The formula for a grand epic Chinese movie: It has to be done by famous director who has directed similar movies before (preferably with sword fighting elements), check that. Zhang Yimou is more than qualified. It has to have a very good and stylish wardrobe design with fascinating and luscious colors, check (I won't comment on the issue of the 'overexposed flesh' in the movie). Got good cast? Check. Chow Yun-Fat and Gong Li are not too bad. Got sword fighting scenes? Check that too. But in this movie, it's not really sufficient for movie-goers. Too bad, but I'd wish there are more action sequences with the swords. You can go on and on with the checklist, but personally I'd like to think that 'Curse of the Golden Flower' is not an 'epic' movie to add up to my list of favorites.
The only weakness which I can see here is the supporting actors, Jay Chou and Ye Liu. I did not like their performances as much as Chow Yun-Fat and Gong Li, they were not able to bring up their supporting roles, as well as the main actors. As mentioned above, the sword fights aren't enough. Although they tried to cook up a massive battle scene, ala Troy or LOTR style, but it failed because I believe that the CGI is not really done well enough for it.
Other than that, I believe that still, the director stayed true to his style. It's still a very stylish movie with grand scenes, beautiful set designs and an acceptable storyline. Probably not on par with 'Hero', but it still enjoyable.
My Score: (2.5 out of 5)
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