THE GREAT MAGICIAN (2011)

Set in the years after the 1911 revolution that deposed the Qing Dynasty, China is now divided among a group of bickering warlords constantly fighting with each other.  One of them, Bully Lei, has a second-in-command using magic to force convicts and the poor to joining their army ... even as he secretly plots to help bring back the Empire, himself.  Enter the mysterious stranger Chang Hsien (Tony Leung Chiu Wai, the "Clark Gable of China" and one of the finest actors in film ever), a master of magic somehow connected to Bully Lei's seventh (and most uncooperative) wife - a young, beautiful woman Bully originally kidnapped, whose icy veneer will only melt when Bully finds her missing father.  Great touches of comedy here, especially in the end, and the magic tricks/effects are superb.  A great cast makes things fun as well, and while I think the film runs a little long (could have been edited down just a bit), it's such fun to watch ... and Tony Leung Chiu Wai, as always, fascinates whenever he's on-screen. (not rated)  B-