A stunning display of cinematography and action!

Rating: 7/10 (29 August 2014)

This is a film from Director Zhang Yimou about the King of Qin (Daoming Chen) planning to conquer all six kingdoms under his rule in feudal China, and three warriors plot to assassinate him. However, a prefect named Nameless (Jet Li) claims to have eliminated all three assassins and recounts to the emperor how he did it.
The events of the movie's plot are told in different point of views in how Nameless claims he eliminated the warriors to the unraveling of the assassins' plot and the true course of events. This made the story interesting, making the audience eager to know what is truly happening on screen; however, I thought that the overall movie lacks momentum and suspenseful plot points, making the story drag at times - especially during the subplot of warriors Broken Sword (Tony Leung) and Flying Snow's (Maggie Cheung) relationship.
The setting of the breathtaking buildings and structures was done in beauty and splendor and the costumes used for the cast were elegant. The sword-wielding fights were thrilling to watch, choreographed beautifully, the acting was dramatic (if a little emotionless at times) and the cinematography was stunning.
From another reviewer's viewpoint (thank you aeo) China was a country that was split into several warring feudal kingdoms, and, in the movie, I suppose the King of Qin was trying to unite all kingdoms under his rule for lasting tranquility and prosperity. However, I didn't think that that plot device was emphasized enough in the movie and made it seemed that the King was just one power-hungry evil leader and we were asked to sympathized with the assassins (naturally, portrayed by leading popular Chinese actors Jet Li, Tony Leung, Maggie Cheung, Donnie Yuen and Zhang Ziyi), who I guess were technically supposed to be the real antagonists. ***spoiler ahead*** Therefore, it kind of gave the movie a bummer ending when some of the assassins met a not-so-positive fate. ***spoiler ends***
Overall, though, it's a pretty good historical action film.
Grade B-