excellent film no mel gibson braveheart then trying be actually the emperor assassin probably thankfully common shakespearean production hollywood blockbusterbr br in third century bc king qin attempting unite in words conquer seven kingdoms china already overthrown kingdom han needs excuse invade kingdom yanbr br this lady zhao comes in king friends since childhood obviously much love cannot marry political reasons together devise plot pretend fallen disfavor king escape yan convince prince yan send assassin back kill king assassination fails king excuse invade yanbr br once yan however lady zhao begins reconsider hearing seeing examples old childhood friends ruthlessness begins wonder king may need assassinated realbr br one sure sign watching hollywood production final encounter king assassin unlike hollywood movie hero villain clearly defined final outcome already predetermined fight could truly go either waybr br this well crafted well acted story tumultuous time chinese history mixture incredible beauty incredible ugliness beautiful all however gong li lady zhao grow convinced every time see gong li beautiful woman worldbr br i must say however one unintentionally funny line film early gong li asks one servants do beautiful facebr br duh