The Battle at Lake Changjin

[Drunk Monk]

The Battle at Lake Changjin

The 2nd highest grossing film of 2021 (beat by Spidey), the highest grossing Chinese film and non-English film so far, the biggest Chinese budget ever, by three top directors, Tsui Hark, Chen Kaige, and Dante Lam, and starring wushu champ Wu Jing. 

This film is big. And long. Nearly three hours. 

There are some massive scenes - huge battles - couldn't tell how much was CGI but several scenes looked like hundreds if not thousands of soldiers. That was impressive. And some of the landscapes were stunning. 

It was commissioned by the CCP propaganda dept (that's what it's called - at least the chicoms are honest about calling it propaganda). It's a chapter of the Korean war about the People's Volunteer Army going up against ... yeah, US troops. It's rough. MacArthur comes off poorly. American soldiers are bleating, living in comfort of Thanksgiving feasts, with air strikes and tanks. The Chinese are in the freezing snow, eating tiny moldy potatoes. 

There's some major action pieces. The first big battle happens at the one hour mark and rocks for like twenty minutes of explosions and ultravi. 

Wu is a commander, saddled with his young punk brother. Their other brother was KIA in a previous campaign. The other soldiers have a rugged nobility and are brimming with patriotic self sacrifice. 

Did I like it? Well, it's a fast forward to the fight scenes. The length of it put me off. Honestly, I don't know much about the Korean War beyond what I learned in M.A.S.H. This is overly historical, spending way too much time introducing significant generals and such. There's a subplot about Mao and his son that could've been completely cut. 

Wu Jing was good, like he always is. 

Only D00M recommended for the fight scenes tho. Not sure how D00M is with anti-American propaganda. It doesn't phase me much. In fact, it kinda fascinates me. 

Part two drops in two weeks for Lunar New Year. It's gonna be huge too. There was a huge teaser trailer at the end of this for that. It's poised to take the box office in PRC, and consequently the world.