An Empress and the Warriors (2008)

That was an excellent one.

Let's be realistic.

Instead, you get a movie that's enjoyable enough, but leaves you feeling like it could have been much, much more.

This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

When the Emperor is wounded in battle he turns the running of the army to one of his generals(Donnie Yen), a man of absolute loyalty but uncertain birth. This doesn't sit well with the Emperor's nephew who kills the old man when he gets a chance. What the nephew doesn't know is that, Donnie Yen was also made heir to the throne. The generals and the nephew don't like this and Yen wanting to part of the politics makes the daughter of the emperor Empress. She takes the throne, vowing to go through the military training and lead her army. Of course the nephew doesn't like that idea either and he begins to plot to take control of the kingdom by force.A romantic action film with a triangle at its center (the empress is rescued by an inventor in the woods who doesn't know who she is, and doesn't let on he's a great fighter. That pair falls in love while Donnie yen looks on longingly), this has some great fight sequences but suffers from a romance thats essentially a Cliff Notes version of emotion. The spectacle is here but the emotion really isn't and what you get out of this film will depend upon what you bring to it. To me for the romance to work you have to be willing to fill in all of the blanks the film leaves unsaid. I couldn't do it and just sort of waived my hand at the thought of much of the plot. Actually this is not a bad film, but its not a particularly remarkable one. Its very much like several recent martial arts films, Three Kingdoms springs first to mind, where the action sequences overwhelm the slender plot. Its one of what seems to be a trend where directors seem to think they can be brief with the plot so long as they are showy with the spectacle (The Promise anyone?). Forgive me I need a plot to drive the action.Worth a look if you run across it say as a rental, but I would be hard pressed to really justify a 12 buck viewing in theaters. (This is going to be the first film screened as part of this years New York Asian Film festival which strikes me as rather an odd choice since its strangely unremarkable film to be part of a film festival. The film is neither the best nor the worst of its type, its just something thats unremarkable part of the middle of the pack)

Or in other words, neither action movie, nor romantic comedy/drama! And don't get fooled by Donnie Yens name in the cast list. Yes he has his action scenes, but don't watch this movie, expecting him to be the lead role. He shares that with another actor. Of course the main spot/role is reserved for a woman.Everything revolves around her (the Empress) and the movie starts off pretty good ... until it breaks up after the first act of the movie. The nice pace from the beginning is gone and we are treated to a sort of short-movie-in-the-movie. The sudden change doesn't feel right and it doesn't fit into the rest of the movie too. It's indecisiveness which genre it belongs to and a few other flaws really brings the movie down.

i gave this movie 2 thumbs up. definitely an excellent movie, not considered romantic, but rather heroic, loyalty and teaches golden values in life. Donnie Yen is an excellent martial artist. i always have respect for him. it's always a pleasure to see him playing as a good man in movies. he deserves recognition in the States. i got tired of watching Jet Li & Jackie Chan all the time. no offense, but they are very very fun to watch, too. Kelly Chen is adorable, a quiet but strong character. and of course, it's good to see Leon Lai. no matter what other negative commentators, this movie is waaaay better than those of US' crappy scary movies such as: chainsaw, haloween, chucky, etc that has no points but repeating the same thing over and over again.

The Mandarin was better spoken than in the past even for those that have heavy Cantonese accents. Nothing like the rushed HK movies that one view wrote about. Must have been watching the cartoon version. More like Hero and more likable ending (spoiler) although all the Empress lovers die in the end it was still memorable. I am tired of one thing in these movies is the hero's constantly dying. Other than that I really enjoyed this movie. The Legend of the Black Scorpion has the same type ending but this one you feel for the Heroen almost all the way through the movie.Being somewhat optimistic in life affords me the feeling that this is how things should be.As for a slow story plot. What the heck are they talking about. Story line is consistent and in order. Gives you enough information about the past so you can understand the present.What a goofball trying to rate this as something other than a good effort. Thanks, more in line of Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon except the cliché of flying warriors. Realistic for the most part. I am not to much into the Armies facing each other on the field and everyone going at it but it gives you a base to understand the ending.The last part though is that this is yet another movie that tries to tie the unity of China as one country, one people. Eh, it still felt good though.