Hoked-up Civil War epic, visually very uneven, set in mid-19th-century China, featuring three of the usual suspects, Jet Li, Andy Lau, Takeshi Kineshiro, and directed by Peter Ho-Sun Chan. The weighty statements on the specific history and on war in general are subverted by eruptions of martial-arts silliness in the hand-to-hand combat. A filmmaker must choose whether he wants to be taken seriously or taken sillily. He can’t have it both ways. (2009) — Duncan Shepherd
This movie is not currently in theaters.