BEAUTIFUL but boring best sums up “The Children of Huang Shi,” a melodrama set during Japan’s invasion of China in the late 1930s.
The cinematographer, Zhao Xiaoding (who worked with director Zhang Yimou on “House of Flying Daggers” and other epics), makes the most of China’s gorgeous landscape.
He’s let down, however, by the cookie-cutter script, which seems to have been patched together from any number of other films.
It doesn’t help that the two lead actors – Jonathan Rhys Meyers (as an English journalist who saves 60 orphans from the war-ravaged land) and Rhada Mitchell (as a helpful nurse) – don’t ignite any sparks.
Perhaps it would have been wise for the director, Roger Spottiswoode, to make more efficient use of Chow Yun-fat, who shows up now and then as a resistance fighter.
I also would not have minded seeing more of Michelle Yeoh, the excellent Malaysian-born Chinese actress who portrays opium-den owner Madame Wang.
Running time: 125 minutes. Rated R (violence). At the Paris and the Sunshine.