Writer: Lester Gan Wai Lun

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Watch this if you liked: "Legend Of The Flying Swordsman"

This film "White Vengeance" or also known as "Hong Men Yan (Hongmen Banquet)" is based on an actual historical event that took place once upon a time in China. Director Daniel Lee manages the tough task of preserving the main plot of the story very well despite having to instill new elements to it.

The script was intelligently written and was balanced out with some well planned action scenes. A love-triangle was also introduced despite it being not mentioned in the actual story, which makes for an interesting addition to one of its many variations.

The story starts off on the battlefield with Xiang Yu, a prominent military leader and political figure, leading the Chu rebel forces in a bid to overthrow the Qin dynasty. Liu Bang, in the actual story was put in charge of an army by the king of Chu to attack Qin. In this film, Xiang Yu was the leader of the entire army contingents. What was not or only vaguely mentioned in this film is that the king of Chu, in the actual story, promised that whoever that manages to enter Guangzhong (heartland of Qin) would be granted the title "King of Guanzhong ". So it was a little puzzling when Liu Bang went behind Xiang Yu's back to conquer Xiangyang(being the first to enter Guanzhong) through diplomatic negotiations. These events eventually led to the Hongmen Banquet event hosted by Xiang Yu with the plot to assassinate Liu Bang.

However, the characters were never properly introduced, you know their names, but you won't know how they are related to one another. Reading up the actual story on Wikipedia will give you a better perspective and understanding when watching the film. The performance of the casts were close to superb, for some reason actor Shao-feng Feng (Xiang Yu) looked a lot like Johnny Depp in this film.

The effects were the most disappointing part of all, the graphic rendering of the background horses and soldiers were too obvious not to be seen. Also, whether it is the lack of research or not, crossbows have no business being in this film, seeing as this event occurred during the second century BC whereas crossbows were only invented two centuries later.

Putting aside the minor nitpicks; this is undoubtedly one of the better Chinese films of the year. A little reading up on the actual event on Wikipedia would enhance the film experience by a long mile.

Cinema Online, 25 November 2011