Curse of the Golden Flower

I should not have watched this movie yet cos I agreed to watch it with mom. However my frens were quite sincere in asking me to watch it so I thot it will be a sin to reject the offer. Moreover I can arrange something else with mom. Watched the sneaks at Cine, 11pm last night.

With such a star-studded cast, it will be quite upsetting if viewers did not find substance in the movie. Luckily I was not disappointed.

Seriously I do not know where to start commenting. Quite a whirl of comments in my head. The most impressive points about the movie were the massive and spectacular use of extras to create the enormous rebellion. Another commendable dramatic technique will be the presence of numerous twists in the plot. Some of the twists were predictable to me but not to my frens, I wonder why?

The cast acted well in this film. Jay Chou improved; at least he was more expressive this time round compared to Initial D. Chow Yun Fatt and Gong Li were obviously adept in their acting. The supporting characters were also given more attention this time, compared to other movies. However I did not really understand the need for the love story (part of the subplot). Zhang Yimou probably just wanted more excitement and film time. However the subplot as a whole added to the twists and made the conspiracy more holistic.

Essentially the ruthless nonchalance of the Emperor (Chow Yun Fatt) was the element that added spice to movie. I hated that guy when I left the cinema cos he acted real well as the villain.

There was a part where they spent around quite a while filming Jay Chou being the one-man army. I thot that was quite a drag and Jay could have been better in his ferocity.

Nonetheless this movie effectively represents the politics possibly inherent in Chinese medival times. Decorated with a respledent palace and such a gigantic amount of troops and servants, it was truly a magnificent sight. Even if CGI was used, it was hard to spot the computerisation.

I can give it 8.5 out of 10...