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Director John Woo set out on a path paved with good intentions. His plan was to create an epic film which would depict a famous battle from the pages of ancient China history. There is no doubt that Red Cliff contains a copious amount of blood and mesmerizing, well-orchestrated battle sequences. And while it has the sheer ferocity of Braveheart and the ballet-like sword play of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, its abundance of underdeveloped central characters, odd plot developments and poor thespianism help create a sense of emptiness to it all.

It's the year 208 and the ruthless Prime Minister Cao Cao (Fengyi Zhang) has pressured his young, Eastern Han Dynasty emperor into letting him wage war against what he deems as two rebellious warlords in the south - Liu Bei (Yong Yu) and Sun Quan (Chen Chang). Cao Cao has already conquered the north and now hopes to eliminate all who could oppose him.

With an army he boasts is over 800,000 (but more likely around 220,000), Cao Cao attacks Liu Bei who must fend off his aggressor in order to save thousands of peasants. (Cao Cao is presented as being relentless ,yet he lets a beleagured, much smaller army hampered by civilians escape to safety?) Chief Advisor Zhuge Liang (Takeshi Kaneshiro) soon forms an alliance between Liu Bei and Sun Quan, and the former takes up a defensive position with Grand Viceroy Zhou Yu (Tony Leung Chiu Wai) at Red Cliff.

Cao Cao, who vastly outnumbers them, sails the Yangtze River with 10,000 ships and makes camp across from Red Cliff. Because of his arrogant miscalculations; information gathered covertly in his camp by Zhou Yu's daring sister, Sun Shangxiang (Wei Zhao); and an intimate knowledge of local weather patterns by Zhuge Liang, the ensuing Battle of Red Cliff does not unfold well for Cao Cao.

Woo, whose resume in America includes hits and misses like Mission Impossible 2, Broken Arrow, and Windtalkers, should be commended for creating some of the most brilliant, complex battle sequences ever captured. Even though Woo tried to keep a sense of historical accuracy in his script, he seemingly couldn't help but have central characters accomplish feats on the battlefield that only a mythical god could achieve. As such, the film sometimes devolves into a B-movie Kung Fu flick.

Kaneshiro delivers a quiet, understated performance that helps give Red Cliff a sense of stability when it sometimes tries to come unhinged, as when Woo includes a scene that's reminiscent of the dueling banjo scene from Deliverance. Chiu Wai is also solid and shares some nice chemistry with Kaneshiro. However, the rest of the cast portray nothing more than silly caricatures, especially Zhang as Cao Cao. This is supposed to be THE villain and yet he seems more suited for a Godzilla flick.

On a letter grade scale from A being excellent to F for failing, Red Cliff receives a C.
    
Spoken in Mandarin Chinese with English subtitles, Red Cliff is rated R and has a running time of 148 minutes.

Now showing through December 24 @
Tivoli Cinemas
Westport Manor Square, 4050 Pennsylvania, KCMO
Visit www.tivolikc.com or call 913-383-7756 for showtimes.

By Michael D. Smith

Indie Film Editor

Michael D. Smith earned a Bachelor of Arts in history at College of the Ozarks in Point Lookout, Missouri followed by a Master of Arts in history at the University of Missouri-Kansas City.

Inspired by such critics as Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, Michael started reviewing films in 1992 for College of the Ozarks's student-run newspaper. After returning to the Kansas City area in 1994, he continued film reviewing by writing for the Cass County Democrat Missourian in Harrisonville.

In 2000 Michael joined Sun Publications in Overland Park, Kansas where he served as its film critic and Arts and Entertainment Editor. During his tenure there, he was also the film critic for the "Fine Arts Radio Hour" and "Celebrity Scoop" radio shows on KXTR. After leaving the Sun in late 2002, he became the A&E writer for the Olathe News in Olathe, Kansas. He also worked as a freelance writer for The Squire in Leawood, Showcase Publishing in Lake Ozark, Missouri and the Kansas City Star.

Michael is currently a member of the Kansas City Film Critics Circle, a professional film critic organization established in 1966 by the late Dr. James Loutzenhiser.

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