I! Am! Chai-niece!
About a month ago I sat on a bus, absent-mindedly watching TV Mobile, when a movie trailer came on. It was for some show starring Takeshi Kaneshiro. And as far as I’m concerned, Takeshi in a movie is good enough reason to hand over my debit card and sit in a big dark room for 2-and-a-half hours. Doesn’t really matter what the movie is.
The movie, by the way, is Red Cliff. Being the ignorant banana that I am, I thought it was just another period piece, instead of being one of the major stories in the Three Kingdoms novel. It wasn’t until I wiki’ed it that I realised the cultural import of the movie.
The nearest comparison I can draw to Red Cliff is 2007’s 300, which I absolutely, thoroughly enjoyed, and not just for the bare-torsoed muscly men. 300 was a real popcorn movie, a cinematic blockbuster, go watch and be entertained. Probably also something to do with the overall look of the movie, and different directorial visions.
Red Cliff, on the other hand, didn’t feel as entertaining. Sure it had its good bits - everyone loved Takeshi’s interpretation of the strategist Zhuge Liang, and you can’t not like Tony Leung (it’s illegal!) but it just lacks that punch. Surprising for a John Woo film, actually. At times it felt more like a historical re-enactment, which I suppose it partially is.
In certain parts the military tactics really had me befuddled. There’s a pivotal scene where the first skirmish happens, but the events seem to go beyond common sense. *spoiler alert* Who rides into unfamiliar terrain, with poor visibility, just to pursue what seems like an easy target? C’mon, stuff like that only happens in Looney Tunes cartoons, right? Right? I very much doubt you need to read Sun Tzu’s Art of War to know that it’s not the wisest move.
All in all, while Red Cliff is a perfectly fine cultural vehicle (apparently produced to coincide with the Beijing Olympics), it lacks entertainment value. I won’t fault it for being long, since wars are protracted, wearying affairs. But it just… lacks… something.
Probably machismo.
On another note:
Whoever it was who spoke of turning swords into ploughshares, didn’t watch war movies. Look at how many awesome war movies there are. No one’s made an awesome farming movie yet, eh? No, the blood and gore doesn’t get to me, and it’s not because I have bloodlust. What is chess but a war game, writ small upon a board? What is war but a strategy game, writ large? And thus, I enjoy the mental stimulation of war movies, especially if they involve strategies.
July 19th, 2008 at 2:21 pm
The general couldn’t stand being taunted by a woman, and subsequently underestimated what she was capable of.
Sounds familiar ?