This is the second HK movie I have seen that features a very bizarre love triangle as a major plot element. Bizarre in the sense of a chick that is "disguised" as a man attracts the attention of a certain woman but she herself falls for that woman's brother, if that sounds like a mess wait until the emperor gets involved. What the hell am I talking about? The Lunar New Year movie Chinese Odyssey 2002 but of course. It is comedy/romance set in medieval china, very similar in style as the movie Wu Yen.

This is one of the most charming movies I have seen in a while. The story premise about a princess or emperor finding true love with a commoner outside the palace walls may not be new but the way the story is put together in this movie is pretty original. The story is both entertaining and humorous, it also is not exactly predictable so you may have a couple of surprises in store. There is one thing that you will notice there is a lot of inside jokes from previous Wong Kar-Wai movies such as Ashes of Time and Chungking Express. If you've seen these movies it will be funny, if not it will be a couple odd scenes in the movie but still entertaining. Overall they hit the jackpot with the storyline.

This movie had a very enjoyable cast of characters, from the main characters to the secondary characters to the non-related characters, they were all great. Everyone seemed to have that certain element of soul that was more common in earlier HK movies. As for the main cast they're performance was great, it was not hard to get attached to the characters. Personally I think Tony Leung and Faye Wong stole the show, those two were incredible together, the chemistry was almost palpable. My favourite character of all was a secondary character called Amour-Amour, that just goes to show that all the secondary characters had a very on screen presence rather than floating in the background.

I think I was smiling from beginning to end, not just from amusement but from a general feel good vibe. There is a good percentage of comedy in this movie, most of it brought on by the complicated nature of the relationships and the rest basically humorous nonsense. Some of it is Chinese humour but I find that most of it everyone can enjoy, no prerequisite HK culture knowledge. In addition to the comedy you have a wonderful love story that fills you with a sort of feel good vibe, the actors performance is so gold that you can feel the emotion in the movie. In addition you have a great story to bind this humour and emotion together into one entertaining package. I must also mention the visual quality of this film, the costumes and sets are incredible. Along with that you have some really beautifully shot scenes, the camera work in general is great. Just for the visual element alone this movie is great but mixed with story and soul it becomes a truly unbeatable combination.

What can I say, I think this movie totally rocked. It had a great story, great characters, great visual, a Chinese opera feeling, it was all good. I want to step back for a second to Ashes of Time, this movie had a great premise but the over all visual aspect of the movie was crap (like those old nintendo games, they had great gameplay but compared to today were unplayable visually). If Ashes of Time would be remade with the quality level of this movie, it would be an incredible movie. The entire HK film industry can learn a lesson of these few great productions like Chinese Odyssey 2002, concentrate your resources and release quality films, both visual and with soul. HK cinema may be in a slump of late but they are not far from returning to the golden years of the past with a whole new high tech quality. If you enjoyed Wu Yen or other movies with drama and comedy then take a look at Chinese Odyssey 2002, you won't be disappointed. For action fans beware this movie is of the tame sort so if you essentially need action then stay clear.