John Woo Delivers

Red Cliff : Part I left us at a crucial juncture in the story, with the alliance between the two southern Chinese warlords seemingly haven broken down even before the main battle has been fought. The army is encamped in the eponymous Red Cliff valley, with the army of the Han kingdom on the other side of the Yangtze river.

For 2/3rd of the movie, we are essentially watching preparations for the battle of Red Cliff, which forms the climactic scene of the movie. There are other sub-plots in progress - the breakdown of the Southern alliance and the spy from the alliance who infiltrates the camp of the Han army. All of these things keep you engrossed for the length of the movie, helped along by the great direction and pacing, not to mention the outstanding acting by all involved.

One of the highlights is the interaction between the characters of Zhou Yu (played by the legendary Tony Leung Chiu Wai) and Zhu-ge Liang (played by the excellent Takeshi Kaneshiro). Formerly on opposing sides, they are now united in the alliance of the Southern warlords. Much of the time they are discussing strategy in an semi-ironic fashion but you can feel the seeds of a deep friendship being sown. Both actors play it to perfection.

The climactic battle is filled with heroic acts, sacrifices, mortal combat and explosions, in the best traditions of cinematic battles and brings all the sub-plots to their conclusions during or just after it, in the best traditions of good screenwriting. The movie puts you through a series of emotions and reaches an emotional peak as the battle winds down, leaving us enthralled by the end. As I mentioned in the review for Part I, the battle scenes tread the middle ground in terms of style, much like the Lord of the Rings trilogy, keeping things in touch with reality while limiting the amount of blood and gore.

By the end of Part II, the movie has gone through more than four and a half hours of running time. While the first half of Part I was somewhat dull, although it could be argued that it was also necessary to set up the rest of the story, the remaining three hours or so is entirely engrossing. Truly an epic.

10/10