Review | Cliff Walkers movie review: Zhang Yimou spy thriller, starring Liu Haocun, deceives with its labyrinthine narrative
- Full of exhilarating action, the plot of this thriller, set in 1930s Manchuria, is overstuffed
- Liu Haocun shines as the doe-eyed yet tough heroine, but the rest of the cast are forgettable
3/5 stars
Zhang Yimou’s Cliff Walkers bursts at the seams with lavish visuals and a slew of exhilarating action sequences, as one might expect from the director of Hero and House of Flying Daggers.
Recalling everything from Where Eagles Dare to The Age of Shadows, this snow-driven spy caper delivers enough betrayals and double-crosses to make John le Carré seem like Tintin. However, the film’s labyrinthine narrative deceives and confounds its audience as readily as the protagonists, as we collectively struggle to recall exactly who is fighting on whose side.
Two team members, Yu (Qin Hailu) and Chuliang (Zhu Yawen), are apprehended immediately. This suggests there is a traitor within their underground network, and leaves Lan (Liu) and Zhang (Zhang Yi) to make the treacherous journey alone, while evading Zhou (Yu Hewei) and the rest of Section Chief Gao’s (Ni Dahong) collaborating forces.
Lan, a frail, doe-eyed beauty who struggles to walk through snow without falling over, makes for an initially implausible operative. Surprisingly, she reveals herself to be the group’s most resilient member, deftly dispatching goons twice her size and willingly hurling herself from a speeding locomotive.