I don't write this column much anymore, because I don't rent a lot of lousy martial arts movies anymore. I expected for this space to be filled by Chocolate, but if you read my review of that film, you'll see that it actually turned out to be worth recommending. Not so with Ashes of Time Redux. Would you like to know why you should avoid this film like the plague? It's because this is not, in fact, a martial arts movie. The trailers might lead you to believe that it's like Hero and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, a drama which happens to have beautifully filmed action scenes. But this is not the case. Ashes of Time is all drama, and rather boring drama at that. Sure, there are a few action scenes, but they're filmed in an overly artistic way that doesn't allow you to see the moves. This movie features 4 or 5 small interconnected stories that all involve a guy who solves peoples' problems for them - by finding swordsmen to kill other people for them. This is not the guy you go to if you want advice on how to save your marriage, because he'd probably just hire a swordsman to kill your spouse. This is the guy you go to if bandits killed your brother. You would expect that with a set-up like that, the movie would be full of awesome Chinese sword fighting action (one of my very favorite types of action), but in fact it is not. The movie focuses more on the lives of the customers and the swordsmen, none of whom are compelling enough to make up for the lack of slashing and stabbing. Ashes of Time Redux is a movie for people who like beautifully filmed dramas. It's a movie for people who like brooding characters who dwell on lost relationships. It's a movie for people who feel more cultured when they watch a film with subtitles. It is not a movie for people who like to watch Chinese people beat each other up with ring swords. If you're looking for a beautiful movie with tragic romances and awesome action scenes, I really recommend that you re-watch Hero and give this one a pass.

[Back to Collector Times]

[Prev.]

[Return to Reviews]

[Disclaimer]

[Next]

Copyright © 2009 By AJ Reardon E-mail AJ at: ErtheFae@aol.com Visit AJ at: www.erthefae.com