Three Kingdoms: Resurrection of the Dragon

Directed by: Daniel Lee

Starring: Andy Lau, Sammo Hung, Maggie Q, Damian Lau, Ti Lung

Synopsis:

Loosely based on "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms", Three Kingdoms: Resurrection of the Dragon focuses on the heroic general, Zhou Zilong (Lau). Originating from a small village, the idealistic Zilong joins the army to help bring peace and prosperity to the Kingdom. After single-handedly rescuing the baby son of his ruler, Zilong swiftly rises through the ranks to become the Dragon General, one of the kingdom’s fiver legendary military leaders. But after 30 years, he finds himself still fighting the same enemies and feels he has accomplished nothing despite his many victories. One final time he is called upon to lead his troops into battle, but despite his rank and reputation discovers he’s just another pawn in a larger game...



Review:

Romance of the Three Kingdoms is a huge epic tale about the heroes that helped forge a united China and contains many stories of huge battles and heroic deeds. Both John Woo’s Red Cliff and Daniel Lee’s Resurrection of the Dragon are based on this, but focus on different things. Red Cliff focuses on a particular, pivotal battle, whilst Three Kingdoms : Resurrection of the Dragon focuses on a particular, pivotal hero – Zhou Zilong.

Andy Lau, one of the most prolific actors in the world (imdb has credited him with 142 movies), stars as Zhou Zilong, an idealistic warrior from a small village who joins the army in the hope that he can help bring victory and end the war once and for all. He makes friends with Lau Ping-an, played by Sammo Hung – a veteran soldier from the same village, and together they take part in a covert battle to thwart the siege of their outpost at Phoenix Heights. Zilong gives credit for the victory to Ping-an, even though Zilong had saved his life during the fight. Ping-an is given the honor of escorting his leader’s family to safety, but they are ambushed and it is left to Zilong to head out and rescue the survivors on his own. From then on, Zilong becomes a symbol of victory among the military and he is thrust ever higher up the ranks.

This is certainly Daniel Lee’s most accomplished film yet, but it is still lacking in the editing department. There are so many cuts in the fight scenes that at times its difficult to tell what’s happening. In this sort of movie (and with these actors), you need to let the action flow more. Sammo Hung is credited with being the martial arts choreographer, but you’d never know it from the choppy mess on screen.

Things do settle down at times though – the rescue of the baby prince is thrilling and the final battle is not only well presented but contains a haunting soundtrack which really helps to build the atmosphere.

The cast is excellent throughout. Andy Lau is superb as Zilong, an idealist who finds himself questioning what he has achieved and what he has sacrificed. Sammo Hung takes a non-fighting role as Lau Ping-an, the old soak and narrator for the movie. Maggie Q, who I thought was excellent in Mission: Impossible 3, plays the beautiful Cao Ying, successor of Cao Cao (the antagonist in Red Cliff). Her military strategy is as intricate and ruthless as her father's.

There are some interesting parallels at the end between Zilong and Cao Ying’s general, in the way they are manipulated by their leaders and how they react when they realise that they are in fact just another chess piece to be sacrificed for the Greater Good.

Verdict:

An excellent cast and excellent production values are let down by some over-choppy editing during the fight scenes. This is inevitably going to be compared against Red Cliff, but as I said they are telling very different tales and Three Kingdoms: Resurrection of the Dragon, more than holds its own. If it weren’t for the fight scenes, this would have scored higher.

7 out of 10 (MikeOutWest)