THE ASSASSINS should be a good film, but it isn't. It's an expensive, expansive Chinese historical drama, featuring the great Chow Yun-Fat in a role which must be a given for him: he's playing the ruthless general Cao Cao, a guy who engaged in and won plenty of battles in the famous Three Kingdoms period. And yet the film chooses a moment at the end of his life to tell a sluggish and rather dull story of a love triangle and hidden romance.The film looks lavish, for sure, and Yun-Fat gives a solid turn as always. The costumes and sets bring to mind the sumptuous nature of Zhang Yimou's CURSE OF THE GOLDEN FLOWER, but there the similarities end. The problem is that THE ASSASSINS isn't really about assassins at all, because these characters achieve very little in the storyline. The main character, played by Liu Yi Fei, is completely dull and goes around moping and crying all the while as she falls in love with Yun-Fat's character. Come the end you realise she's made no impact to the storyline and could easily have been excised with no ill effect.In a bid to counter all this sentimentality, the film-makers throw in a handful of decent action sequences in which the heroic general fends off various attacks by his rivals, including the Emperor. These moments mean that the film isn't bad as a whole, but it's a far cry from what it could have been with a script re-write. There are also some ludicrous scenes which drag it down, such as the one where a horse happily jumps off a cliff.

A stark, brilliant, uncompromising tale of imperial intrigue and self- fulfilling prophecies, with a star cast helmed by Yun-Fat Chow and Yifei Liu, TONG QUE TAI (THE ASSASSINS) is one of the better Mandarin films in recent years, and easily ranks with such lush historical epics as CHI BI (RED CLIFF) and MAN CHENG JIN DAI HAUNG JIN JIA (CURSE OF THE GOLDEN FLOWER).A fictionalized account of the events leading to the fall of the Eastern Han Dynasty in 220 CE, as seen primarily from the point of view of Gong Ling Ju—one of many refugees abducted as children, then brutally trained for a decade solely to murder the powerful Duke of Wei, Chancellor Cao Cao. A military genius, adored king, scholar and poet, Cao Cao has been unswervingly loyal to the Han, even feckless current Emperor Xian. But an astrological prediction cast years before foretells that Cao's destiny is to end the Han era—and Xian's courtiers will stop at nothing to thwart "heaven's will". Might their sneak attacks and murder plots only push Chancellor Cao into the rebellion they want to prevent? Or might Cao's growing affection for and trust in his concubine, Ling Ju, prove the weakness that gives her an opportunity to kill her lover? Solid performances, gorgeous cinematography, and a taut script weaving spectacle with reflection make TONG QUE TAI a skillfully wrought Asian history-based drama.

This is one of those movies that tries to incorporate a good story with emotions but comes out less than mediocre. It's a watchable movie but it just lacked in a lot of areas and just isn't as effective as it tries to be. It's just poor film making done by amateur writing. I liked how it didn't have flashy kung-fu stuff to add to the realism but everything else just lacked the substance it tried to achieve. And it might have worked sorta but felt like a mix of other movies. Like it's a combination of "Russian Coffee" and "The Concubine". But not as dark or humanistic. The tragic romance elements just isn't needed in this movie and felt it just there to have Crystal Liu Yi Fei's pretty face on screen. Maybe it's to bring out a bit of the human side to Cao Cao but overall it just wasn't needed. This is basically about the last days of Cao Cao going in a what if direction. The main thing that stands out about this flick is Chow Yun-Fat. He can play a strong and domineering leader exterior wise and interior wise. And he did a great job of playing Cao Cao. Cao Cao is portrayed in this as a strong and domineering character that is forceful and yet has a bit of wisdom and a gentle side to him. And Cho Yun-Fat can really pull off those kinds of presence. Overall it's a watchable movie but isn't a powerful of a movie it tries to be.5/10

The Assassins is a epic drama in The Three Kingdoms period in ancient China. Centering on Wei Kingdom warlord Cao Cao played wonderful by Chow Yun Fat. This film focuses on military tactics, politics ,and relationships of Cao Cao in his later years. This deals with Cao Cao 's relationships with his son, the emperor as well as a love triangle between his would be assassin /concubine and her lover. Really, a good character study of Cao Cao and well done drama . The sets, cinematography, costumes and acting are excellent . While this is 'nt an action piece, the action /battle scenes that are included are well done.People who only want action are better off sticking with The Three Kingdoms ROTD, and Red Cliff. I love those movies too, but I did enjoy this film also. Great drama from Chow Yun Fat . Thumbs up.