Shadow

Shadow

Zhang Yimou’s very hit or miss with me.  I love Hero and The Road Home.  House of Flying Daggers and Raise the Red Lantern do absolutely nothing for me.  The trailer was the deciding factor:

So cool, right?  Well, the visuals don’t disappoint.  The black, white, and grays are truly stunning.  They very intentionally create the classic Chinese painting look.

But surprisingly, there’s far less martial art in this than I was expecting.  The bladed umbrellas are pretty cool, but only the scene where Li Sun unlocks the fighting technique truly lives up to its potential.  

The scene with her umbrella fighting is really slick.

“Shakespearean” is the word that constantly came to mind as I was watching this.  The court intrigue, the formal style of speaking, the incessant scheming - this would not feel out of place in his bibliography.  Perhaps I would have enjoyed this more if my expectations were different, but I never came around on it.

Regret watching: No

Would buy on DVD: No

Would watch again: No

Rating: Fine