April seems to be remake/ripoff month here at Hong Kong Film Net, and we have another case here with The Banquet. A re-telling of Shakespeare's "Hamlet" set approximately during the Qing Dynasty, The Banquet thankfully goes far above the other cheap "homages" we have reviewed this month.

Sporting the largest budget for a Mainland production ever, The Banquet is simply a delight to look at. There are a few CGI-enhanced scenes, but most of the splendor was created with good old fashioned elbow sweat, through huge sets and sumptuous costumes. It was truly refreshing to see an "epic" film that actually looked the part.

Though it's not an action movie by any stretch of the imagination, The Banquet also sports some impressive fight scenes, which are helmed by Yuen Woo-Ping. Though Yuen's work in this type of film is getting to be a bit cookie-cutter (a lot of slow-motion shots of flowy robes), the scenes here are well put together. This particular reviewer also appreciated the fact that there was a good amount of blood. Nothing gives a little punch to a sword fight like spurts of claret.

Acting-wise, The Banquet also handles itself well. What was really nice about it is that all of the main actors managed to create characters that were neither truly good nor truly evil. Far too many Chinese period dramas attempt to pin characterization on broad cariacture, and fail miserably in the process. I wouldn't say any of the acting was award-winning, but at least none of it made me cringe -- even Daniel Wu's first attempt at a Mandarin lead role.

But what really solidifies The Banquet is the screenplay and direction. Even though most people out there know the basic story of "Hamlet" (and thus the big twist at the end), The Banquet portrays the story in such a way that even one of the oldest endings in literature seems new and fresh. It's a bit hard to describe in print, but director Feng Xiaogang knows the perfect amount of information to give to the viewer, always keeping them interested in what will happen next without dumbing down thigns too much.

Though The Banquet doesn't really present anything that hasn't been shown before, and suffers a bit from over-length, it's still an extremely solid costume/period drama that should please most fans of Chinese cinema.

[review from www.hkfilm.net]