Reviewed by: mrblue Date: 04/28/2007 Battle of Wits is a film adaptation of the popular Japanase manga "Bokkou". The story centers around Ge Li (played by Andy Lau), who is a member of the Mozi tribe, a people well-known for their military skills, even though they seek to have peace across the world. Ge Li travels to the kingdom of Liang to assist the king (Wang Zhiwen), who is facing an attack from the feared General Xiang (Ahn Sung-Ki). Managing to draw back Xiang's forces, Ge Li still finds himself in trouble when deception and jealousy in the king's court grows. In contrast to the other big-budget historical epics that have come out recently like Curse of the Golden Flower, Battle of Wits takes a downplayed approach. Sure, there are still huge battle scenes with thousands of warriors going at it full-bore, but in contrast to the opulence of those other films, Battle of Wits features a much-appreciated grittiness. In fact, I wish director Jacob Cheung (whose other films are mainly initmate dramas) had gone all the way with a more visceral and real feeling. Though there isn't much in the way of CGI presented here, what is feels terribly out of place -- and Cheung can go a bit overboard at times with "arty" shots and editing. It's not as bad as a lot of the MTV-style hyper-stylized stuff coming out nowadays, but the story could have been portrayed just as well (and perhaps even better) without any camera trickery. That being said, Battle of Wits still accomplishes what it sets out to do. Anchored by a solid performance by Andy Lau (who has now become one of Hong Kong's most reliable actors after years of leaden takes) and featuring a thoughtful story, it's one of the better swordplay epics to come out of Asia over the past year. Though it does plod in places and feels a bit long, most fans of Andy Lau and the genre in general should enjoy this entry. [review from www.hkfilm.net] Reviewer Score: 7

Reviewed by: MrBooth Date: 03/04/2007 Summary: 8/10 - well worth a look if you're a fan of this sort of film! The kingdom of Zhao is on its way to invade the kingdom of Yan, and they figure they might as well stop and take over the tiny kingdom of Liang whilst they're passing. The Liang King is all set to surrender, since their 4000 men can hardly stand up to Zhao's 100,000 troops... but then help arrives. It seems the Mozi have answered their call for assistance... but they've only sent one man. That man is strategist Ge Li (Andy Lau), however, and he persuades them that surrender isn't going to turn out as nice as they think, and that with the right plan they can defend themselves from the invaders until they get bored and go away. A BATTLE OF WITS is the latest Asian historical epic co-production, adapted from a Manga and with talent from Hong Kong, Korea and Mainland China on both sides of the camera. The director is Jacob Cheung, who has an odd little filmography of mostly small art films and dramas - nothing to suggest he had a historical epic in him, but we've said that about enough people now that we should probably stop being surprised. It sometimes seems that the bigger the budget, the lower the IQ the film demands or encourages. A BATTLE OF WITS looks pretty expensive, but thankfully does not seem to have let the money go to its head and displace its brains. As the title implies, it's a film about ideas as much as bloody great battle scenes. As the script writer, Cheung infuses his film with a little bit of politics and a little bit of philosophy, but keeps things in relatively commercial territory for most of the film... a gratuitous romance angle being the most obvious concession to mainstream audiences (or perhaps it was just a good excuse to get ultra-hottie Fan Bing-Bing on set and on screen... or perhaps that's the same thing, and I'm more mainstream than I thought :-p). Andy Lau grows ever more respectable as an actor it seems, giving his character the sort of charisma and respectability that few actors could manage... and he's still ridiculously handsome with it, damn him! Korean actor Ahn Sung Ki is as grizzledly cool as ever as the leader of the opposing forces, and it's great to see HK veterans Wu Ma and Chin Siu-Ho getting work again. The film unquestionably belongs to Andy though. The movie definitely has some issues - for instance, Ge Yi is perhaps 'too perfect' as a character, buddha-like in his pacificism yet unerringly wise in military strategy and psychology. This leaves him relatively little room to grow and develop as a character, though he does manage something of an arc - mostly thanks to Fan Bing-Bing's character, which I suppose negates my next criticism, which was going to be that the romance angle seemed gratuitous and tacked on. I suppose there was a point to it besides Fan Bing-Bing being so very, very attractive after all... but, perhaps it could have been handled better. The other main source of criticism is the occasionally dodgy CGI. There's quite a lot of good CGI in the film - the kind you don't notice - but a few scenes do look rather fake. This would applied to the biggest of the battle scenes mainly, and is rather inevitable when you choose to show hundreds of thousands of soldiers on screen at once. I do sort of wish people didn't feel it necessary to do that these days - it was a simpler, happier world when they had a few hundred people in costume running about in a field instead. In fact, they do this in WITS most of the time - actually thousands of real live people in places... which is one reason it stands out so much when they do cut to a CGI shot to show the entire army. Apart from those few shots, though, the battle scenes in the film are very impressively done. It's impossible to make or review a historical epic without invoking the spirit of Akira Kurosawa, and A BATTLE OF WITS shares obvious similarities with SEVEN SAMURAI and YOJIMBO in places, but I guess it's the nature of the beast that it should be so. It never feels like a 'homage (cough cough)' to any other film I can think of - it's not a radically departure from the form of 'historical epic', but it's definitely itself... and it's pretty good. In fact, there are parts of the film that are absolutely great film-making, really powerful stuff; then there are others that are a bit corny, or don't quite 'ring true', and bring the score down to... Reviewer Score: 8

Reviewed by: dandan Date: 02/20/2007 Summary: nothing to do with oscar wilde... general xiang yanzhong (ahn sung-ki) is leading 100,000 men from the armies of zhou to attack han; the only place they pass en route is the small city of liang, which they intend to occupy. the king of liang (wang zhiwen) is torn between surrendering before zhou attacks them and putting up a fight. the king has sent a request to the mo-tsu, a tribe noted for their employment of defensive tactics, but there has been no response. as all appears to be lost, the king sends details of his surrender to the zhou army, only for ge li (andy lau), a mo-tsu warrior, to arrive at liang. ge li persuades the king that the zhou army are focussed on han, not liang, and, if they can weather their initial attack, they will be left alone. the king and the people of liang decide to fight, leaving ge li to coordinate their strategy: so begins a battle of wits between ge li and general xiang... adapted from a manga ('bokkou' by kenichi sakemi, which i'd quite like to read) and directed by jacob cheung, 'a battle of wits' is reasonably epic drama. cheung does a pretty good job of creating the atmosphere of a siege and a sense of liang's isolataion. the film's main dramas all surround the relationships that ge li develops within the city; with the king, his tutor (wu ma) and his senior general, niu (chin-siu-ho), all of whom seem to be very suspicious of ge li and jealous of the respect he commands; with yi yue (fan bing-bing), the head of the royal cavalry, who falls for ge li; and, with the prince, liang shi (choi si won), and the archer zi tuen (nicky wu), both of whom embrace ge li's humanist, mo-tsu philosophies. it is the focus on these relationships, the political atmosphere in the city and the psychology of opposing tactics that give the film its strength. when coupled with a cast who deliver fine performances, the portrayal of liang, it's surrounding countryside and the battles that ensue, you get a pretty solid, entertaining film. that's not to say it doesn't have its faults; the last half hour runs out of steam in places, ahn sung-ki's dubbing is a little rough, there's a couple of quite poor cgi moments and some questionable balloons... pretty good, on the whole...

Reviewed by: steve_cole1 Date: 02/15/2007 Summary: Nearly a classic This film was great i have more and more respect for Andy Lau as an actor the only thing that stops it from being great is the suspect CGI which looks like it was done on an pc of 10 years ago rather than a top of the range pc . this maybe due to funds to the film. That aside its better than anything hollywood can do. Reviewer Score: 8

Reviewed by: Sydneyguy Date: 01/02/2007 Summary: Hmmm..... This movie certainly just jumped right into it. A very short intro sees the Liang seeing they have no chance against the Zhao army so they send a message that they surrender. Then suddenly, A Mozi, a cult known for there strategy for warfare turns up, then they decide, maybe we have a chance!! Next thing you know the battles begin, strategies are thought up and executed!! What happened to building up the story??? The Mozi somehow meets up with the Zhao general and have a chess game on top fo a hill. IS that a common thing in war? The most interesting part of this movie is the the philosophy of the Mozi, they are good at war strategy but emphasis peace. They also would goto any side to protect whoever needs them. Andy Lau plays his role well, but so does the rest of the cast. Also the politcal decisions by the king are interesting, as it shows power does corrupt. i'm disappointed by how the movies almost doesnt have a introduction and jumps right into it. It's almost feels like, OK they are going to attack, so lets get ready, OK they attacked, lets get ready for another attack. There is just no build up of suspense for what may occur next, they jump right the next phase without a thought. STill, this movie is a epic, and worth watching at least the once Reviewer Score: 7

Reviewed by: STSH Date: 01/01/2007 Summary: Impressive This sweeping historical epic reminded me a lot of Generation Consultant (apparently set in the same historical period), and even had some plot similarities to Tian Di (also starring Andy). The character of Ge Li is quite complex, which is pretty unusual for a historical pic in HK. He starts out wandering in from the desert, turns out to be a brilliant military strategist whose plans manage to kill many enemy soldiers, then he reveals humanist tendencies such as respect for enemy dead. And the revelation of each of these aspects of his character often signal plot twists. This is, in no sense, a triumphalistic war-is-good pic. There are scenes of horrid brutality and suffering, many moments of personal doubt, kindness and humanity. The viewpoint swings from the personal to the vast and back again with effortless grace. The scale is epic. Thousands of extras appear in the battle scenes, provided by units of the People's Liberation Army. And the locations are stunning. Sweeping deserts, spectacular cliffs, menacing forests. Things move a little slowly for the first half-hour but, at 135 minutes, it feels about the right length. The cast is first rate, the acting is of a high standard (Andy just keeps getting better), the direction and photography are first rate. Recommended. Reviewer Score: 7

Reviewed by: evirei Date: 11/26/2006 Summary: Un-miss-able! A Battle of Wits is a long awaited movie since Andy only acted in one or two movie a year. He did give a hint of what he was doing when he came down for concert last year. Which gets everyone all hype and anticipating. I must say I am not disappointed at all with the movie. In fact, I think it was very much an exciting movie. Based on a famous Japanese manga “Bokkou”, this movie basically tells the history of Mozi. Leave behind hopes of seeing extreme fights. Nope… not much blood fight scene… not much violence and gore as it’s not really what Mozi teaching is all about. It’s more about war strategy, universal love, peace. Yes, I know many were expecting big fight, millions of troops fighting and streams of blood which leads to a disappointment. Okay… set in 243 B.C. when China was torn among seven states and was ruled by individual ruler. Everyone tries to conquer the other countries to expand their power. Smaller and weaker states often fell prey to larger and stronger ones. The Liang city was an unfortunate victim when the Zhao state wanted to conquer the Yan state. Knowing that they have to take down Liang city first as a stepping stone to win the Yan state, a war must be fought. Desperate for help, the King of Liang (Wang Zhiwen) asked the fellow Mozi’s for help. 2 months has passed and yet, not even one person showed up. One day, just when the Zhao army was getting ready to attack, a Mozi tribesman called Ge Li (Andy Lau) came to the rescue. Ge Li was having a hard time persuading the people of Liang to fight for their own rights and homeland. Everyone was motivated when Ge Li manages to scare away the Zhao army. The King of Liang, being a selfish and greed for power person just couldn’t care less for his people. Even when the kingdom is on the brink of being attacked, he still have the mood to drink and get drunk while leaving all the war task to his son, Liang Shi (Choi Si Won). Knowing he needs good leadership, he quickly promoted Zi Tuan (Nicky Wu). This make Lian Shi angry and a small competition of archery was done to prove Ge Li’s choice of men was right. Ultimately Zi Tuan did not disappoint Ge Li and was appointed General. It’s amazing how one person can plan, decide, navigate and just be so rasional at the same time. When the King know he can’t do anything but trust Ge Li, he pass the ultimate power to command the war troops to Ge Li. Ge Li’s strategy was working fine as he surely knows how to fight a psychology war. Yes, I do agree is all in the mind. The stronger the mind is… the higher the chance of winning. Ge Li even come up with ideas like building a bulwark from the palace wall stones in seven days to strong hold the enemy out while shocking them with their ability. He even have everything planned out for instance ways to keep their water and food supply safe and the use of manure as a blanket on the villagers’ thatched roofs to prevent the spread of fire from flaming arrows. The Zhao army, being lead by Commander Xiang Yanzhong (Ahn Sung Ki) suffer a big lost after the first round of attack. They retreat when the Commander was being shot by Zi Tuan. Being upset and angry with the lost, the Zhao army plan to re-attack Liang city. Yi Yuen (Fan Bing Bing), the Calvary officer quickly assist Ge Li to spy on the Zhao camp. Being spotted and attacked, it leaves them no choice but jump from a cliff. After saving Yi Yuen, she quickly falls for Ge Li. Ge Li keeps pushing Yi Yuen away as a Mozi believes in one should care for all people equally. The Liang kingdom under Ge Li’s plan once again manage to survive the Zhao attack when they treid to ambush the kingdom. Being surrounded and shot till death even when the Zhao army dropped their weapons, this has caused the other Zhao army to be angry. Everything starts to tear apart in the Liang kingdom when they thought the Zhao army has retreat. The jealous king starts to worry that Ge Li would overthrown him. He quickly order his faithful general, General Niu (Chin Siu Hou) to get rid of Ge Li and everyone who obeys Ge Li. It was surely a heavy price to pay to get rid of Ge Li. The Liang kingdom was vulnerable to attack after Ge Li was gone. The remaining Zhao troops came back to attack the Liang city as they think it’s really a disgrace such a big and strong kingdom was defeated by a small city under the supervision of one Mozi follower. What happen next… hemm, you will have to really see it for yourself. Yes, I am leaving lots of empty blanks to fill in because I simply think it was a great movie. Muahaha.. it’s all in the mind! I totally love the idea and the storyline but I somehow think they could still further develope some of the character. Yes, they have a rather simple setting and costume compared to “The Banquet” but I must say, it outcome was far more better than “The Banquet”. Having a great soundtrack to go along with the movie just brings out all the emotions and effects. Ah… not to mention… having Andy Lau is more than enough to kept me drooling. I just love handsome, cool, calm and capable man. Now… should I see it again? *I should* Reviewer Score: 9