Red Cliff II (2009)

Hong Kong auteur John Woo provides his most elaborate of spectacles with the epic RED CLIFF where his filmmaking, perhaps finally, emulates that of which Kurosawa did for RAN or, at the very least, Jackson and his LORD OF THE RINGS trilogy, distancing himself from his more- recent Hollywood bombs such as PAYCHECK and WINDTALKERS. He keeps the violence that he is known for intact, but does not allow it to run the show, aside from some very out-of-place chop-saki action, allowing history to tell its brutal tale.The tale is both simple and complicated. A corrupt Prime Minister of the Han Dynasty declares war on the two lesser kingdoms of third century China. The result is the bonding of the Xu and Wu kingdoms who use extraordinary tactics, as well as taking advantage of their sea-worthy prowess, to defend against, and ultimately defeat, the larger nation. However, the intense, internal political intrigue and various character plot points at times over-burden the production with heavy story lines that are usually better suited for a miniseries as opposed to one, long film. Having a working knowledge of Chinese history, including this historical battle, would enhance the film's storytelling, but such could be as foreign to Western audiences as the story of Wyatt Earp, Doc Holliday and the shootout at the OK Corral would be to the East.Although historical epics such as this one often focus on the overall story as opposed to individual characters, it can be tricky to cast and depict those that now have the mythology of time added to their legend. However, RED CLIFF's headliners of Tony Leung - a Woo mainstay - Takeshi Kaneshiro and Shidô Nakamura do act and perform well giving life to the names they are portraying. The true star of the film is, of course, war and all the various battle scenes showcased throughout the film are cinematically worthy of the aforementioned LOTR or even BRAVEHEART. Woo balances the sword-edge thin difference between the beauty of honorable war and violence for havoc's sake like a samurai master. With this he shows is mastery in his craft taking his shoot 'em-laden beginnings like THE KILLER and HARD BOILED and tempering such style with the grandeur he learned in Hollywood.Slow and tedious at times like cooking basmati rice or Southern-style grits, RED CLIFF is by no means a perfect movie; there are too many action scenes that appear too fantastical to be believable and, obviously, the fiction of story supersedes the events of reality. For a large, historical epic, however, the film authenticates nearly a generation of cookie-cutter Hong Kong actioneers.

The first half of this film was at least amusing but it starts to fall apart from there. This film is more cartoonish than the first movie and not realistic at all, a lot of parts in the movie never really happened in Chinese history. From what I heard the final battle scene of this movie wasn't even fought by the people who are portrayed in the movie, I assume John Woo went this direction cause he only spent time developing only a handful of characters and to top it off the movie ends with a wimper. The first movie at least had some good battle scenes, but part 2 really lacks the battle scenes compared to part 1 and I thought part 1 lacked action as well. John Woo just added a lot of drama without actually adding anything to the brutality of war. The final stand off in the movie was absurd and not believable and it's not just cause it didn't happen in Chinese history that way even though I don't know the Chinese historical context I know a lot of the parts portrayed in the movie to be false. Even when John Woo tries to add character development to some of the other characters like Sun Shangxiang he was doing more damage than good, cause it wasn't captivating what so ever. I don't even want to get into the bad dialogue cause it well pretty bad. I will give this movie a 7 cause at least the first half of the movie was more captivating than part 1 although the battle cause it was ridiculous and not very engaging the ending was a let down as well.7/10

********** THE COMMENTS MAY CONTAIN SPOILER **************** ********** BE WARNED. READ AT YOUR OWN RISK ****************IMHO, this show is watchable if you like big scenes and some of the lead actors & actresses...Best part of the show, I think, is the "borrow arrow" portion. Second best to me, would be the battle scene.Worst parts: 1) The Red Cliff battle was supposed to be one of the most important battles in the history of the three kingdoms. It involved a large number of generals and advisers; tactics, tricks and skills. Unfortunately, this show does not display sufficiently. 2) Zhou Yu knowing Zhuge being as smart/smarter than him, and serving Liu Bei, would definitely be great threat to Sun Quan; would definitely find ways to either kill him or withhold him. 3) After so much effort to trap Cao Cao, how would Zhou and gang so easily let him go (Zhou even wanted to locate Cao before his own wife)?!! "Return the tiger to his mountain"

Red Cliff, the film by John Woo based on the epic battle of Romance of the Three Kingdoms is divided into two parts. While the first was engaging in its depiction of such historical characters in Cao Cao, Zhuge Liang and Zhou Yu, the second is all about war itself, which can be a little daunting to some. But that is just how war is.You see, war is not about a spontaneous fight between two opposing parties. It has nothing to do with sword wielding 'cling clang' or battle cries and fistfights. The distinction has to be made since war is by far a larger context than a battle, although war itself consists many. In Red Cliff II we will see what is at play when war is raged. It cannot be pretty can it? But it can as this is the romanticized version of history and on screen John Woo made it even prettier.The cast is strong with Tony Leung Chiu-wai as viceroy Zhou Yu, Takeshi Kaneshiro as adviser Zhuge Liang and Zhang Fengyi as Cao Cao, to name just a few. The list is long. A good cast will more often than not up the aesthetical appeal to a movie. For the female audience, Tony Leung charms with his manly portrayal of Zhou Yu, and Takeshi Kaneshiro is always a pleasure to watch as he liven every scene with wit and humor. For the male audience, it is the childlike yet seriousness of Zhao Wei as Sun Shangxiang, and Lin Chi-ling's poise and compassion as Xiao Qiao that allures.But can war really be pretty? If you think that killing each other is a good way to express beauty then perhaps you can be on the same page as the tyranny Cao Cao. In part 1, where the emphasis of battle was on land with a very elaborate tactic devised by Zhuge Liang, here in part 2 we witness the battle at sea, physically and psychologically.Back to the main topic of war, it is crucial that victory must be sorted as numerous lives are heavily at stake, whether or not these lives are valued or not, be they as added numbers or as friends. In war the emphasis is on strategies and tactics to win. And on strategies and tactics, I guess we no doubt have to consult Sun Tzu's The Art of War and also take reference to The 36 Stratagems.I can refer that the epic battle of Red Cliff has two points that stood out when referenced to The Art of War and that is The Attack By Fire and The Use Of Spies.Recorded in the 36 stratagems is the use of the enemy's own spy to sow discord in the enemy's camp by Zhou Yu. This famous move is of correlation to The Art of War where it is stated as having converted spies, getting hold of the enemy's spies and using them for our own purposes. In war all can be done, there can be no holds barred because any weakness can be exploited by the enemy. Zhou Yu can be said to have brilliantly disposed off of Cao Cao's main strategic threat because Cao Cao slain both his most dependable generals who are most versed in sea battles.When 50,000 has to fight 200,000, who could blame Zhou Yu for such tactics, especially when Cao Cao first provoked by sending dead soldiers across to Zhou Yu's side on wooden rafts, knowing that disease spread through this mean can greatly weaken his enemy.The other account decisive of the battle of Red Cliff is the Chain Strategem, although modified by John Woo in its depiction, with the key in Lin Chi-ling's character, Xiao Qiao.It is interesting to sit through 141 minutes witnessing a romanticized version of John Woo's Red Cliff. Personally I didn't feel that it was long, however to some who wanted to see a Lord of the Ring's type battle on screen could be disappointed.Sun Tzu's The Art of War states that the general who wins a battle makes many calculations in his temple before the war is fought. The general who loses a battle makes but a few calculations before hand. Thus do many calculations lead to victory, and few calculations to defeat: how much more no calculation at all! It is by attention to this point that I can foresee who is likely to win or lose.The point of war however is that in war everybody loses. This should be what John Woo's Red Cliff is trying to tell us. I agree wholeheartedly with water in my eyes.