It’s been so long since he was truly relevant to me, I almost forgot how much I used to like John Woo’s work. While I was always particular to Ringo Lam’s substance versus Woo’s style during the height of the heng dai era, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a fool for films like The Killer, Hard Boiled and A Better Tomorrow. I greedily devoured those classics (as well as everything else Woo did that I could get my hands on,) so it’s with no small measure of joy that I report that John Woo has once again made a good film. After a mildly nauseating decade and a half parodying himself for Hollywood dollars, Woo has delivered Red Cliff, an engaging, sprawling epic, full of stunning visuals (including some grand special effects) and, not surprisingly, killer action pieces.
Woo has talked for years about doing a historical epic and, thankfully, he knew what to do when finally faced with the challenge.
Red Cliff is the first of two films telling the story of the Battle of Red Cliffs, a pivotal battle at the end of the Han Dynasty. This is serious stuff, having both real historic merit and ongoing popular appeal throughout Asia, and Woo is more than equal to the task of retelling the well-worn tale.
Sober, methodical and clever, without resorting to gimmickry, Woo here displays a maturity that I honestly never thought we’d see from him. The arc of his career went from the brilliant, creative, exuberance of his Hong Kong work directly into the pubescent garbage that he pumped out in Hollywood. It was as if his work never grew up. Apparently, he was just saving it up, ready to drop it on us in the form of Red Cliff. This is, in a lot of ways, the best work of Woo’s career. While it will never hold the same place in my heart The Killer does, there’s none of the video-game ridiculousness of that over-the-top gangster picture. While it’s a testament to his success that his work has been so successfully parodied, it’s also evidence to the dangerous game Woo played with his earlier films. And while there are no sequences likely as memorable as Chow Yun Fat with the baby in the hospital sequence in Hard Boiled, there are no sequences nearly as goofy as that aforementioned scene. There are no opportunities for ridicule here.
Which isn’t to say there isn’t creativity present. There is. It just feels more planned out and sparing than his great Hong Kong work. It’s an interesting turn for a director who once thrived on excess (“one cop, one killer, 10,000 bullets.”)
The cast is strong overall and DrunkenFist.com favorites Tony Leung Chiu-Wai and Takeshi Kaneshiro especially deserve mention. I normally expect good things from both and in Red Cliff they certainly deliver, anchoring the film with two somber but intense performances.
All in all, Red cliff is definitely worth your time and effort to see.
As a side note, as of this writing audiences across Asia have already gotten their chance to see Red Cliff Part 2. Yes, I’m jealous.
RSS - Posts