technically good *spoilers*

Rating: Null/10 (31 October 2004)

i just saw this movie after 2 yrs of its release. the reason was that i was afraid to be disappointed. the Chinese people i knew thought it was so so. while those that were not thought it was great.
i saw this movie and i was surprised and yes disappointed. Surprised because as Jet Li said this was not a typical Chinese movie. the good guy (Jet Li) sacrificed himself for the greater good that chin shi huang ti should live. all the leads in this movie died. And most of the time in Chinese movies the emperor is the bad guy but this time, he's not. he is the savior, the one who will unite china and finally bring peace and end the war.
it was technically and maybe it's robotically good. i mean that it was perfect, the story, the execution of the plot ... it was all done well. no mistakes. it was quite imaginative in fact. with the different story versions and the colors used in each version. those colors could be analyzed endlessly in a paper.
yet what was disappointing about it was that in Chinese movies that i've seen especially that of Jet Li and the once upon a time series, there was always a heart in the story. something that connected you to the story and the character itself. the character was always the main point ... i think. the main character always connects the audience to him. and as the audience we share in his story and his development and goals.
this movie lacked that heart. that connection with the characters. although the actress who played flying was very good in acting out her character, she had very little role and the audience can't really connect to her steadily throughout the movie.
in summary technically perfect but ... lacks heart.