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calvinice
Reviews
Wu ji (2005)
A Visually gorgeous, beautiful film experience
This is the first time I write a review for this board and I wanted to write about this film from many a time.
It seems that this film is quite polarizing for too many people. First of all let me state that the only version I had seen is the original two-hour cut of the film (Asian original version) and not the botched hour-and-half version -that the distributors found fit for the American public to see- and that was nailed by the critics. I previously owned the DVD (Also with the original cut) and had enjoyed the movie several times, and now I got it in Bluray and I am sure I am going to enjoy it many times more.
This film is an Epic Fantasy in the "Wuxha" tradition but with more emphasis in the fantasy part -almost like a folk-tale- and like in all good fairy-tales, lessons are provided for all involved. Five different characters: an extremely loyal slave, who starts crawling and ends up flying (Tell me about cinematic metaphors!); an arrogant General (Who finally discovers love for the first time), a cunning beautiful Princess (Who is cursed to lose every man she loves), an evil Duke (Who at the end proves to be more insecure than evil), and a pitiable assassin (Who is on constant denial about himself). All the afore mentioned -under the hand of gifted Director Kaige Chen- will find their respective destinies at the same time providing us with some of the most incredible ravishing visuals, amazing wire-work and pathos of operatic proportions (Klaus Badelt composed the extraordinarily powerful but lyrical musical score).
This is a somewhat story-wise complex film with several intertwined plots which deal with many different ideas (Loyalty, Friendship, Fate, Love, Envy, Sacrifice, etc) that at the end provide the core for some hard-earned lessons, like it should in any morality-play that all fairy-tales usually are. Many people have criticized the CGI of this movie and they are not at fault: the CGI in this film is quite far-reaching, and yes some is gorgeous (Fortunately most of the time) and some is poor (The bull's run for example), but do not let this to hinder your enjoyment of this stunningly beautiful film (Remember, as years progress by, last-year's best visual effects are going to look dated or clumsy).
This film is not perfect (Sometimes it tries to reach more that it can grasp), but when it is good, it is exceedingly good. I suggest -if you have the chance- to give an opportunity to this incredible and fulfilling film.