Red Cliff, John Woo's new film, is epic as all hell. I had been pretty excited to see it for a while, and it finally came to Indianapolis this past week. Not that I'm that big of a John Woo fan, but the film got good reviews and the trailer made it look way awesome. Which it is.
Instead of describing the plot, I'll just tell you that it's an ancient Chinese war epic. That should be a sufficient amount of information. Like most of these types of films, it has an epic storyline (I'm using the word "epic" a lot) and huge, violent battle scenes. I have read a few reviews, and some critics think the action scenes hold the film together, while other are more pleased with the scenes of dialogue. I think they are both fantastic. The action scenes are probably a little more striking, though.
The fight choreography in Red Cliff is incredible, and the CGI looks like it's not even there. In fact, I wouldn't even know CGI was used if I didn't know that what these warriors are doing in the battle scenes is humanly impossible.
Complaints: the film goes on just a little long, especially the final battle scene. I feel like by the end, the movie has exhausted its visual ideas. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, because the first two hours are brilliant, but I think it might be more effective to have cut out some of the action at the end, especially since the plot developments are so good. I think it might get in the way a bit.
Red Cliff is awesome, though. See it immediately.
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