Even though it is set in the late 1930's, The Message is actually a nice break from the historical epic most major modern Mandarin productions seem to favor. Rather, it is a taut suspense picture that manages to provide enough thrills during the running time to transcend its' intended jingoistic thrust.

Based on a novel by Jia Mai, The Message takes place during the second Sino-Japanese war. The Chinese resistance have been gaining ground on their Japanese occupiers, mostly on the strength of a series of high-profile assassinations set up by a person known only as Magnum.

A disgraced Japanese colonel, desperate to redeem himself in the eyes of his comrades before being deported back to Japan, surmises that Magnum is getting his information from a mole in the communications department. So the colonel brings the office's managers to a remote villa, where he begins a series of grueling interrogations in order to plug the leak once and for all.

Disregarding some heavy-handed beginning title cards, The Message isn't really the anti-Japanese cinematic bombardment you might expect from a Mainland production. The Japanese characters are actually fairly well-rounded, rarely falling into the area of stereotype.

Of course, with the Chinese government's moral code making its' way into the narrative, all of the bad guys end up getting their comeuppance in one way or another, so all that semi-good will may be a moot gesture anyway. Like many Mainland films, The Message seems like it could have been a more successful picture if the reins of mandated censorship weren't weighing it down.

Combined with an epilogue that goes for about ten minutes too long, the ending of The Message does leave a bit of a bad taste in the viewer's mouth. But the journey to get to that point, which is brought to life via stylish cinematography, crisp editing, and solid acting from the leads (especially Lee Bing-Bing) is satisfying and fulfilling enough to make The Message one of the better mainstream Asian films to come out over the past few months.

RATING: 7