THE BANQUET is the Chinese martial arts retelling of Shakespeare's HAMLET, a play with which I'm very familiar. The problem here is that THE BANQUET jettisons most of the good stuff leaving a flabby, overlong production that often looks fantastic but has no substance to go with the style. Almost all of the high drama from the original play has been removed and instead we get a familiar tale of court intrigue and a tyrannous emperor.

I really wanted to like this film, and the limited martial arts action is quite nice, with some HOUSE OF FLYING DAGGERS-inspired wirework and even a few gore effects thrown into a mix. It's a shame, then, that the characters are so resolutely one-dimensional and the entire storyline feels dragged out, particularly at the climax (which is hugely anti-climatic, given that the entire film builds towards it).

The cast do the best they can with the limited material. Daniel Wu is okay as the Hamlet character, but he's been better elsewhere (like ONE NIGHT IN MONGKOK). Ziyi Zhang is pretty good - and detestable - as the scheming Empress, and the others rarely disappoint; it's just a shame that the story is so lacking and that ambiguous ending just feels silly. Check out the same year's CURSE OF THE GOLDEN FLOWER: it's a similar milieu, a similar storyline, and MUCH better.

Set at the end of the Tang Dynasty when China has broken into various warring kingdoms Wu Luan, the Crown Prince of one such kingdom, has left the palace to study drama after his father marries Wan, the woman he loves. His reign isn't long though; the Emperor's brother poisons him, usurps the thrown and plans to make his wife the new empress. Assassins are dispatched to kill the Wu Luan but he has been warned and survives. Returning to the palace he discovers the truth about his father's death. He wants revenge but it is very dangerous; upsetting the emperor can lead to death; not just of the person involved but also of his clan. Wu Luan isn't the only person wanting the Emperor dead; Empress Wan may outwardly appear to love him but she really wants to protect her prince and when she thinks he is dead she wants revenge.

Having read that this story is loosely based on 'Hamlet' it came as no surprise that this is a tragedy without a happy ending. As is usually the case with Wuxia films everything looks stunningly beautiful and the fight scenes are amazingly choreographed; more ballet than battle as the characters move like dancers as the blood paints their stage. This is particularly noticeably in the opening scene where black clad assassins ambush the white clad members of the Prince's Theatre group. The acting was good; Ziyi Zhang is delightfully ambiguous as the Empress and You Ge is menacing as the Emperor. The film nicely captured the oppressive nature of the palace; everybody trying to please the emperor through fear rather than respect. If you are a fan of the genre this is well worth watching even if there are better examples.

It's a shame, that I couldn't enjoy this movie more. But it just wasn't up to the standards, I'm used to from Hong Kong Cinema, as far as depth of character or story on that concern. Ziyi Zhang is beautiful to watch, but her character could've done with more motivation/back story as far as I'm concerned. Goes for the rest of the story/characters as well.

What it is, is beautiful shot, and if you can oversee the mentioned flaws and bumps (in the story),you'll be able to enjoy this movie. Although I'm pretty sure, that "Curse of the Golden Flower" might be a better choice, for a choice as an Asian popcorn delight!