Red Cliff

Rating:

* * *

Verdict:

Impressively epic but unengaging

To anyone who has never seen an epic Chinese screen production outside last year's Olympic Games ceremony, this might be a good place to start. It has spectacle, scenery, history, legend and an impressive array of Asian stars bundled into one grand banquet.

But it could have been grander. This 21st century film of 14th century book

Romance of the Three Kingdoms

- based on a 3rd century battle - was released in Asia last year in two parts, lasting four and a half hours. We're getting a two and a half hour cut, one for the sensibilities of Westerners who haven't grown up on the

Red Cliff

story that has already inspired many other adaptations in Chinese high and pop culture over the years.

The core of the story is about the Han empire's power-hungry prime minister Cao Cao (Fengyi Zhang ) attempting to conquer two southern rebel warlords, Liu Bei (You Yong) and Sun Quan (Chen Chang), who unite in defiance until they are under siege on the banks of the Yangtze at Red Cliff.

And while there's still much that dazzles or entrances in this version, the cuts make for lumpy going in its narrative threads, while too many of the lead characters remain as lavishly costumed top-knotted ciphers.

Though Red Cliff does offer an exotic cinematic fireworks display with its battle scenes on land and river, it often fails to engage much more than the eyes.

This marks a return home, of sorts, for Hong Kong director John Woo after his ballistic film style got him recruited stateside for much of the 90s.

The veteran action master doesn't give this film the elegance or the artistry of Ang Lee's

Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon

or Yimou Zhang's recent "wushu" trilogy, though it's true this isn't an escapist martial arts movie but one recounting a battle and siege which in ancient Chinese history has the status of a Troy or Agincourt.

It, too, launches 1000 ships - maybe something got lost in the translation with the CGI department because those massed boats sure do look like junk - but it impresses more with its battlefield choreography which looks to have taken some moves from

The Lord the Rings

playbook.

It's not all swords, spears and arrows. Despite being the truncated version, it still has time for a pivotal tea ceremony, a jam of duelling zithers and a game of proto-football which makes this film quite the cultural showcase among all its galloping warfare.

As a movie, the short cut offers much to entertain the eye, but

Red Cliff

still takes too long to show you not quite enough.

Russell Baillie

Cast:

Chen Chang, Takeshi Kaneshiro, Tony Leung, Fengyi Zhang

Director:

John Woo

Rating:

M (battle violence)

Running time:

149 mins