House Of Flying Daggers (2004)

House Of Flying Daggers delivers a masterclass of colours and beauty, bringing stunning cinematography in line with breathtaking squences of tremendous action. Indeed the dizzying array of colours and excellent choreography are a delight to watch however as a whole the movie is not so successful. The colours Jin and Mei, our two main characters, wear throughout most of the film are cleverly thought out, the use of blue and green connoting a relationship that's fairly basic, yet fundamental and important. However the romance that makes the heart of the movie may not be ironically cold, but it is however weak- I'd find basic a better descriptive term over fundamental in relation to this. From the moment they meet the viewer can see the undying love between them and unfortunatly the characters are too simple for any suspense building complications to occur. Although the ending is unexpected, there is rarely enough tension created, and the visual spectacle is not enough to make up for it. House... is clever and a masterpiece for the eyes, it is a shame the same level of brillience couldn't have gone into the characterization and the romance, this film is strong on the surface, but suffers from a weak heart.