It's taken three years for this Chinese film (released in 2010) to finally get a release on our shores, but it will have been worth the wait for fans of director Kaige Chen, who is probably best known for his 1993 film Farewell my Concubine.

The Zhao dynasty has enjoyed a long rule, which sets to continue with the arrival of a newborn. But not everyone is happy with this ruling family. Tu'an Gu (Wang Xueqi) has had enough of watching in the wings and has decided that the Zhao reign must end and there's only one solution: they must all die.

Tu'an Gu orders his troops to do just that, and the Zhao dynasty is wiped out. Or so he thinks. A doctor, Cheng Ying (Ge You), looking after the pregnant member of the Zhao family, ends up adopting the young male heir at great personal sacrifice, as Gu orders the slaying of over a hundred newborns. Thanks to his quick thinking, that doesn't happen.

Ying then manages to become a part of Tu'an Gu's entourage, as he spends a number of years not only bringing up the last remaining member of the Zhao dynasty, but also plotting his revenge against his new master.

The Chinese version of Three Men and a Baby sorely missed the comic timing of Steve Guttenberg.

Sacrifice is one of those films the Chinese do so well; not only does it imbue a quality of epic-ness in both story and content, it has a bold visual style that evokes the period beautifully.

It has to be said that the story is a tad masculine heavy, featuring only a couple of female characters whose parts are all too brief. As testosterone-fuelled as it is, the film has a leisurely pace about it; it's told with the pathos of a Shakespearian play, as the darkness of the plot makes itself evident.

It's this darkness that mostly defines both the story and its characters, weighing heavy like a dark veil on the film overall. This makes the arrival of the all too brief action sequences all the more welcome.

Its two hour duration certainly makes itself felt with its pedestrian pacing, but Chen's flair for impressing visually with this historical drama makes it just about worth it.