Nexus Engel Chow Yun-Fat in the wild west? Why not?Known as "The Killer" yet again, Chow commits mass murder in a blind rage, and then vanishes from the murder scene to build the "Peace Hotel," a supposedly sacred place for crooks and degenerates to run to if they're on the run from the law or any criminal element, and have nowhere else to go.That all changes when a woman played by Cecilia Yip arrives claiming to be Chow's long-lost wife. I tell you, I've never heard more lies spewed forth from a movie character in such a short amount of time until I saw this movie. It's just lie after lie with this one, and she's persistent, too. Chow never falls for these sob stories of hers, and quickly debunks them as the myths they are, usually following up with a smack upside the head with a paper fan or a broom or something.Then a gang arrives, apparently after her for killing one of their bosses, but Chow's code won't allow her to be killed by them. No matter. It's obvious and inevitable that he'll take up the sword once again.As a comedy-drama, Peace Hotel works in a few ways, but not many. It makes for an unconvincing romance story. And as an action story, it's abysmal. The swordfights are some of the worst-edited sequences I've ever seen. Imagine Paul Greengrass filming a man swinging a flaming torch (and later, a sword) through countless bad guys. Now imagine Olivier Megaton, fresh from Taken 3, editing that footage. Now imagine that footage sped up. Yeah. It's bad.The single shootout sequence, however, is fantastic, and a major contrast to the editing style applied to the swordfights. I suspect John Woo, who helped produce this film, took over the director's chair for this sequence, because I can't see how the same director who did such poor swordfight sequences could have done such a grand shootout like the one on display here. It's the only plausible explanation.Overall, the acting is corny and not all that great, although Chow seems to really give it his all and seems to be the only one really trying to churn out a decent performance. The comedy works, sometimes, but often falls flat. The plot twists are silly. The music is distractingly poor sometimes. I think the second half, with the exception of the shootout, is where things really started to fall apart. Unfortunate, because this could have been better had it been handled with more care.

Paul Magne Haakonsen Well, this was sort of interesting, but not really in an overly great way. A typical western (cowboy) movie that is mixed with a traditional Chinese setting. It just didn't really come off as something that was particularly good.For a Chow Yun-Fat movie, then I was rather disappointed with this. Sure, he did perform well enough, but the story and the setting of the movie was just not working in his favor. I am sure there are someone out there who find this approach of a Hong Kong movie to be interest. Sure, I will agree that it was unorthodox, but I am not going to agree to it being a good concept.The story in "Peace Hotel" is about 'The Killer' (played by Chow Yun-Fat) who witness his wife being murdered and hellbent on revenge he kills every single person responsible. Then to repent, he builds a hotel, naming it Peace Hotel. This hotel becomes a safe haven for all who come to it, without anyone asking about one's past and will be protected as long as one stays within the confines of the hotel. Then one day a woman in a red dress shows up, claiming to be the long lost wife of the owner of the hotel, and hot on her tail is a gang of ruthless men.I will say that the movie was well enough acted, though at certain times it was a bit forced and over the edge, going just a notch too far in extreme display. And there was some subtle attempts at comedy, which for most parts worked out well enough. And why not throw in a musical act while at it - wait, wait, that's right, there was a musical act in the middle of the movie. That was just too much and made the movie come off as more of a joke than it came off as serious.For a Hong Kong movie, then "Peace Hotel" isn't much of an impressive movie. Even from the moment the DVD menu popped up, I knew it was going to be bad, because it even said "A John Woo production" on that DVD menu. What the... Are you kidding me? It was so lame, and reeked of low budget production.The movie itself actually had a good production value, and had some good camera work to it as well. The action scenes were adequate, but nowhere near anything even remotely close to what you'd expect from a Chow Yun-Fat movie, despite it this being the last Hong Kong movie he made before rocketing off to bigger fame and fortune in Hollywood. If you are a fan of Chow Yun-Fat, then "Peace Hotel" is a good enough watch, but if you are a fan of Hong Kong cinema, then "Peace Hotel" is not really a good addition or choice of entertainment.

Eson This review contains minor spoilers.This whole movie's look is very similar to the spaghetti western, but with richer production values. Peace Hotel is noteworthy in several respects. First, it is the last Hong Kong movie Chow Yun-Fat has made to this date. Also, Chow Yun-Fat is bald in the beginning, and does some fast-paced swordplay. These both are precursors to his now famous part as Li Mu Bai in Ang Lee's Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (which is not a Hong Kong movie, as Ang Lee does not work within the Hong Kong movie system, and the film is in Mandarin, not Cantonese). This movie also marks the reunion of Chow Yun-Fat and Cecilia Yip, who had not worked together since 1984 (Hong Kong 1941). This was also the last time Wu Chien-lien was in a movie with Chow Yun-Fat, who had been in Treasure Hunt and God of Gamblers' Return with him the year prior to this. However, her cameo lasts about two seconds.Anyway, enough background. One of the few movies where Chow Yun-Fat contributed to the writing, this movie has his brand of comedy. It also has Chow Yun-Fat just killin' a whole mess of people. The visual design and costumes are pretty fantastic, and the movie has a good pace to it. There is a kind of fantasy feeling to this movie, as it is a mixture of the American western genre, but with Chinese tints to it. Cecilia Yip gives a pretty good performance here, and Chow Yun-Fat gets to show much of his range here as an actor, even though he tries to remain distant throughout the movie.

drngor This movie is very unique. Just the idea of a Chinese Spaghetti Western is mind-boggling. In this movie, Chow Yun-Fat plays "The Killer." He sets up a hotel as a refuge for people on the run. Their safety within the confines of the hotel is guaranteed. When a mysterious girl, played by Cecilia Yip, comes to hotel, his ideals and the sanctity of the hotel becomes threatened as her enemies wish to violate the rules of the hotel.There are very good performances in this film. Chow Yun-Fat does an excellent job as "The Killer." Cecilia Yip is a very strong and bold female character. As the relationship of the two develop, I actually sympathised and liked the two characters.The action scenes are well done, for the most part. The machine gun attack and the final sword fight were very well done. The other sword fights were somewhat blurry. Ching Siu-Tung should have been on hand to choreograph those scenes.I also thought that the end was very powerful and emotional. It even rivals the ending of The Killer. In the end, this movie is worth seeing not only for its action sequences, but for the great performances by the two leads. This movie is not as good as his Woo films, but it is still a powerful movie.