Leofwine_draca 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.

Anssi Vartiainen I doubt that anyone could claim that this film isn't very pleasing to look at. The cinematography, the art design, the costumes, the battle choreographies, the settings, they're all very nice to look at, breath-takingly stunning even. Add in talented actors (Zhang Ziyi especially will always remain close to my heart) and a beautifully performed score and you have a film that has a very pretty outer exterior.Unfortunately the story and the plot don't quite manage to keep up. The film suffers from an inability to tell a coherent story and to keep its viewers engaged to the plot. Right from the first few scenes we are left wondering just what in the name of gods is going on and where this story is going. Of course some of these questions get eventually answered and knowing that this is based on Hamlet helps a lot, although it should be able to stand on its own merits when it comes to the latter. Naturally, some might argue that one should just pay attention and that some questions don't need answering, but the fact remains that sometimes a whole scene goes by and only later we learn just what happened, if we learn at all. The major example is the last scene, which to me feels completely useless and confusing, as the main conflict has already been resolved and thus the events of the ending scene just leaves us confused and a bit angry, because it means that we never resolve one of the biggest mysteries of the film, although naturally there are hints and nudges, but all of them are inconclusive. That's just bad storytelling if you ask me. Viewers are naturally curious and leaving us hanging like that serves no purpose.Nevertheless, I can't say that I dislike this film. It's gorgeous to look at, the actors are talented and it's only the plot that keeps this movie from being all that good. But, sometimes the pretty exterior is all that one needs to spend a few hours, and for that purpose this movie is more than enough.

JoeytheBrit Not being a Shakespeare aficionado I didn't realise this was an adaptation of Hamlet although I did pick up on the Shakespearian aspects as far as the scale and tragedy are concerned. The Banquet also reminded me of The Curse of the Golden Flower – to which it is quite considerably superior in almost every aspect – in terms of the storyline crammed with intrigue in the royal court, the interaction of woefully dysfunctional families and the suggestion of incestuous diversions.Some reviewers have complained that the film is slow but I never really found time dragging. The set design and costumes are sumptuous and the performances are quite restrained for this type of flick. There are a number of tense scenes in between all the talk and a couple of stylised action scenes, mostly in slow motion. The fights are staged and choreographed like ballet dances at times. The score is used sparingly – and to incredibly good effect – while the storyline, although slightly convoluted at times, unfolds with agreeable style.The open ending is considered a weakness by some, but I'm not sure that we are supposed to be left wondering just who aims the final knife so much as the director is trying to make the impression that these intrigues, betrayals and murders will continue, simply with a new cast of duplicitous characters to replace the old.

lia00027 I'm gonna say it directly about my thought of this movie. The plot is too long and too boring, the story somehow ridiculous and Daniel's character especially is very weak and his character doesn't a bit close enough with "Hamlet". The setting is good but it's too dark since almost everything are in black and red. This is somehow a bit disappointment and "Curse of the golden flower" is much better than this movie. The director couldn't bring the talents of the artists. Zhang Zi Yi and Zhou Xun are may be who acted well. The ending also silly and unexplained. The queen just died without being explained who's the killer. Enough of this quite disappointment movie.I won't suggest any of you to watch this movie.