Visitors Review

ChristianUnchained 2013-05-19 01:55:13

Let the snores fly...

Advertised as a shoot em up, gun fu action flick, Let The Bullets Flyis anything but. The plot is interesting, but is too convoluted andwildly confusing, which would have worked if the film were directed ina more digestible manner. The action is far and few between, with onlyabout 9 1/2 minutes of poorly shot and poorly directed shootouts in a124 minute drama-dey. The special effects are very bad, and the senseof any rising action is bogged down by way too much talking, and notenough shooting. For a film that advertises big flash, LTBF fizzles. The acting is very good though, and Jiang Wen and Chow Yun-Fat areexcellent and very charismatic. But this film is so ridiculouslycluttered, confusing, and just plain boring, you'll have spent yourtime watching better foreign films, such as IP MAN, The Good The BadThe Weird, or Hard Boiled. The only thing I can walk away and say aboutthis film is that it undeniably sets itself up for brilliance, and thenfollows a horrendous train ride to boring-town. The bullets don't fly,but the snores do.

Guy 2013-05-18 17:33:55

LET THE BULLETS FLY sees a bandit, a governor and a criminal boss face off in a Chinese Western

Plot: A bandit impersonates the new governor of a town and comes intoconflict with the crime boss who runs it.This film is essentially a Western set in the Warlord China of the1920s. It is full of zest and at its best it is a charming mix ofcartoon action, physical humour and bravura performances by the leads.Its desire to simply play around with genres, techniques andconventions is wonderfully endearing and very interesting. The gunplayin particular, which becomes a sort of ballistic chop-socky, is superb.But the problem is that the script is too messy, desperately in need ofan edit. Nearly every character is pretending to be someone - orsomeones - else, whilst the conflict between the two gangs is largelyplayed out through ruses and deception rather than fighting. The resultis a hugely over-complex, over-long and needlessly confusing plot. Thisfilm ought to have been a good 30 minutes shorter and a great dealtighter - and would have been all the better for it. Nonetheless, thisis an interesting and enjoyable mess.Worth one viewing.

KineticSeoul 2013-05-17 17:05:42

Jian wen the Chinese Quentin Tarantino

This is a movie that I thought would have a simple story and a lot ofshoot em up. But it was actually the other way around. In fact thismovie sort of reminded me of Quentin Tarantino movies. And wouldn't beshocked if Quentin got some ideas from this movie for "DjangoUnchained". One thing I was disappointed with this movie is how it hasYun-Fat Chow is shown holding a pistol in the back cover of the DVD forthis movie. And was hoping for a dual pistol wielding showdown withYun-Fat Chow and Jiang Wen but that never happens. In fact Jiang Wen isthe one that shoots the most in this movie. Chow Yun-Fat and Jiang Wenis just excellent with the roles they are given and are charismaticwhile also giving off strong impressions. Even is one is the sharpshooting cool anti-hero guy and the other one is a bit obnoxious andyet dominant bad guy. The plot is cleverly crafted although it mighthave few plot-holes and don't make sense during few scenarios. It'sjust a very small gripe because everything else is just entertaining towatch. From the dialogue, the acting and the way Pocky Zhang(Jiang Wen)and Huang(Chow Yun-Fat) try to beat each other with mind games andstrategy. Overall this is a well crafted movie and clever one as well.It's a movie well worth checking out and I personally will check outmore past and future Jian Wen movies.8.1/10

lubin2010 2013-05-17 16:04:46

A nice movie

I like this movie, and it's quite interesting. It's Jiang Wen's fourthmovie as a director. Many interesting things are shown by the director and actors. Most ofthe actors also do great jobs. My favorite actor in this film is JiangWen, who is also the director, as well as Ge You.The most attractive thing about this movie is that the story is quitecoherent. The whole story happens in old China, when there are manycorruptions in the old government and the governor of the county couldbe sold as long as you pay some money.Overall, i think this is a good movie, and the best one this year inChina.

Harry T. Yung 2013-05-16 23:01:03

The Good, the Bad and The Ugly meets Yojinbo

The opening of the movie proffers LI Shu-tong's sadly languid "Song offarewell", the best known musical piece of the period in thewarlord-troubled period of China of the early 20th Century. Thetransition to the farce that follows is a stroke of brilliance.The main drawing card of the movie is of course three superstars in theChinese language cinema today, JIANG Wen, CHOW Yun-fat and GE You – inthe order of The Good, The Bad and The Ugly. This is actually thesecond time Jiang has fashioned a movie in this way, the first onebeing "Tian di ying xiong" (2003) in which he also took the role of TheGood, while roles of The Bad and The Ugly were taken up, respectively,by Kiichi Nakai and WANG Xueqi (who back then had not yet attainedtoday's lofty status in the movie world). The beauty in that one wasZHAO Wei.As mentioned in my summary line, to the main structure of "The Good,the Bad and The Ugly" is added certain elements of the Kurosawa'sclassic Yojinbo (1961). But while therein, the hero (played by ToshiroMifune) is the guy between two opposite camps, here in "Bullet" it'sthe clown, i.e. The Ugly.I am not going to go into the plot which can be summarized as aconvoluted game of power struggles between two rivalling gangs forcontrol a small town. Exciting action and outlandish black humour makethe movie thoroughly enjoyable. The highlight is of course the actingof the three superstars. One scene, in particular, must not be missed –the first meeting between The Good and The Bad, with the Ugly as thebalancing factor in the subtle confrontation. Just to witness how inthis scene the three pull all plugs in their acting reservoir to outdoone another is worth the admission price.

Bai Gan 2013-05-16 14:20:00

Not quite a movie in my opinion

I didn't like it as a movie and was slightly offended by it afterseeing it for the firs time. Then I watched it again and realized it isactually a series of encrypted political messages disguised as a movie.You can call it a movie if you consider movie an 'entertainment' andthat this is the way Chinese people in China are entertained, withbitterness and cynicism. Everything in the movie is just too 'real' andit is painful (for me) to watch. Director Jiang, Wen had too much tosay and couldn't say it directly. Starting from the title, if younotice that the title that first appeared was translated to be 'let thebullet fly for a while; then 'for a while' was removed. This was JiangWen's first message: everything he tries to say has to be in disguise,sometimes mixed with jokes in bad tastes such as when he said how hefollowed General Cai'e during the revolution then became bandit afterCai died in Japan, which was followed by Ge You's digression on when hewas 17 blah blah blah, the title means you need to wait for a whilebefore the message goes through to audience (had to bypass censorshipfirst) There were dialogues in the movie nobody can get right away andtell what logical purpose it serves, such as when Huang Cilang said hemet Ma bandit 20 years before, together with other mysterious dialoguesreveal who they were and how they became who they are now. They bothimplied that they know Japanese suicide rituals well, which meant theywere both close to the revolution etc. Anyway, it is painful to watchbecause it is so real.

lyx-1 2013-05-16 01:42:06

You will either get it or you won't....

There are so many funny metaphors but you do need to be somewhatacquainted with Chinese to understand them. I think this will be adifficult film for non-Chinese to grasp, especially with a lot ofdeadpan satire and dark humor. It is extremely funny in a way,especially the scene between Jiang Wen and Carina Lau where shedisplayed a series of objects to him in bed. You won't "get it" if youdon't understand Chinese proverbs and surreptitious meaning. So I'm notsurprised if this movie will be rated exceptionally intelligent to itsChinese audience but will appear to many as silly, improbable andillogical.

LawyerTom1 2013-05-15 05:38:20

A Farce & A Puzzle Wrapped In Civil War

Although the movie is allegedly set during the Chinese civil war, thefirst phase of the war between the Nationalists and Communists did notstart until 1927, and the movie appears to be set in a time before thefirst phase began.The underlying story is about a bandit (played by Wen Jiang) whodisguises himself as a local "governor" (mayor of a town). His motiveis acquiring wealth through fraud, or so one is lead to believeinitially. Instead, the movie turns into a complex mind-game betweenthe bandit, named Pocky Zhang, and a local war lord (Master Huang,played by Yun-Fat Chow). A struggle ensues, and the storyline turns onwho will prevail. Prostitutes (with hearts of gold, of course --something movies seem to love even though divorced from reality) alsoplay a major role in the story.The joy of the movie is watching the two protagonists (each served byloyal and capable side-kicks) try to one-up each other. There are plotswithin plots within plots. The film is also laced with farce and a fewguest appearances by an excellent traditional Chinese drum band. Allcharacters have traits that are both admirable and foolish.Can you stay one step ahead of the protagonists as they scheme andcounter-scheme? Good luck.My one criticism is that the English language subtitles are small andpass by on the screen so fast that it is often hard to read themcompletely.If you enjoy watching cleverness unfold, with the hero ultimatelyprevailing, and you do not mind struggling with the dialog, this is acute movie. It is a much more sophisticated sojourn into Chineseculture and greed that the traditional kung-fu movie. It is likely thatthe script reflects more than a tad of Party influence since our hero,the bandit, ultimately turns out to have a heart of gold (no pun)andcare only for "the people." Fortunately, this does not distract fromthe plot or the characters. Wen Jiang and Yun-Fat Chow are superb leadcharacters, as one would expect of actors of their quality.The movie is long at 132 minutes, but you will never be bored. Even thespecial effects are exceedingly well done.

dbborroughs 2013-05-15 04:32:19

Even if you see this without understanding Chinese this film is a blast

Comedy action film that is currently (rightly) devouring the Asian boxoffice. I had a chance to see it in Chinese (which I don'tunderstand)with no translation into English, but decided to give it agosince I had heard such great things about it.It's got Chow Yun Fat in a wickedly funny role as one of threegangsters who are playing games with each other. I couldn't follow thedetails I just know that it has some great action and the jokes arefunny even when you don't understand Chinese because the cast sellsit.For the most part it's not goofy humor, but you still laugh simplebecause the rhythms of the jokes is there.I watched the film glued to the screen for much of the first hour, butthen I realized that as good as it was there was too much I didn't knowand I found I was torn between sticking to the end or waiting until thefilm appears in English either on DVD or in the movies.This is a super film no matter how you slice it.See this movie if you get a chance.(I should mention that while there is plenty of action- and blood- thefilm isn't a nonstop shoot out as the title might suggest.)

DICK STEEL 2013-05-14 13:31:25

A Nutshell Review: Let the Bullets Fly

With the current election fever brewing in Singapore, one can't helpbut to view this through a tinted prism and taken note of the surreal,and perhaps coincidental parallels in this Jiang Wen film about therelentless grab for power and money amongst officials and wannabes, ofthat fight for moral justice against another hell bent on consolidatingill gotten gains and fending off new entrants to the turf. Jiang Wendoesn't make as many films as he stars in, but here's a Chinesefilmmaker with an interesting vision, almost always successfullyblending stylish art-house sensibilities and visuals with massentertainment, bearing the biggest names and featuring the hallmarks ofa rich Mandarin language.The incredibly strong story centers around three major characters setin the warring 1920s in China, with Ge You playing Bangde Ma, a man whohad unscrupulously bought his position of governorship and is on hisway to claim it, having done his sums and understanding the materialwealth that comes with holding that position through partnering therich and the exploitation of the weak. However the train he'stravelling in with his wife (Carina Lau) gets hijacked by infamousbandit Pocky Zhang (Jiang Wen) and his band of loyal merry men, whodecide to take on Bangde's identity as the incoming Governor of GooseTown, while keeping the real Bangde Ma by their side as a councilor forhis political savvy. But standing in their way is the local godfatherand real seat of power Wang (Chow Yun-Fat) and his gang, whichobviously sets a showdown between the two camps.And I'm not kidding you when I say there are parallels drawn here withour sunny little island, since the introductory shot of Goose Town madeit seem like an island that Bangde Ma and Pocky Zhang had to crossinto, before confronted with by a wily, scheming political incumbentdetermined to hold onto his turf and not yield it without a fight. Likepoliticians, they plot and counterplot against each other's schemes,with deep mistrust all round even when smiling at each other during around table discussion. Those amongst the elites horde most of thewealth of the town, and it is not until Pocky Zhang had a change inheart and strategy of wealth distribution and moral justice did he findit within himself and his lean, mean team to inch toward power in hisfight for the little man. Though of course it's pretty clear stillwho's being manipulated for someone's objective.As a film, Let the Bullets Fly is sheer spectacle for its actionsequences, lush cinematography, and comically awkward CG at times, withsome scenes being deliberately and extremely over the top. But that'spart of the fun, as the narrative is kept tight with nary a wastedscene, and what would be one of the best parts of the film is the rapidfire dialogue exchange between characters. Black humour is rampant aswell to make this very close to a laugh a minute affair through itswickedness, though I have to admit at times things do get lost intranslation, especially when required to read between the lines ofwhat's said when the characters try to outdo one another, or inattempts to understand their opponents, through many twists and turns.Stellar performances from the leads make this a must watch as well.Jiang Wen has this air of gravitas associated with his presence, and hemakes for a believable bandit who found the moral courage to turn hislife, and that of his followers, around to fight the good fight againstChow's Wang. Chow Yun Fat redeems himself from his really cringeworthyforay into Hollywood with dubious roles in films like DragonballEvolution, and his performance here in dual roles as Wang and his bodydouble, reminds us why Chow is top of the class when he gets his acttogether in the right charismatic role. Ge You himself is no pushover,although his character gets the least screen time. Still, when allthree share the same frame or scene, the mood is nothing short ofelectrifying, as they banter and feed off one another's energy.And Jiang Wen also assembled a credible ensemble support group with thelikes of Carina Lau, Hu Jun in yet another cameo as a make pretendPocky Zhang, Chen Kun as a cocky young upstart in Wang's camp, and evenFeng Xiaogang making a cameo in the beginning of the film trying tosuck up to Bangde Ma. You can label it a satire, or an action comedy,but one thing's for sure, this Chinese film showcases just what theirindustry is capable off in pulling something quirky, offbeat and yetentertaining for the masses. Jiang Wen continues to expand hisfilmography in a slow but assured pace, and hopefully we can get to seeanother one of his films soon. Highly recommended as one of the bestthis year, and I'm really tempted to get the DVD in order to watch thisbattle of wits all over again.

Al_The_Strange 2013-05-10 19:35:53

Definition of a pleasant surprise.

At the time of this writing, this is listed as China's highest-grossingdomestic film. I went into it expecting some kind of action-packedblockbuster (especially with the title "Let the Bullets Fly," got meexpecting stylish John Woo style gunfights or something). I should haveknown that this film couldn't be identified by blockbuster terms; it'sactually a pretty weird and goofy film, with far less emphasis onaction and much more on setting up intricate dialogues and intricateplot points. On its own merits, the film is very fast-paced and dense;it has some gunfighting and action, and a few rather violent scenes,but most of it is focused on the storytelling.The storytelling is satisfying. Even though the comedy can be a hugehit-or-a-miss, and there are a few unbelievable scenes, the charactersshine through and dominate the spotlight. It's hard not to enjoy theantics of the bandits and the thugs, and their complex interactions.It's especially hard not to appreciate the complexity of the plottingand counter-plotting that both gangs go through; with the rapid-firepacing, it may be convoluted for some viewers, but I was never fullylost. Each scene is set up to advance the plot in strange newdirections, leading up to a rather fun climax. In the end, I enjoyedwatching the chemistry between the characters and their intricate mindgames, more than the action.This film has quality photography, and some really fast editing. Actingcan be very over-the-top, but Chow Yun-Fat and Jiang Wen both put oniconic performances. Writing is quite witty and sharp. This productionhas fine-looking period sets, props, and costumes. Certain specialeffects look awful, but they are few and very far between. Music forthis picture is okay (it includes a pretty odd use of drums andchanting toward the end).Chances are that some folks will find the comedy, fast pacing, andcomplex plot a little hard to follow, so I'd recommend it as a rental.Connoisseurs of Asian cinema will probably enjoy this a little moreeasily than average western audiences.4/5 (entertainment: 4/5, story: 4.5/5, film: 4/5)

Guy 2013-05-10 19:15:37

A bandit, a governor and a criminal boss face off in a Chinese Western

Plot: A bandit impersonates the new governor of a town and comes intoconflict with the crime boss who runs it.This film is essentially a Western set in the Warlord China of the1920s. It is full of zest and at its best it is a charming mix ofcartoon action, physical humour and bravura performances by the leads.Its desire to simply play around with genres, techniques andconventions is wonderfully endearing and very interesting. The gunplayin particular, which becomes a sort of ballistic chop-socky, is superb.But the problem is that the script is too messy, desperately in need ofan edit. Nearly every character is pretending to be someone - orsomeones - else, whilst the conflict between the two gangs is largelyplayed out through ruses and deception rather than fighting. The resultis a hugely over-complex, over-long and needlessly confusing plot. Thisfilm ought to have been a good 30 minutes shorter and a great dealtighter - and would have been all the better for it. Nonetheless, thisis an interesting and enjoyable mess.

jxingy 2013-05-10 14:04:13

you will need insights for this movie.

i ain't gonna talk about the storyline or something like that, i justgonna tell you, you will need some insights for this excellent movie.living at U.S i don't often watch movies from mainland China, not thati can't. it's just Hollywood and Hongkong cinema got my attention mostof time. Until this one [ Let the Bullets Fly - for a little ]. if youthink this is just action, comedy, Western, you are wrong. there aremuch much more of the story and secret behind that you need someinsights in order to get it. the things that they do and the versionthat someone or somebody die inside this movie, they all linkstogether, and what's so amazing about this movie is, it is a greatmovie where you can just watch like a comedy and don't think too muchabout it. but, if you wanted it more,re-watch it again. and then youwill know, for some of them to die, it isn't just because they gotshot, cut, or whatever. there is a untold storyline behind it. and thatmakes this movie from great to excellent.sorry for my poor English.

VillageVoiceNY 2013-05-09 18:33:44

Let the Bullets Fly

With a title like Let the Bullets Fly and a star like iconic Killerassassin Chow Yun-fat, it's not unreasonable to expect more than a fewscattered, semi-memorable shoot-outs from Jiang Wen's zany periodpiece. Fortunately, comedy and shifting-allegiances intrigue more thancompensate for the dearth of rousing action in this 1920s-set film—thehighest-grossing Chinese movie of all time—which concerns bandit"Pocky" Zhang's (Jiang) attempts to exact revenge against Goose Towncrime boss Master Huang (Chow) for the death of his son. That plotinvolves posing as the community's new governor...Read the full review here: http://www.villagevoice.com/movies/

fullpaperjacket 2013-05-08 03:41:10

Simply the best Chinese movie in 2010

In early 1920s, China was in civil war and it was an era when disorderbecame part of life. Bangde Ma ( GE, You) who just became the mayor ofa remote town through bribery was robbed by a group of bandits led byPock Zhang ( JIANG, Wen). However Ma could not afford any ransombecause he had used up all his money for bribery and the only way tocollect money was to use the ruling power of the mayor title. Zhangdecided to take Ma's position as the new mayor while Ma posed as hisprivate adviser under the name of Tang.Their destination, the Goose Town, was actually controlled by notoriousmafia clan of the Huang family and the only way to collect money was tofully cooperate with the family and handed out most of their gains.However Zhang was only interested in rich families black money andbelieved in fair justice for each person, which made Huang the IV (CHOW, Yun-Fat), the boss of the clan, very very unhappy. Almostimmediately Zhang and Huang became enemies and the Goose Town wouldsoon turn to be a battle field as well as a stage of hypocrisy,cheating, apathy and snobbery.The first impression of the movie is that it is no doubt of a typicalHollywood style action comedy composed by every piece of commercialelement you can find in other Hollywood action movies such as gunfiring, explosions, beauties, muscles, fast moving, slangs, and etc.The movie itself is of great fun and you will laugh from the beginningto the end. Also the story is told in a straightforward way and therewould be no problem of understanding it even if you have no idea whereChina is located. The problem, however, is how to interpret Jiang Wen.Let the Bullets Fly is becoming one of the hottest and the mostappraised movies in recent years in China neither because it is moredazzling than the Avatar nor because it is more surprising than theInception. It is welcomed because many Chinese viewers regard the storyas a mirror of present China and a movie with strong critical acclaimshould have not been approved for public show by the authority such asJiang Wen's previous movie the Devils on the Doorstep. Interestingly,different people can interpret the movie in a way they like and thismay be the power of a comedy. Frankly speaking, if you are not aChinese, chances are you will enjoy the movie for funny stuff while notthe metaphor of the movie.

Andrea Jory 2013-05-07 11:14:01

The Bard would be proud.

If William Shakespeare had written a western that takes place in Chinaat the beginning of the 20th century, it would be thus. This intricateplot contains many of the hallmarks of Shakespearean storytelling,conveyed with clever and engaging dialogue and satisfying action:murder, revenge, hidden identities, nobility of purpose, greed,political machinations, romance, violence, greathearted heroes, pettytyrants, henchmen, and impostors. My only real complaint with this filmis that the denouement is a little weak. But, overall, I loved it.If you buy/rent it on DVD, I would recommend viewing it in Mandarinwith English subtitles —I found that the English overdub was enjoyable,but a little too "American"; the subtitles had more punch, and kept theflavour of the original Mandarin (fyi, watching it with English overdub*and* English subtitles is trippy).

Tony Heck 2013-05-07 09:28:25

A great and exciting opening that had me hooked, then slowly started to lose me. Anti-climatic ending. I say B-

"I do not care about being rich but I must come up with a game plan torid of Huang once and for all. Give me time, Pop will avenge yourdeath." When bandit chief "Pocky" Zhang comes to a remote Chinesevillage he says he is the new mayor. After things go too far andsomeone ends up dead a battle for revenge begins between him and MasterHuang (Yun-Fat). This is a movie I was actually really looking forwardto. The preview looked really good and action packed. The first 15minutes was great and full of action. Then it started to gradually slowdown. The story was very interesting and kept me watching, but itreally lost momentum and by the end I was starting to lose interest.I'm not saying this is a bad movie but it was like coasting down amountain, the closer you get to flatting out the slower you go. This isworth seeing but don't expect excitement all the way through. Overall,a good movie that could have been better I think. I give it a B-.

asc85 2013-05-07 02:24:29

Not your typical Chinese action/comedy film...in a good way

I'm not a huge fan of Chinese cinema, although I do enjoy many of thefilms that get released in America. And while I enjoy the wuxiafighting scenes in most Chinese action films, it does get a littlepredictable after awhile. However, while Let the Bullets Fly isdefinitely an action film, there is very little, if any, wuxia fightscenes. Instead the film relies on American-style shoot-em-ups, cleverdialog, and a clever (but at times complex) plot. The acting is alsosurprisingly very strong for a film like this, particularly Ge You whois very funny as the exasperated counselor to the governor. DirectorJiang Wu also stars as the bandit masquerading as the governor. ChowYun-Fat is not the focus of this movie, but he does well in the role asthe local strongman, and has a great laugh that is frequently used. Allin all, an interesting and atypical Chinese action/comedy film that'sright now the highest grossing domestic Chinese film ever made. It'sdefinitely worth a look.

Jing Bai 2013-05-05 13:15:50

Bullets Flow in The Sky

Jiang Wen is a good actor and great director. He reminds me of ClintEastwood, who is also a good actor and great director. Wen Jiang onlyhave 4 films as director, he is not productive but every film he madeis masterpiece to me. I love the Devils on the Doorstep most, it tellsome truth no one fear to say.Let The Bullets Fly is newest work of Jiang Wen. I watched the Chuanidiom edition today, very love it. Chuan idiom is one of Chinesehundreds idiom, the people live in Sichuan Province and Chongqing useit in their daily life. The reason why the movie have a idiom editionbecause the script is adapted from a novel of a old Sichuan writer.That's too much fun to watch the movie with the familiar idiom. HoweverI love it not because the idiom, the reason is it's a good movie.This movie is mixture of Quentin Tarantino and Sergio Leone, full ofbizarre funny idea and masculinity. The last film The Sun Also Rises iscriticized too vague, so this one is totally a commercial film. But asthe one said in this film, he can made money without knee to others,Jiang Wen not knee to business, there's no disgusting ads and low-gradelines only passion for a good work, that's not easy for present Chinesefilm. This is why I respect him.Some sensitive people like me aware some political metaphor in thisfilm, this feeling is similar to the one I felt in Devils on theDoorstep. Jiang Wen knows Chinese deeply, or maybe he just so brave andsmart can tell the public what he knows. Someones know the truth butthey keep it and exchange it with fortune. Someones speak it loudly anddirectly, they only scared the public and get suffering. Of course inJiang Wen's way, only small amount of people know what he want to say,but that's enough. Truth always rests with the minority.Although this is a good movie, the non Chinese native speakers mayfound a little difficult to understand it, it like more a Cult than acommercial film to them.

junkielee 2013-05-05 02:56:20

Let The Bullets Fly

I'm quite lagging behind the progress of recent Chinese film market,LET THE BULLETS FLY is still the No.1 film in the all-time domesticgrossing (approximately 100 million US dollars, it seems that therecord still holds steady judging by the under-performance of YimouZhang's THE FLOWERS OF WAR 2011 and Hark Tsui's THE FLYING SWORDS OFDRAGON GATE 2011 in the past Christmas season), and its preeminentword-of-mouth prompts itself as a must-see for every aficionado, it isa bit shameful of me to been not have watched this one, aside from thatI'm a bona fide Chinese, thus I chose this one as the first film tostart my 2012. However the road is bumpier than I thought, at first the abrupt dialogsand some implausible scenes grate on my nerves (particularly theabsurdly droll disembowelment suicide). But it is a genuine slowburner, the tension ignited by a spanked-up manhood hegemony issterlingly fabricated at the latter part, there is a conspicuouspolitical intent has been underlined in a metaphorical method whilecontains some visceral vibes being spiritually entertaining andoptically stylish! As a matter of fact the censorship of cinema inChina is harshly stern (politically preferred), thus it is wondrous toguess how this film had evaded it and subsequently became the highestgrossing one in the Chinese film history, lots of context reading couldbe arresting and effectual for other film directors. As the elite in contemporary Chinese film market, LET THE BULLETS FLYis Wen Jiang's most ambitious work to date (after a failed attempt withDEVILS ON THE DOORSTEP 2000, which was shut down completely in thedomestic cinema due to some political reasons, and a box office debaclein 2007 with THE SUN ALSO RISES), Wen cunningly harness a cast withtrio male leaders, which has an overpowering appeal towards nearly allthe Chinese audience. You Ge (a household name in China and majorlyallures the large northern demography) stands out in the mêlée, hissatirical aura is the key catalyst in the film and also salts histragical doom with a poignant flavor. Yun-Fat Chow (the Hongkong marquename which has more box-office sway in southern area) is solid too, buthis villainy is a trifle overstated with his over-stately appearance.The real top dog is Wen himself, the winner both in and outside thefilm, with a gutsy supporting characters (Yun Zhou, Carina Lau is themeager female included).Hardware-wise, the film represents the top-notch level of contemporaryChinese film (one exception is the CGI effect of the opening trainaccident, which is risibly artificial), and the final battle of thestrategy about acquiring the dominance and manipulating of the massdemonstrates that Wen is the master of fashioning a compelling periodmainstream work with modern political allegory, which is a highlyvalued rare bird in this era.