Sense of humour taken from Stephen Chow kung-fu mythical nonsense comedies of the early 90's, visual flair taken from Wong Kar Wai's Ashes of Time and script originally written by Coen bros. Result? A mess that is neither funny of interesting nor good. Production values are good, but fuck, I'm disappointed with you, Yimou...

One of the most beautiful movies I have seen. A great re-imagining of 'Blood Simple' by the Coen Bros.

"When did Zhang Yimou start acting like Jean-Pierre Jeunet?" - Nick Schager

Dull dull dull. I turned it off halfway through, so MAYBE it gets awesome, but I didn't care anymore.

The visuals were great. Otherwise, I wasn't remotely impressed by this. The acting was terrible, the pacing was bad, and the editing was wretched.

Blood Simple remade as a slapstick set in period China doesn't even SOUND like a good idea. The tone shifts between manic, annoying farce and rather dull crime drama. What works are the twisty plot points lifted from the original. What doesn't work is just about everything else. The visuals are occasionally dazzling, but their appeal wears off after a while, especially as overly flashy shots keep alternating with drab scenes in the noodle shop cellar. Stick with the Coens.

The costumes and cinematography are colorful and diverting, the cultural transplant of an American story into a Chinese setting is intriguing, the director is one of the true giants of our time, but the resulting film feels rather slight, tossed off. Here's hoping that Zhang puts out some meatier work soon.

It tries way too hard to be something fantastic and that way it ends up being anything but. Grotesque acting which you can like or not, and a weak plot in my opinion (that probably is from Blood Simple, which I haven't seen). All in all there are some laughs, but it's just too much of an indiferent freak show played out in a - admittedly - unbelievably beautiful scene.

i thoroughly enjoyed this film. it's pretty sad to see so many uptight, pompous film dorks can't relax and enjoy a beautifully shot remake of the coen bros first film. some of you cinephiles need to pull the stick out.

I always wondered what Blood Simple would look like as a shrill-pitched, flamboyant, bloated farce. Did I say always? Sorry, I meant never. I guess America no longer has the monopoly on unnecessary remakes.

"From one great director to another, a Woman, a Gun and a Noodle Shop pays tribute to the Coens by improving their earlier immature work."

Okay, so I get that the Asians want to give the Americans a taste of their own medicine of the shitty remakes-brand, but how about giving us Europeans a heads-up next time? We're in the book.

"Most will find Noodle all wet-limp, if you will- in Yimou's apparent choice to remake Blood Simple in the style of Raising Arizona."

The ending feels tossed off, but perhaps that's due to the Coens' delivery being better in almost every way. If it wasn't for a few annoying characters, and a very silly opening, this more comedic offering would have went down smoother. The minimal use of dialogue in the midsection and constantly attractive cinematography are what make it stand out in comparison. While not numbering among my favorites, the consensus of reactions (from what I can tell, either indifferent or negative) perplexes me