Director: John Woo
Cast: Tony Leung Chiu-Wai, Takeshi Kaneshiro, Zhang Fengyi, Chang Chen, Zhao Wei, Lin Chi-Ling
First of all, I would like to mention that this film is not really a sequel. Due to its epic running time of over 4 hours, John Woo's "Red Cliff" is released in 2 parts similar to Quentin Tarantino's "Kill Bill". However, do take note that it is reported by Variety that outside of Asia, moviegoers will get to see a single 2½ hours film instead.
The story is based on the Battle of Red Cliff, a decisive battle at the end of the Han Dynasty in early third century China. It was fought between the allied forces of the southern warlords Liu Bei (You Yong) and Sun Quan (Chang Chen) and the numerically superior forces of the Prime Minister Cao Cao (Zhang Fengyi) representing the Emperor from the north. Although they are outnumbered, the allied forces managed to defeat Cao Cao's army paving the way for the Three Kingdoms period.
"Red Cliff II" begins with Cao Cao's forces preparing to attack the allied forces camped out at the port of Red Cliff. Disguised as a soldier, Sun Shangxiang (Zhao Wei) infiltrates Cao Cao's camp to act as a spy and secretly sends reports to Zhuge Liang (Takeshi Kaneshiro) via a pigeon. At the same time, a typhoid epidemic spreads through Cao Cao's army causing some deaths. Cao Cao sends the corpses on rafts towards the allied camp with the intention to pass the plague to them as well. The plan works and Liu Bei decides to pull his troops out and head for home after many of them are infected. With the alliance broken, only Sun Quan's army is left to defend Red Cliff.
Zhou Yu (Tony Leung Chiu-Wai) and Zhuge Liang challenge each other to eliminate Cao Cao's naval commanders, and produce 100,000 arrows in 3 days. Having completed their respective missions using simple yet effective tactics, Zhou Yu and Zhuge Liang discuss their next move, which is to attack the enemy with fire. Meanwhile, Liu Bei changes his mind and his army turn back towards Red Cliff to join Sun Quan in the final battle against Cao Cao's forces.
Compared to the previous film, "Red Cliff II" only has a single battle scene but what a scene it is to behold. The first half of the film builds tension and only shows both sides engaged in a tactical battle of wits. This may be boring to some action junkie but once the battle begins in the second half of the film, the audience is treated with a long and fiery battle sequence. Credit is to be given to director John Woo as the final battle between the alliance and Cao Cao's forces is truly spectacular and epic.
Fans of the director will get to see his usual signatures that are present in most of his previous films - themes of brotherhood and loyalty among men, a white pigeon and a climatic standoff between the main characters. Another message the film tries to convey to the audience is to make tea, not war.
"Red Cliff II" is the best movie Woo has made since he left for Hollywood over a decade ago. As someone once suggested before, we should confiscate his passport and not allow him to leave Hong Kong again so he can continue to make quality movies. I strongly agree to this.
Score: 8/10
The story is based on the Battle of Red Cliff, a decisive battle at the end of the Han Dynasty in early third century China. It was fought between the allied forces of the southern warlords Liu Bei (You Yong) and Sun Quan (Chang Chen) and the numerically superior forces of the Prime Minister Cao Cao (Zhang Fengyi) representing the Emperor from the north. Although they are outnumbered, the allied forces managed to defeat Cao Cao's army paving the way for the Three Kingdoms period.
"Red Cliff II" begins with Cao Cao's forces preparing to attack the allied forces camped out at the port of Red Cliff. Disguised as a soldier, Sun Shangxiang (Zhao Wei) infiltrates Cao Cao's camp to act as a spy and secretly sends reports to Zhuge Liang (Takeshi Kaneshiro) via a pigeon. At the same time, a typhoid epidemic spreads through Cao Cao's army causing some deaths. Cao Cao sends the corpses on rafts towards the allied camp with the intention to pass the plague to them as well. The plan works and Liu Bei decides to pull his troops out and head for home after many of them are infected. With the alliance broken, only Sun Quan's army is left to defend Red Cliff.
Zhou Yu (Tony Leung Chiu-Wai) and Zhuge Liang challenge each other to eliminate Cao Cao's naval commanders, and produce 100,000 arrows in 3 days. Having completed their respective missions using simple yet effective tactics, Zhou Yu and Zhuge Liang discuss their next move, which is to attack the enemy with fire. Meanwhile, Liu Bei changes his mind and his army turn back towards Red Cliff to join Sun Quan in the final battle against Cao Cao's forces.
Compared to the previous film, "Red Cliff II" only has a single battle scene but what a scene it is to behold. The first half of the film builds tension and only shows both sides engaged in a tactical battle of wits. This may be boring to some action junkie but once the battle begins in the second half of the film, the audience is treated with a long and fiery battle sequence. Credit is to be given to director John Woo as the final battle between the alliance and Cao Cao's forces is truly spectacular and epic.
Fans of the director will get to see his usual signatures that are present in most of his previous films - themes of brotherhood and loyalty among men, a white pigeon and a climatic standoff between the main characters. Another message the film tries to convey to the audience is to make tea, not war.
"Red Cliff II" is the best movie Woo has made since he left for Hollywood over a decade ago. As someone once suggested before, we should confiscate his passport and not allow him to leave Hong Kong again so he can continue to make quality movies. I strongly agree to this.
Score: 8/10
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