(China/Hong Kong) Directed by Su Chao-pin, John Woo. Starring Michelle Yeoh, Jung Woo-sung, Wang Xueqi, Barbie Hsu, Kelly Lin, Shawn Yue. Category IIA.
Category IIA. Hold up. Didn’t Jet Li promise that he wasn’t going to make another martial arts movie ever again? So why’s he in this film, punching people and bumping swords with Michelle Yeoh? I guess I shouldn’t complain; he’s pretty good at it. Which makes me wonder why director Rob Cohen saw fit to let his kung-fu superstar baddie transform into a three-headed dragon halfway through the movie.
This is a film with a good pedigree: it’s produced by Steven Spielberg, directed by Oscar-winning Rob Marshall (“Chicago”), based on the bestseller by Arthur Golden and stars Hollywood’s leading Asian actresses: Ziyi Zhang, Gong Li and Michelle Yeoh. Its setting in the exotic, mysterious world of Japan’s geishas means there is endless scope for fabulous costumes and lavish cinematography. On paper, it must have seemed a surefire winner. And yet…
