After seeing some of the less than flattering reviews I almost decided to watch this again. I enjoyed it myself. It wasn't perfect but I thought it was pretty good.

The story of the ultimate dysfunctional Royal Family intrigued me. With plenty of plot twists and revelations sprinkled throughout. There was of course some problems with character development as has been pointed out in other reviews. There seemed to be a little too much emphasis on the Empress taking her medicine/poison and her diszzy spells. What also may have hurt the way some may have felt watching this film was there was no likable character.

The acting is where COTGF really took off. Chow Yun Fat & Gong Li were excellent as the loveless rulers. Jay Chou also impressed me although he didn't have enough dramatic lines I thought. I'm looking forward to seeing him again in the future. Newcomer Man Li also showed that she might be somone to look out for as well.

This might have been the best movie I've seen visually. From the incredible sets to the lavish costumes and the few fight scenes this was truly breathtaking at times.

Overall, while flawed I still found it to be a work of art. Very enjoyable.