Posts Tagged ‘Ziyi Zhang’
Foreign Film, Movie Reviews, Television, Three Stars - Tuesday, September 23, 2008 1:15 - 15 Comments
Legend of the Black Scorpion “The Banquet” (DVD)
Inspired by the Shakespearean tragedy Hamlet, Legend of the Black Scorpion (USA) aka The Banquet (International) definitely lived up to reputation as being one of the most aesthetically pleasing films to come out of China/Hong Kong in quite some time.
The cinematography and musical score for this film were its obvious selling points. Everything from the outdoor locations to the indoor sets were exquisitely well crafted, as were the intricate costume designs and makeup artistry. The overall visual experience you get from this film is just outstanding. Composer Tan Dun also puts together quite an impressive score which helped to set the mood for its audience and intensified the beauty of this film tenfold.
This is where this film’s strengths end however. Its failure begins with its weak storyline and character development. The characters never seem to connect to its viewers and their performances felt more rehearsed than realistic. The film also dragged at the most inopportune times. There were several moments which actually started off strong only to end up being followed by some tiresome dialogue which would make the best of us nod off.
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