Country: China
Genre: Action/ Romance/ Drama
Director: Tony Ching Siu-Tung
Year: 2008
Rating: 
TRASH CINEMA RECOMMENDED MOVIE
An Empress And The Warriors is a modestly entertaining film, but it’s good enough that I wish that it had been even better.
Kelly Chen stars as Princess Yen Feier, of the Yan clan. In the beginning of the film, her father is injured in battle and he passes his crown to Muyong Xuehu (Donnie Yen), an orphan who happens to be the greatest warrior in his kingdom, rather than one of his blood relatives. The father’s nephew, Wu Ba (Guo Xiao-Dong), takes this very badly.
There is some political maneuvering, and Muyong Xuehu, knowing he will lose in the fight over the succession, makes it appear as though the King has chosen his daughter Yen Feier to ascend to the throne. Wu Ba attempts to assassinate her. A doctor, Duan Lan Quan (Leon Lai Ming) helps her to recover from her injuries. In the process, she’s exposed to the doctor’s pacifism, and Yen Feier has a change of heart in her philosophy of governance.
Unlike many modern day Hong Kong productions, An Empress And The Warriors has a wonderful story. It isn’t really predictable and it’s intriguing.
A number of the production aspects are first rate as well. The cinematography, the costumes, the sets, are all first-rate. Even the digital effects aren’t too wretched. The blood effects aren’t as bad as usual, and the digital rain isn’t completely obvious.
The hand to hand combat scenes are generally fine, as you would expect from a master martial arts choreographer like Tony Ching Siu-Tung. What’s more surprising is the creativity shown in a battle scene in which chariots and shields figure. I’m sure Tony Ching Siu-Tung was inspired by similar scenes from Gladiator.
The most obvious problem with An Empress And The Warriors is the music. It’s omnipresent and really overbearing. You can’t get away from the cheap-sounding action music, which is like Michael Bay lite, and the saccharine Cantopop ballads. The combination of the two radically degrades An Empress And The Warriors, making it seem like a much worse film than it really is.
Another problem is the leads: Kelly Chen, Leon Lai, and Donnie Yen. They are far from terrible (thankfully, Donnie Yen is allowed to play to his strength as a humorless and devoted warrior), but more charismatic leads might have made An Empress And The Warriors more emotionally engaging.
And, while it may seem kind of funny to criticize a movie about pacifism for not being bloodthirsty enough, An Empress And Her Warriors would have been much more effective if the audience was allowed a little more catharsis. All it would have taken would be a few strategically placed blood packs, a few exit wounds, and dwelling on the death throes of the villains.
But these days, considering the number of terrible Hong Kong action films being made, it’s a relief to see something even mildly effective.
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