Red Cliff

The director John Woo's take on the real-life battle of Red Cliff feels more mythical than factual.

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For those unfamiliar with Chinese history, the Battle of Red Cliff in 208-209AD had a profound impact on the course of the nation, ending the sprawling Han Dynasty and separating northern and southern China into a hostile axis that would squabble for centuries It was a battle an on epic scale, and a classic case of mismatched powers, as the evil northern warlord Cao Cao took on the allied southern forces' 50,000 men with his 800,000-strong juggernaut The great John Woo (Face/Off, Mission Impossible II) has taken a break from Hollywood of late, but seems the perfect choice to tackle this meaty epic. Be prepared, though, for a soft-focus war. Troops are arranged, without a speck of mud on them, in immaculate formations. Decisions are communicated not by words but through music, by impossibly handsome rulers and strategists, all of whom sport a dizzying array of elaborate topknots. Even with China's presumably enormous extras directory, Woo chooses instead to go heavy on computer-generated imagery to depict the scale of things. The storytelling feels, as a result, more mythical than factual, with mists curling through the pagodas and doves swooping over battles scenes. Gritty and realistic it is not. And the dialogue, not helped by an awful monotone voice-over, makes the acting (really just a series of long, melodramatic glances) feel wooden. On a purely visual level, there is plenty to enjoy. Just don't expect third-century China to have ever really looked like this.