Jiang shan mei ren

Basically this movie has a plot typical a romance epic genre. But I don't care much about the story. My only reason watching this flick is because Donnie Yen. The direction seriously damaged by lack of exploration by the filmmaker. This is not movie quality direction rather much like a TV series quality. Very disappointing. The pace is inconsistent, the romantic scenes very immature and lame, there no intensity on the battle scenes at all. The characterization on the bad guys very cheaply done. It's like they are yelling at the audience, "I'm the bad guy, look at my evil expressions, very bad ain't it". Overall this flick is very disappointing. 4/10

This is not a great martial arts movie, it is a good story, well acted and directed with something for everyone. It is like a cross between 'House of Flying Daggers' and the Chinese warrior epics you may have seen. All the lead characters are believable, there is a good and evil story, a love story, a friendship story and an unrequited love story, oh and plenty of action. The fights are well choreographed, especially the larger battles with some scenes that look truly realistic, I don't know how they did some of them with no deaths ( makes the chariot scenes in Ben Hur look like Childs play ) I did get a bit bored with some of the lovely dovey stuff, but by the end of the film I knew I would watch this again. The end fight is worth waiting for, not just for the action but for the emotion shown by the actors.

Costume design is top-notch, but that is also it!!! Even thought they used great casts in it; like Donnie Yen, Leon Lai and Kelly Chen.

The feeling of awfulness came when I watched this movie right from the start.

The pace of the movie is really really annoying to watch, surely in the first 10 minutes of the movie I felt it. This movie is SO B GRADE.

Yep, u can feel that this movie was made with a high intensive schedule and again with a Hong Kong movie feeling. Due to the fact the movie is putted together like it is crammed into a microwave. Fast and sleazy in 99 minutes!!! I hate the director or editor really now after I watched this movie. There is nothing that captures my interest , fight scenes nor even got the attitude to be memorable in my head. I don't even think I would watch this one ever again.

The story: itself, oh man, very unappealing to watch it without thinking "BOOOoring!!!" Even thou the movie has got some "magic" or romantic time, but that is quickly wasted by the fight scenes and lousy text lines with no-nonsense-combating-filling-up-the-movie-fight-sequences. (yep ,feels like chewing gum after a long time in your mouth, u want to spit it out because it starts to nerving u)

The music: no memorable lines or even attractive interesting soundtracks, very fast to forget about. The editing and also some non-aunthentic computer made scenes makes this movie stinks so hard so that the music would not live up the whole picture anymore. I think that the music is only there because it has to fill up some gap.

The characters: OK, I would watch how the cast did in this movie, but that would be also it! There is very little to satisfy when u watched it...

The dialogs's: Truly hilarious, some not-logical sentences that comes with emotions are really put in a wrong way, even the timing for some sentences is not used correctly to get an emphasized feeling!!! Not even good to watch this movie I must say, only disappointed, annoyed and sleepy...

Only one nomination is granted and that's for the costume design, but they over do it in the film like its kind of 'Lord of The Rings'and '300' which they almost hard copy it with no originality. So don't bother, go watch another director and/or movie!

Summary: It wants to be an epic, it wants to be an action movie, it wants to be a love story. It switches gears and does all three in mediocre fashion.

Positives: - great backdrops for some of the scenes - a far cry from the older Chinese movies where sets and scenes were an afterthought - battle scene was better than expected

Negatives: - the 3 part storyline was predictable and not all that exciting - the acting - see my message board post about the unintentionally hilarious climax - fake CGI rain looked really really fake

the scenery gives it a passing grade.

Someone will point out the plot has some flaws, yet it doesn't matter for me to enjoy one of the most exciting two hours in my life! The movie is full of bold imagination, amazing depiction of ancient wars and the great actions of superhero. Donnie Yen in the last scene is just the Mars and there have never been a character in the cinematic history as heroic as him! You will be touched to cry when Leon Lai and Kelly Chen ride the fire balloon to watch such a splendid landscape of beautiful China! The scene that Leon Lai is going to fly with his fire balloon and Kelly Chen hurried to catch up with him, with the accompany of the Orphean strains of the theme song, will become one of the most romantic scenes in Chinese cinematic history! Believe me, take your beloved to watch this movie at weekend and you will love each other more!