Red Cliff...

I’m an idiot to Chinese History and have not read the ‘Romance of the 3 Kingdoms’. However, I have heard names like Cao Cao, Liu Bei, Zhuge Liang and Zhou Yu. In order to see my idol in the role of Zhou Yu, I went to watch “Red Cliff” today.

The movie started with a war to hype up those craving to see some good war battles. After the first war, you got to introduce to the characters slowly. After a slightly slow pace, you watched another war. I wasn’t bored at all despite that the movie was pretty long. They have great battle scenes and they managed to insert quite a few good lines to make people laugh.

Next, the actors portrayed their roles well, making the characters memorable and unique. Takeshi Kaneshiro took his role as Zhuge Liang very well, although I don't understand why the director got a 'Japanese+Taiwanese' for this role! Tony Leung as Zhou Yu was perfect as ever, and the rest were as entertaining. Overall I would say this movie lives up to its name with good stunts and good actings. The only lack is female scenes or important female roles. The much-anticipated Lin Chiling only acted in the bedroom with Tony but no steamy scene that would raise a hair.

Last, there is something most of us didn’t know. This movie is only part 1 and there will be a part 2! How come none of the newspapers or media mention this? On the whole, I strongly recommend this movie to those who are not familiar with the ‘Romance of the 3 Kingdoms’, so that you won’t come out complaining that the movie distorts history and all that. After watching this movie, I have a sudden urge to read up ‘Romance of the 3 Kingdoms’.

What I loved most: scale of action and sound effects
What I really hated: incomplete story - force us to watch part 2