Shadow

A masterpiece, one of the best martial arts films I've ever seen. See it in theaters, it will not be the same at home.

Shadow is a masterful spectacle of human frailty and intellectual dishonesty that only grows in resonance as it goes along.

You've gotta see it to believe it.

Through these tiny, textured components, and with an unblinking eye on power and corruption, Shadow is a burning light on the souls of its questionable heroes.

If The Great Wall felt like Yimou was turning his greatest hits into something dispassionately bland, then Shadow takes the familiar and makes it feel startlingly new.

It's always good to see this side of Zhang's work. "Shadow" will not soon be forgotten.

Palace intrigue and ornate martial arts duels are just the surface of Shadow, Zhang Yimou's stunning 2018 period epic of doppelgangers, zither duets, double-crosses, and monochrome colors splattered with blood.

The fight choreography in the third act is unique and beautiful.

Building rather slowly towards climactic action, this is a corpse-strewn sort of Jacobean revenge drama, its violence staged with considerable panache.

With the colour palette of an ink wash painting, Zhang Yimou creates one of the most memorable wuxias in years...