Entertainment in a Glance

Director:Daniel Lee
Writers:Ho Leung Lau (writer), Daniel Lee (writer)
Release Date:3 April 2008 (Indonesia)
Genre:Action | Drama | History | War

The film is based on one of the classics of Chinese literature, The Three Kingdoms, and focuses mostly on the character of Zhao Zilong, one of the legendary warriors in the book. There's nothing too deep or particularly memorable about his journey from being a nobody in the army to becoming legendary heartthrob general, but Andy Lau does a competent enough job of it, even though his perfect teeth don't really jibe with the character.

This genre has really gone the way of "all style and no substance" which is somewhat ironic, given that the whole reason why the Three Kingdoms is such a classic in the Chinese world is not just because it's a good yarn, but because it's moving. The characters are moving. Their relationships, their words, deeds, and actions are memorable. People know so much of these stories by heart. That's a challenge to any filmmaker, so believe us that we aren't trying to slag off this director as not worthy of the challenge; few directors could be. However, you'd think that character development would not be as short-shrifted as it regularly is.

Fans of wuxia and Three Kingdoms might like this one, the rest of you should not encounter any existential crisis if you miss it.