A Bizarre Blend of Violence & Romance

Rating: 6/10 (29 October 2019)

Nearly a quarter of a century after 'Empire of the Sun' Christian Bale returned ro war-ravaged China and stands out like a fox in a henhouse (even after he loses the obviously fake beard) in this exhausting hybrid of graphic war movie and soap opera with the usual beautiful shots of light shining through stained glass one has come to expect of director Zhang Yimou plus the usual tiresome swaying steadicam (and occasional slow motion) one has also, alas, come to expect of 21st Century cinema.