Not Another Chow Yun-Fat Movie?

I remember when I used to get excited for movies like this. Nowadays, I have to be honest and admit that Assassins just looks like the same old thing, and with a generic title to boot (the original Chinese title, Bronze Sparrow Terrace, is way better). I hate that I’m even saying that, but, well…tell me if anything particularly original grabs you about this trailer, which appears to be positioning the movie as an unofficial sequel to Red Cliff, of which I have forgotten most except for the naval battle at the end. But both movies feature portrayals of real-life Chinese warlord Cao Cao.

I want to love Chow again. I hope Assassins can give me a reason to. We’ll find out January 8th, I guess.

Here’s a Ming Dynasty-era image of the real Cao Cao, courtesy of Wikipedia. I will say that if the drawing is to be believed, Chow is much better looking.