It takes guts to take on an epic story like Romance of the Three Kingdoms - royally big guts. For goodness' sake, the tale is thousands of years old, it's one of the biggest and most well-loved Chinese classics out there, and has more characters than the current range of Pokemon. (We know there aren't any Chinese Pokemon, but that's besides the point). Suffice to say it's a huge challenge adapting this gigantic epic to film, and John Woo's a mighty brave man for doing so. After all those years of doing Hollywood movies that never even came close to his Hong Kong masterpiece like Hard Boiled, The Killer and A Better Tomorrow, we're pleased to report that Woo is back doing what he does best - great Asian action pieces. Red Cliff is one of those movies that makes Chinese people proud to be Chinese, hair buns and all.

The movie is of course about the famous Battle of Red Cliff, one of the many sagas in Romance of the Three Kingdoms. Taking place during the Han Dynasty, it pits the cunning Prime Minister, Cao Cao (Zhang Fengyi), against the joined forces of the Wu kingdom's ruler Liu Bei (Yong You), and the Southland's leader Sun Quan (Chang Chen). The alliance includes prominent military strategist Zhuge Liang (Takeshi Kaneshiro) and military commander Zhou Yu (Tony Leung), who are experts in the art of music and warfare.

There are plenty of interesting military strategies laid out here, and the battle choreography is simply amazing. But it's the characters who leave the deepest impression - from the ambitiously evil Cao Cao to the oddly humorous Zhuge Liang, it's a thrill to see these classic characters fleshed out on screen. Special kudos must also be given to Vicky Zhao for her turns as the feisty tomboy Sun Shangxiang, who is a refreshing change from the gorgeous-but-stiff Lin Chiling. John Woo's personal style is stamped all over Red Cliff, from his love for stylistic screen effects to his penchant for doves. As much as we'd like to extend an olive branch to Woo and forgive his recent Hollywood misfires, it's hard not to sigh over the overly fanciful screen effects he pulls - a straight-up historical epic is definitely not the place to be experimental. But discount the distractions, and Red Cliff actually lives up to its great-historical-epic hype; we're psyched to see part two, where the battle starts to get really hot. Roast dove, anyone? - Lisa Twang