YMMV / Flowers of War

• Americans Hate Tingle: Predictably, the film was a massive hit in its native country, but was absolutely savaged by Western critics. Right now it stands at a measly 42% on Rotten Tomatoes. Not to mentioned it bombed at the American box office. Making a pathetic $311,434 on limited release. Ouch.
• Ethnic Scrappy: Lead character John Miller is a big one. Getting over the Fake Nationality of him being American, he managed to embody every racist stereotype of Westerners held in popular Chinese culture. He's a greedy, alcoholic, lecherous coward, whose first thought upon entering the cathedral is to look for booze. He only reluctantly agrees to help out after being shamed into it. It's made even worse by the director (Zhang Yimou) thinking he's being progressive. "This kind of character, a foreigner, a drifter, a thug almost, becomes a hero and saves the lives of Chinese people. That has never ever happened in Chinese filmmaking, and I think it will never happen again in the future."
• Narm Charm: John Miller is played by the unrestrained Christian Bale. As a result, all his overacting comes off as a genuine case of lunacy that the character suffers from.
• Just Here for Godzilla: It's one of the few movies ever made that portrays the battle of Nanking, with extensive combat scenes. And they are easily the best part of the whole thing, even if they have their own issues.
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot: The few viewers that weren't thrown off by the nasty combination of Narm and Glurge will tell you that there was a chance to make a genuinely good war epic about the battle of Nanking. The bits and pieces of that film are still sliced between the narmalicious drama the movie ended up being. It's especially painful since it's a movie made in mainland China that portrays the NRA as unquestionably good guys, after using them for decades as poster boys for stock villains in both propaganda pieces and entertainment.

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