Movie Review: Red Cliff (4/5 stars)

Red Cliff did not feel like a 2 1/2 hour movie.

No draggy scenes, no gaps in between and despite only having 2 major battle scenes, the dialogue and storyline was really very engaging.

And towards the end, I was drawn into the plot and eager to know how Prime Minister Cao Cao will strategise his next move.

Kudos to Takeshi Kaneshiro playing the role of Zhuge Liang. Tony Leung holds his own as Adviser Zhou Yu (I cannot imagine Chow Yun Fat was originally slated to play this role) while the rest of the casting was quite apt.

I especially enjoyed the camera panning from Zhuge Liang to Zhou Yu while they were contemplating Cao Cao’s next move from across the river.

Director John Woo kicks ass in capturing the cool fight scenes

Themes of brotherhood, camaradrie and integrity that were a common thread from his earlier Hongkong movies (A Better Tomorrow, Hard Boiled, The Killer) underly this movie which takes place in the Han dynasty (circa 208 A.D.) during the Three Kingdoms period.

I’m eagerly anticipating Red Cliff Part 2.