Review: Red Cliff (2009) ****

Tony Leung in John Woo’s Red Cliff

Told in simple, broad, memorable strokes, John Woo’s Red Cliff is the kind of historical action epic Hollywood seems to have lost the ability to reliably deliver. Based on a 700-year-old Chinese novel set in the 3rd century AD, it tells the story of an ambitious general who bullies his weak emperor into crushing two less powerful warlords to the south. Realizing the two kingdoms can’t stand alone, a military strategist from one kingdom convinces a war hero from the other that they must form an alliance and use their superior knowledge and tactics to defeat the more powerful enemy.

Originally shown to Asian audiences in two parts totaling 5 hours, Woo always intended an edited version that would be more appealing to Westerners. The version opening this week for US audiences (and already playing on VOD) has been pruned back to 2 hours and 30 minutes, a length barely enough to contain the film’s massive scope, but it just manages to work. The result is a breathlessly paced bit of action entertainment that is a little simplistic at times, but never less than entertaining.

For better or for worse, the sheer scale of Red Cliff (expertly enhanced by some judiciously employed CGI that is never a distraction) tends to tamp down some of Woo’s more operatic tendencies. This might be a disappointment for the director’s hard-core fan base, but it’s kind of a relief for those disappointed that Woo’s over-the-top style never found its full flower in Hollywood. Count me among the latter. Woo isn’t changing the face of action cinema here as he once did in the late ’80s and early ’90s, but he’s still a master working with enormous confidence on a project he’s very enthusiastic about and it’s fun to watch.

Helping him out are the great Tony Leung (with whom Woo has not worked since 1992’s Hard Boiled) as the war hero and Takeshi Kaneshiro (Chungking Express, House of Flying Daggers) as the military strategist with whom he unites to fight a common foe. Both men bring all of their considerable charisma to their roles and every bit is needed. The characters may have had more room to live and breathe in the original 5-hour version, but here they must be established quickly and memorably. The dialogue also leans a little heavily on clichéd Sun Tsu-isms and Chinese martial philosophy, but the actors manage to bring it to life.

I suspect the two-part version of Red Cliff (already available on Asian Blu-rays) is a deeper, richer, more layered affair, but it could also be more bloated and ponderous – a deadly side effect of many epics of such scale. Either way, the fat-free 2 hour and 30 minute cut has to be admired for its brevity and pacing. The characters are clearly and cleanly defined, the story is straightforward (if a bit predictable) and the whole thing delivers like a freight train of action entertainment. Building gradually over time, it reaches several mini-crescendos on its way to a fiery, land/sea finale that runs for 25 minutes from the time the first arrow flies until the last corpse falls.

It’s easy to see why Red Cliff broke box office records in Asia and one hopes it finds an audience here in the US as well.

Red Cliff. China 2009. Directed by John Woo. Screenplay by Guo Zheng, Sheng Heyu and Woo Chan Khan. Cinematography by Lu Yue and Zhang Li. Music score composed by Taro Iwashiro. Edited by Robert A. Ferretti, Angie Lam and Yang Hongyu. Costumes designed by Tim Yip. Starring Tony Leung, Takeshi Kaneshiro, Zhang Fengyi, Chang Chen, Vicky Zhao, Hu Jun, Shidou Nakamura and Lin Chiling. 2 hours 40 minutes. Rated R by the MPAA for sequences of epic warfare. 4 stars (out of 5)

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Tags: Angie Lam, Chang Chen, Guo Zheng, Hu Jun, John Woo, Lin Chiling, Lu Yue, Red Cliff, Robert A. Ferretti, Sheng Heyu, Shidou Nakamura, Takeshi Kaneshiro, Taro Iwashiro, Tim Yip, Tony Leung, Vicky Zhao, Woo Chan Khan, Yang Hongyu, Zhang Fengyi, Zhang Li