Prince Harry's time in Afghanistan looks like a vacation besides Assembly, a brutal epic set during China's Civil War that asks leading questions about the value of heroism. Its lead character is Guzidi, a Communist captain whose loyalty to the cause is shaken when his fallen comrades are refused official recognition. His fight for redress can't match the earlier scenes of ferocious battle, though, resulting in a work that is not so much a film of two halves as two movies bolted together.

Beginning with a frenetic ambush that sees Guzidi (Zhang Hanyu) lose half his men to enemy snipers, Feng Xiaogang's film ups the ante further by sending the stubborn soldier on a suicide mission: defending a mine against overwhelming forces until the order to retreat is sounded. The visceral carnage that follows sees his hopelessly outgunned unit use guile, deceit and makeshift artillery to fend off tanks, shells and infantry. By its end Guzidi is the only one left standing. The real scrap comes later, however, as he realises to his dismay that no record exists of his friends' noble self-sacrifice.

"A GOOD HOUR OF RELENTLESS ACTION"

Alas, watching a man grapple with red tape can't help feeling a bit of a letdown after a good hour's worth of relentless action. An interlude in Korea that sees Guzidi trapped by another mine (this time of the explosive variety) feels oddly irrelevant, while the eventual resolution takes an age to arrive. It's an impressive effort to be sure. Like Harry's hair, though, you really wish it were shorter.

Assembly is out in the UK on 7th March 2008.