sun li - Film Combat Syndicate

sun li

Review: Zhang Yimou’s SHADOW Brims With A Climatic Equilibrium Of Bi-Colorful Wuxia Mastery

May 3 is gonna be a pretty stacked start of the weekend for regular moviegoers, and director Zhang Yimou’s latest success story, Shadow, will surely add to the pile. It’s certainly a redeeming effort following the director’s clumsy, albeit sizeable creature epic, The Great Wall, although you can certainly defer to its greater promise given all the current reviews that have run viral since its film festival run last year. If you’re like me and have been gripped by Zhang’s artillery of storytelling and visionary caliber in grand feats like Hero, House Of Flying Daggers and Curse Of The Golden Flower, you believe that Shadow far from disappoints. Penned by Zhang and co-writer Wei Li, Shadow is based on the ancient folkloric “Three Kingdoms” saga, prefaced with the story defeat of Pei kingdom at the hands of Yan. After losing Jing territory to the kingdom of Yan, Peiliang (Ryan Zheng), […]

Zhang Yimou’s SHADOW: Politics, Intrigue And Danger Shrouded In Darkness In Mystifying First Teaser

Lee B. Golden III

Far from anymore watching and waiting to see what auteur Zhang Yimou has accomplished since earlier feats on The Great Wall, the first official trailer for Shadow is here and fully immersed in its own dark hues and contemplative drama. You can’t see much in terms of action but the imminent violence and gore only fitting for a film of this kind is hinted at plentily with Zhang typically crafting beautiful shots and high-speed lensing to amp up the brooding and allure overall. Director Zhang Yimou’s reimagining of a classic Three Kingdoms epic, the action/drama SHADOW tells the story of a great King and his people who have been displaced from their homeland and long to win it back. The King is wild and ambitious, but his motives and methods are mysterious. His great general is a visionary who fervently desires to win the ultimate battle, but needs to lay […]