An Empress and the Warriors

Under-rated
If you're just looking for an Asian beat-em-up with shallow story and little to no character development, then watch Ong-Bak or something along those lines. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love those action-oriented movies as well. But this is not that. I feel as though most of the negative reviews are coming from people who expected something entirely different out of this movie.

That being said, this was an excellent movie. Not the greatest Chinese epic (I think Hero might be my favorite), but still a rather good one. The point of this type of movie is not to spill blood and guts all over the camera (although that is often a guilty pleasure of the viewer); it is instead to provide some sort of insight into what makes us human through a setting of violent despair. This movie does it well.

After watching the entire movie, I must say the title says it all: "An Empress and the Warriors." I did not realize the significance going into it, but the movie is really the...

Outstanding
This movie is the exact reason I've stopped watching most everything out of Hollywood. This movie makes all of the so called "blockbusters" or "epics" look like high school class projects made by slackers and stoners. If you've never seen Hong Kong cinema, or think that all Chinese movies are just Kung Fu flicks with bad dubbing, you are in for an amazing surprise. This is better than Crouching Tiger, House of Flying Daggers, or even Hero. Watch this movie, then buy it.

Decent Action...But the Uninspired Script Can't Match the Best Wuxia Epics!
2008 seems to be the year for Chinese epic dramas. "An Empress and the Warriors" was released before the "Romance of Three Kingdoms" related films by Daniel Lee (Three Kingdoms) and John Woo (Red Cliff). The film is helmed by Tony Ching Siu Tang (Naked Weapon) and if you are familiar with this director's past works, you'll know that he is a good action director. However, I do believe the skill of good storytelling eludes him--"An Empress and the Warriors" is pure brainless fun, with decent production values and may well be a good "date" movie.

After the kingdom of Yan is mortally wounded after a battle with the Zhao army, the king chooses to leave command to an orphan, named Muyong Xuehu (Donnie Yen) who is not related to the royal family. This bold decision raises the ire of Hu Ban (Guo Xiao-Dong), the king's nephew who is ready and willing to lead. Yan Feier (Kelly Chen) is the king's daughter and was bestowed the sacred "Swallow sword" (I know!) as her father's dying...

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