i do not feel that is handled properly at keeping the viewer engaged( basically it sets the emotions going based on brutality and the awesome special effects and then just makes all too predictable). yet, i would say is a great watch regardless.
however, while the message is right in its morality by "acceptable" standards, it sets the movie ,as a whole ,not much apart from the previous genre drama movies, if one looks on a "fresh" take war subject matter. as someone here has mentioned already, "war is hell" indeed, but to engage the viewer , the director and screenwriter must explore the causes of war not just simply "use" the human emotions to develop sympathy for such tales especially the ones based on actual history as this one claims as well.i would add at this point that the recent Chinese made "battle of wits" is way superior to this one when it comes to a very similar plot but with better told and untold analysis of "cause and effect" issues. if i would consider this alone, the following feature would only deserve the 5 stars for its mediocrity.
coming to acting, that is pretty good, i would not say special, and jet Li seems better at it then the previous ones( i guess the plot being a serious subject matter helps as well in seeing him as such). the supporting cast give above average performances. the soundtrack is quiet good as well, especially during "build up" sequences. the movie lags a bit in the middle and the epic scale in second part i do not feel that is handled properly at keeping the viewer engaged( basically it sets the emotions going based on brutality and the awesome special effects and then just makes all too predictable). yet, i would say is a great watch regardless.