I found this movie slightly disappointing.It seems there are several different strains of HK Action Flicks. Jackie Chan does pure fist/leg martial arts with no wires. Jet Li tends to use more wires, but "Once Upon a Time in China" seemed to be more dependent on the action than the wires. This move depends so much on wires and magic powers that you really don't get very much in the way of good swordplay and kung-fu. It seemed pretty cheesy from the beginning, and I left it on only because I had nothing better to do. Then it started getting good. The plot gets pretty complicated, as you see hidden motivations and conflicting desires causing problems for the characters. Unfortunately, the movie never really capitalizes on some of the things the characters discover, and the ending reveals a mystery they really hadn't set up well, forcing the characters to reveal too much in their dialogue, as in, "You see, this was my plan all along! Now I shall kill you!" Not dull, exactly, but it never fulfills the potential of the plot developments to overcome a cheesy approach to martial arts.

You all don't really understand the synopsis of the movie, but the movie would tell right there what it's about. Michelle Yeoh looked very creative in this movie, she was really amazing. Including the bow and arrow part. Maybe, this is what I think, this is the best movie i've ever seen.

Confusing at first. It was hard for me to figure out who was on whose side, and the English translations sometimes read as gibberish, but those are petty qualms. The film is really fun to watch. The wire action is cool and over the top. The fight scenes and gore are very indulgent.The cast are great, especially Michelle Yeoh, Donnie Yen, and Jimmy Lin. This is a hilarious movie. For those into Martial Arts movies, this is worth a look-see.

This is a movie that is a visual feast. The wire work is mesmerizing, the swordplay is intricate, and the photography is grand. However, other than that I was quite disappointed with this film.The plot of the film is quite complex. It tells the story of some assassins who are trying to kill the leaders of Soul Heights(?) because they wish to destroy Happy Woods and be the leaders of the martial world. Also included is a web of love, a fake death, betrayal, and a whole lot of fighting.The relationship between the characters is quite complex. Tony Leung and Joey Wang are lovers. However, Tony is loved by Michelle Yeoh who is in turn loved by Donnie Yen. The problem that exists with the characters is that I really didn't have any sympathy for them, except Donnie Yen. The characters are fairly well-defined but they seemed emotionally distant.The battle scenes are done quite well. The movie has some good wire action choreographed by Ching Siu-Tung. Unfortunately, these scenes don't really show what Michelle Yeoh and Donnie Yen are capable of doing. That's a shame, because they are very talented. Nonetheless, the action scenes with Donnie Yen are quite good...especially him and Michelle in the forest.One of the main drawbacks of this movie is the excess of gore. This film is very bloody and has many scenes of decapitation, torso splitting, and blood spurting in geysers.In the end, this is a fair movie. Donnie Yen is probably the best thing about this film. He shines more than the two leads. Also, this movie has an arresting visual style. Other those two things, there isn't much going for this film.