Three Kingdoms

Watched the movie 'Three Kingdoms: Resurrection of the Dragon'. Will write about the movie in a while. (Warning: Spoilers ahead!)

The semi-fictional 'Romance of the Three Kingdoms' has always been my favourite epic story of all time. Though I've only read the English version since my school days, I came to appreciate the complexity of its many mini-stories and characters. For me, it's richness surpasses all war stories, making the western counterparts totally forgetable. Ultimately, I was intrigued by the hugeness of the story, to unify China during the chaotic era of the warlords. And the many valuable lessons in it.

Last year, I was extremely delighted to learn that the Battle of Red Cliffs is being made into a movie 'Red Cliff' by renowned director John Woo. You see, I've been anticipating a RTK movie for so long. It will star famous actors like Tony Leung, Takeshi Kaneshiro and Zhao Wei. Initially Chow Yuen Fatt was supposed to be in, but sadly he pulled out. The Battle of Red Cliffs is probably the best battle sequences I've ever come across. The grand battle of all battles. For me, it's definitely the biggest climax in the novel. That's why I can't wait to watch this on the big screen.

Much to my surprise, another movie 'Three Kingdoms' was quietly made and released, starring Andy Lau. It's pretty much focused on the character of Zhao Zilong (better know as Zhao Yun). Much to my disappointment, the movie was absolutely terrible. Andy did not portray Zhao Zilong's character well at all. His acting skill was okay, but he just did not have the physique and presence needed for Zhao Yun's character. The story telling was horrendous. Basically, the movie was directed in such a way, to lead to the inevitable confrontation with Cao Ying (Maggie Q). Btw, Cao Ying was a male in the novel. Sammo Hung's character Luo Ping An was not based on the original story, among many other inaccuracies. The rescue of Liu Bei's son was actually a very moving part of the story in the novel but here it's heavily modified, missing all the essential and best parts of the story. What are they thinking! Perhaps they wanna have a fresh take on Zhao Yun's story but this was a hit and (definitely) miss. And they did not provide an adequate background story to the overall Three Kingdoms at all.

For me, the biggest disappointment was their portrayal of Zhuge Liang. Zhuge Liang has been my No.1 favourite character. He was the ultimate military strategist, the exceptional and unparallelled war genius. In this movie, at a critical point of the kingdom's survival, he used divination as the sole basis for his decision (or non-decision!). What nonsense! And he's so boring in this movie, sorely lacked imagination.

At the end of the movie, I was like "Huh??! Why did they make this movie?"

I hope John Woo's Red Cliff will do justice to the story and the characters, although it focuses on a different part. It will be splitted into two movies, though I think a trilogy may be better for the story development.

And maybe we'll see Zhuge Liang in his true glory. Hopefully!