O Imperador

If you enjoy the Chinese period epic drama for the battle and martial arts, then "The Assassins" (aka "Tong que tai") is not something for you. But if you enjoy the period dramas for the deeper storytelling then you will definitely enjoy this movie.

For me, it was a growing difficulty to sit through this movie, because I enjoy the epics with mass battles, which hardly wasn't in this particular movie. "The Assassins" is driven by its storyline and its brilliant performances put on by an impressive cast.

Speaking of the cast, then Chow Yun Fat really did shine well in this movie, and it is great to see him in the period drama genre movies. But also Yifei Liu stood out in this movie as she does in just about everything she stars in.

The sets, wardrobes and props were amazing for the movie. I really did enjoy the garments and armors shown and used in "The Assassins". There were so many details and fine touches everywhere.

Although a bit too slow-paced for my liking, there still is something astounding to be said about this movie.

Not really bad but certainly not good either and very generic. Confusing story and quite cheesy dialogues and slow motion action scenes. Costumes and armors are very nice, but it does not make a great film.

A stark, brilliant, uncompromising tale of imperial intrigue and self- fulfilling prophecies, with a star cast helmed by Yun-Fat Chow and Yifei Liu, TONG QUE TAI (THE ASSASSINS) is one of the better Mandarin films in recent years, and easily ranks with such lush historical epics as CHI BI (RED CLIFF) and MAN CHENG JIN DAI HAUNG JIN JIA (CURSE OF THE GOLDEN FLOWER).

A fictionalized account of the events leading to the fall of the Eastern Han Dynasty in 220 CE, as seen primarily from the point of view of Gong Ling Ju—one of many refugees abducted as children, then brutally trained for a decade solely to murder the powerful Duke of Wei, Chancellor Cao Cao. A military genius, adored king, scholar and poet, Cao Cao has been unswervingly loyal to the Han, even feckless current Emperor Xian. But an astrological prediction cast years before foretells that Cao's destiny is to end the Han era—and Xian's courtiers will stop at nothing to thwart "heaven's will". Might their sneak attacks and murder plots only push Chancellor Cao into the rebellion they want to prevent? Or might Cao's growing affection for and trust in his concubine, Ling Ju, prove the weakness that gives her an opportunity to kill her lover?

Solid performances, gorgeous cinematography, and a taut script weaving spectacle with reflection make TONG QUE TAI a skillfully wrought Asian history-based drama.

This is a beautifully produced movie both from the story, and production stand point. A production that's second only to the "Red Cliff" which is another story that puts Cao Cao at the focus of the story. China's production of historic movies in recent years are very high quality, and this movie is no exception.

I wonder if China these days are following the Hollywood style casting that casts compatible astrological sun sign actors in the leading role. This method seems to ensure good chemistry between male and the female lead. In this movie, three earth sign actors plays the lead (Chow Yun Fat - Taurus, Yifei Liu - Virgo, and Hiroshi Tamaki - Capricorn).

This is an unusual story that explores the inner life of Cao Cao, the main antagonist in the first half of the story of "Romance of the Three Kingdoms". Why is it unusual ? It's because although many stories about Cao Cao as a tactician has been mentioned, hardly any mention of his private life has been written. This is the first story I've ever seen that attempts to shed light on the private life of one of the greatest tactician China has ever produced (perhaps only second to Kon Min), who've conquered Northern China with his military might, and posthumously been promoted to the rank of an emperor after his sons usurped the Han dynasty.

The story of course is fictional, but the weight of the character Cao Cao makes this an interesting story. For a long time I'm sure many people have wondered what would Cao Cao have done in this situation, and that situation. The movie takes an artistic license to showcase his actions in many different situations that in some ways answers to the age long questions people had about Cao Cao. What is intriguing about Cao Cao in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, is that he has style even as a villain, and also shows romantic side, not to women, but in the way he writes poems, makes decisions, and regrets few things he's done. A shadow of his such personality is shown in this movie,

Yifei Liu plays the part of the assassin who's mother is hinted to be one of the four great beauties in Chinese history Diaochan (貂蝉).

Perhaps one movie is too small of a space to tell the story of Cao Cao, and although this is a very good movie, it still leaves a huge blank area that's not covered about one of the best and the worst hero China has ever produced. Yifei Liu has matured enough as an actor to play the romantic partner of Chow Yun Fat. She did a really convincing act in her role. Although incomplete, the movie deserves an A+ for its effort to put Cao Cao on the big screen.

THE ASSASSINS should be a good film, but it isn't. It's an expensive, expansive Chinese historical drama, featuring the great Chow Yun-Fat in a role which must be a given for him: he's playing the ruthless general Cao Cao, a guy who engaged in and won plenty of battles in the famous Three Kingdoms period. And yet the film chooses a moment at the end of his life to tell a sluggish and rather dull story of a love triangle and hidden romance.

The film looks lavish, for sure, and Yun-Fat gives a solid turn as always. The costumes and sets bring to mind the sumptuous nature of Zhang Yimou's CURSE OF THE GOLDEN FLOWER, but there the similarities end. The problem is that THE ASSASSINS isn't really about assassins at all, because these characters achieve very little in the storyline. The main character, played by Liu Yi Fei, is completely dull and goes around moping and crying all the while as she falls in love with Yun-Fat's character. Come the end you realise she's made no impact to the storyline and could easily have been excised with no ill effect.

In a bid to counter all this sentimentality, the film-makers throw in a handful of decent action sequences in which the heroic general fends off various attacks by his rivals, including the Emperor. These moments mean that the film isn't bad as a whole, but it's a far cry from what it could have been with a script re-write. There are also some ludicrous scenes which drag it down, such as the one where a horse happily jumps off a cliff.