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A
Battle
of
Wits
- Chinese
Mandarin/Cantonese
with
Chinese
&
English
sub-titles
- DVD
Dolby
digital
sound
6.1
- Andy
Lau,
Jacob
Cheung,
Wu
Chi
Lung
- "Battle
of
Wits
is
based
on
a
popular
Manga
series,
Bokko,
about
China's
harrowing
warlord
period.
An
Epic
film
with
lavish
scenery
and
great
action.
In
370
BC,
China
was
separated
as
seven
nations
and
several
other
small
tribes,
one
of
these
being
the
city
state
of
Liang.
The
nation
of
Zhao
is
led
by
the
terrifying
prime
commander
Xiany
Yangzhog
who
orders
his
troops
to
launch
an
attack
on
Liang
in
a
bid
to
conquer
the
small
city.
Leaping
to
the
defence
of
the
cowed
people
of
Liang
is
a
warrior
who
goes
by
the
name
of
Ge
Li
from
the
Mo
Tsu
tribe,
renowned
for
its
defensive
skills.
He
is
their
last
hope
as
the
terrors
of
Yangzhong's
troops
are
unleashed.
The
future
of
Lian
now
hangs
in
the
balance,
with
all
their
hopes
pinned
on
the
mysterious
Mo-Tsu
warrior
Ge
Li...."
- big
budget
film
Review....."Andy
Lau
does
epic
in
Battle
of
Wits
,
a
mostly
forgotten
big-budget
period
film
from
China,
utilizing
a
pan-Asian
cast
from
Mainland
China,
Hong
Kong,
and
South
Korea.
Like
its
Chinese
epic
brethrens
of
2006,
Curse
of
the
Golden
Flower
and
The
Banquet
to
name
but
a
few,
Battle
of
Wits
was
created
with
the
intention
of
selling
internationally,
taking
advantage
of
the
market
created
by
Crouching
Tiger,
Hidden
Dragon
,
and
held
open
by
hits
such
as
Zhang
Yimou
s
House
of
Flying
Daggers
.
Alas,
it
s
not
too
hard
to
see
why
Battle
of
Wits
has
gone
mostly
ignored,
as
the
film
is
overly
tedious
in
its
earnestness,
and
possesses
an
inability
to
bring
anything
worthwhile
to
the
ever-expanding
niche
in
which
it
seeks
to
thrive.
-
Based
on
a
popular
manga
by
Ken
ichi
Sakemi
and
set
during
China
s
Warring
States
period
(roughly
the
5th
to
3rd
BC),
Battle
of
Wits
stars
Hong
Kong
superstar
Andy
Lau
as
Ge
Li,
a
brilliant
military
tactician
from
the
Mozi
tribe
who
has
come
to
the
small
city-state
of
Liang
to
rescue
its
citizens
from
the
domination
of
Zhao.
An
imposing,
bellicose
nation
bent
on
uniting
all
of
China
under
its
warring
flag,
Zhao
sees
Liang
as
little
more
than
a
slight
bump
on
its
way
to
greater
glory,
but
the
appearance
of
Ge
Li
turns
that
bump
into
a
molehill.
Skilled
in
the
arts
of
siege
defense,
Ge
Li
rallies
the
people
of
Liang
to
defend
themselves,
using
any
and
all
means
at
his
disposal.
But
cowardice,
traitorous
citizenry,
and
Royal
political
intrigue
seek
to
undo
Ge
Li
s
work.
-
Very
early
on,
director
and
writer
Jacob
Cheung
makes
it
clear
that
he
is
not
interested
in
the
aerial
kinetics
of
movies
like
Crouching
Tiger,
Hidden
Dragon
and
its
ilk.
As
a
result,
the
battles
in
Battle
of
Wit
are
grounded,
and
no
one
ever
jumps
more
than
a
couple
of
feet
off
the
ground
unless
they
re
falling
down
a
wall
filled
with
arrows.
There
are
also
no
flying
swordfights
or
grandiose
duels,
and
the
film
seems
to
glory
in
its
down-and-dirty
approach
to
ancient
Chinese
warfare.
More
Braveheart
than
Hero
,
Cheung
and
company
have
turned
in
an
old-fashioned
epic
war
movie,
complete
with
heavy
doses
of
pontification
about
morality
and
its
place
in
warfare.
Much
of
the
latter
surfaces
as
a
result
of
Ge
Li
s
attempts
to
rationalize
his
Mozi
philosophy
of
universal
love
and
pacifism
with
his
goal
of
defending
Liang
at
all
costs.
-
Unfortunately
the
very
thing
that
sets
Battle
of
Wits
apart
from
other
Chinese
period
epics
is
the
same
thing
that
makes
it
somewhat
of
a
bore
to
sit
through,
this
despite
the
film
s
many,
many
battle
scenes.
The
battles
themselves
are
quite
well
done,
and
while
Cheung
eschews
much
of
the
fancy
camerawork
used
by
his
colleagues
trying
to
sell
similarly
fashioned
products
to
the
West,
there
are
the
occasional
panning
shots
of
amassing
and
attacking
armies,
and
Cheung
is
not
shy
about
employing
CGI
arrows
and
other
assorted
weaponry
for
effect.
-
In
the
lead,
Andy
Lau
is
in
fine
form
early
on,
coming
across
like
a
Master
Jedi
arriving
to
save
the
day
(complete
with
hood
and
cloak
as
he
arrives
at
the
gates
of
Liang,
no
less)
rather
than
the
pacifist
who
surfaces
in
the
second
half.
We
learn
that
this
is,
in
fact,
Ge
Lis
first
war
campaign,
and
he
really
shouldn
t
be
as
good
as
he
is
at
it.
Alas,
this
is
where
the
film
gets
a
little
inconsistent:
it
wants
us
to
believe
that
Ge
Li
is
a
newcomer
to
war,
and
yet
it
has
him
win
almost
every
military
engagement.
Ge
Li
doesn
t
act
like
a
rookie,
as
he
outthinks,
outfoxes,
and
outmaneuvers
every
single
one
of
the
Zhao
commander
s
strategies
with
little
to
no
effort.
This
guy
is
so
good
at
warfare
that
the
script
should
have
just
changed
his
name
to
Sun
Tzu
and
be
done
with
it.
-
The
biggest
name
among
the
international
cast
is
the
venerable
South
Korean
actor
Sung-kee
Ahn,
who
plays
the
Zhao
General
tasked
with
crushing
Liang.
Ahn
is
good,
but
not
overwhelming,
and
Andy
Lau
s
contemporary
swagger
upstages
Ahn
every
time
their
characters
meet,
in
particular
a
tense
board
game
played
out
in
the
open,
as
the
two
men
s
respective
archers
lay
in
wait
to
fire
at
the
first
sign
of
treason.
Other
members
of
the
cast
are
hit
and
miss,
most
notably
Bingbing
Fan
as
a
royal
female
cavalry
officer
who
spends
more
time
indulging
in
girly
crushes
on
Ge
Li
than
she
does
convincing
us
she
deserves
her
title
of
commanding
officer.
-
It's
hard
to
put
a
finger
on
what
it
is
exactly
about
Battle
of
Wits
that
fails
to
capture
the
imagination.
Then
again,
maybe
that
s
it
the
film
doesn
t
seem
to
have
a
lot
of
imagination,
and
as
a
result,
comes
across
as
a
competent,
but
ultimately
drab
and
listless
exercise
in
filmmaking.
It
is
not
a
bad
movie
in
the
sense
that
it
is
unwatchable,
because
it
is
very
much
watchable.
Although
one
does
get
the
impression
that
the
film
simply
has
no
real
grand
ambition
other
than
to
be
well-made,
which
unfortunately
means
it
can
only
elicit
a
mild
acknowledgement
of
its
competency,
and
little
else."
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