Originally Posted by
Lieselle
I'm sure there are alot of moviegoers who did like the movie but most critics hated it.
Unfortunately, I didn't like the movie too. Not that I expected to; I was just hoping for a pleasant surprise and got a confirmation that it was crap.
There's one thing I wasn't prepared for -boredom.
I thought it'd be all entertainment and no substance. Instead, I got no entertainment AND no substance. Shame!
By the way, that was an awful ending, and for such a historical figure too. Tsk tsk. The dubbing was TERRIBLE, the characterization was shocking, and the storyline just didn't fall into place nicely at all (particularly with all the time frame skipping). Not the smoothest film I can guarantee you. The best thing about the movie was Hung Kam-Bo. His acting was impressive and very real. Very heartfelt. You could understand him on a very humane level and it tears at you a little bit. They should've extended his role; for me, he's what saved the film a little bit. But because there wasn't enough of him, nothing much could be done which is really just too bad (and if you get around to watching this sad sad film -not that I recommend it - you'll really feel for him towards the end in particular).
It's kind of ironic if you think about it. All this promotion of Andy Lau and Maggie Q and not so much of Hung, yet if you really look at their acting on a critical view, the promotion should have been reversed. Still, all the hype is probably going to surround Andy and Maggie in these next coming days or weeks. Sad how commercialism works in some ways.
I don't have much to say about Andy because really, he's no different from how he usually acts. Same guy, same expression, even some role (close enough -all those heroic sorts he plays)!
On to Maggie since everyone is discussing her.
I notice people often comment on her action scenes or physical appearance (which I have to say is not at all convincing as a Chinese). I'm here to mainly discuss whether she did justice to her role.
Let's put aside the blatant historical inaccuracies, & have a look at what kind of character she's meant to portray.
In the film (and I'll quote from the official website to make it easier), Cao Ying is meant to have "martial prowess on the battlefield equaled by a strategic artfulness that matches Zhao's". She's also meant to be "wise beyond her years". With this in mind, I think Maggie presented a very superficial portrayal of Cao Ying. She succeeded in demonstrating a 'cold' character and combined with the action choreography given, she's able to 'fight' well enough (which isn't a surprise judging from her action resume -I read that she's a natural athlete too) but I did not ONCE get a feeling that she was a cunning strategist. She didn't represent any traits that Cao Cao was supposed to have. Instead, she came across on screen as apathetic but also very hot tempered at random moments. Her acting was very inconsistent. I could actually liken her portrayal to a 'pissed off spoilt little kid who tries to act all self-assured until he doesn't get his way and throws a tantrum'.
Instead of being "wise", I felt she was inexperienced and even naive (despite her harshness) during various scenes. And even though her actions were meant to illustrate her 'intelligence' and wide 'knowledge' for tactics, (such as when she sacrificed that one guy), Maggie's portrayal made me think she was irrational. There just too much of either a cold, straight face or, too much snarling and expressions that can be best described as looks of annoyance. I don't know, Maggie gave me mixed feelings about the character. On one hand, I know she's supposed to represent a brilliant military genius of some kind, but on the other hand, the acting left me entirely unconvinced. I felt that yes okay, she was ruthless (BECAUSE of her immoral deeds)and cold hearted, but nothing more, and nothing less. Oh yes, and I never felt any inner conflict that she was meant to have felt towards Zhao Zilong. To me, there was too much posing and not enough acting (or in those few scenes where she actually twitches her face, overacting). And all that instrumental (pipa) playing in the midst of war didn't bring anything to the character other than it was just for show -to make her appear 'so very cool'. But I blame that on the director/scriptwriter.
And yes, she was dubbed which in the film appeared pretty comedic and unrealistic.