FAIL!! Movie is so complicated, couldnt enjoy it *SPOILERS*

We assumed Donnie's was the Imperial side.

Tuo Tuo was the step-daughter of Sammo Hung's, who had once tried to revolt but failed. Now after the intro scene he summoned Tuo Tuo and asked her for help with another revolt.

...
In nomine Patris, et Filii, et Spiritu Sancti.

I had no problems to understand this movie at all. About good or bad side... well there is none really. The movie tries to give credit to both sides, which is unusual for this genre and maybe that is why you were confused. But it's quite clear where the audiences sympathies are supposed to be directed to mainly.
Anyway, this is in no way a complicated movie. I don't know what kind of movies you watch on a daily basis, but I can assure you that I watched this movie, because I wanted to be entertained by a straightforward and simple movie and to me it was just that.

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I think the movie had a whole bag of issues. The plot was messy, but the characters were pure crap. Tuo Tuo's abilities are out of place and her character was as shallow as a puddle. I felt no sympathies for anyone and couldn't logically relate to any of them.

A lot of the actors were miscasts. What looks like a pop singer as a desert judge? Surely they can do better.

80's and 90's Hong Kong period films were so much better than these modern ones. The awful CGI made my eyes bleed and gave these films a very fake and over-produced look to it. Outside of Red Cliff, everything else looks awful.

yeah a little more straightforward and it would have been great, but not that its bad.

6/10

When there's no more room in hell, The dead will walk the earth...

yeah.. the movie is unclear.
donnie yen's costume looks like wild west cowboy.
judge is like prince of persia.
the sword is okay but the box kinda strange.

5/10

I think the key to understanding this film is the secret service agent (jin yi wei) that really existed -- that's what it is depicting, basically.

The agents were recruited to inspect and get rid of so-called "bad officials" (now the definition of "bad officials" depends on which side the emperor or those who holds the real power was on). Historically there were 3 agencies -- Dong Chang, Xi Chang and Neixing Chang, the former was established much earlier than the latters. The time in the film is obviously the period of time when a evil eunuch called Liu Jin held power, when all 3 agencies were already working. The 3 agencies each included thousands of jin yi weis, and were used to inspect people's talks and writings, and among all, Neixing Chang had the most power -- apart from inspecting officials and peasants, it could also directly inspect the other 3 agencies. Different emperors (or power-holders) trusted different agencies, and that's why it was a major problem in the Ming Dynasty, and why in the film Xuanwu and the eunuch wants to get rid of Qinglong, Baihu nad Zhuque. It was only until after Liu Jin's death that Xi Chang and Neixing Chang was eliminated.

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