beautiful but story in second half problematic

Rating: 7/10 (7 December 2015)

China is divided in seven warring states. The ruler of the Kingdom of Qin intends to forcibly unite the states in bloody battles. He is threatened by three elite assassins and has isolated himself. No visitor can approach 100 paces to his throne. Nameless (Jet Li) was orphaned as a child. With no family name, he worked to become the greatest swordsman. He supposedly killed the three assassins and allowed to approach the king. First he kills spearman Sky (Donnie Yen). Then he stokes jealousy between Broken Sword (Tony Leung) and Flying Snow (Maggie Cheung) with Sword's apprentice Moon (Zhang Ziyi).
This is undoubtedly beautifully shot. It's a thing of supreme artistry. The battles are colorful ballets. I like very much the story in the first half. There is a twist that becomes very obvious. Then the second half starts taking more turns. Not all of them are to my liking. I was expecting a different path and I believe a superior path. There are philosophical problems and simple story problems.