Back in the days when China made real movies and not impersonations of Hollywood special effect shows, Zhang was Chen's camera man in "Yellow Earth" (1984). As the years went by, "inspired" by Hollywood fame and fortune, but lacking the heart and soul of Ang Lee, Zhang went ahead to make flashy and empty "Heroes", and outright trashy "House of Flying Dagger". Chen finally cannot resist the lure, and made "The promise" which, however, shows who is still master when compared with Zhang, who seems anxious to show the world, in "Heroes", that he is incapable of handling more than one colour scheme in a frame.
Still flashy and showy, "The promise" at least does not pretend to be anything else other than a fantasy of raw emotions. The characters, at least, are interesting. In her idiotic simplicity, Cecilia Cheung's character has a degree of fascination. The four men provide a field of varied contrasts, and are well casted. The simple, all-goodness slave is convincingly portrayed by Korean Jang Dong-Kun. Japanese Sanada Hiroyuki has the flare and charisma for the indomitable spirit of the general who is all egos. Then, it is certainly a pleasure to see Nicholas Tse in a role that could have been written for Johnny Depp, the evil and slightly campy duke. The one I like best, however, is Liu Ye, in a role that better than perfect for him, tragic to the bones.
Nothing much to say about the photography and CGI effects other than keep your eyes wild open, for the entire movie, if you like that sort of thing. The script, because it is set within the realm of COMPLETE FANTASY, is surprisingly well done and even coherent. Not such a bad movie from director Chen for the Hollywood market, and certainly far superior to the two turned out by his ex-cameraman I mentioned.
Still flashy and showy, "The promise" at least does not pretend to be anything else other than a fantasy of raw emotions. The characters, at least, are interesting. In her idiotic simplicity, Cecilia Cheung's character has a degree of fascination. The four men provide a field of varied contrasts, and are well casted. The simple, all-goodness slave is convincingly portrayed by Korean Jang Dong-Kun. Japanese Sanada Hiroyuki has the flare and charisma for the indomitable spirit of the general who is all egos. Then, it is certainly a pleasure to see Nicholas Tse in a role that could have been written for Johnny Depp, the evil and slightly campy duke. The one I like best, however, is Liu Ye, in a role that better than perfect for him, tragic to the bones.
Nothing much to say about the photography and CGI effects other than keep your eyes wild open, for the entire movie, if you like that sort of thing. The script, because it is set within the realm of COMPLETE FANTASY, is surprisingly well done and even coherent. Not such a bad movie from director Chen for the Hollywood market, and certainly far superior to the two turned out by his ex-cameraman I mentioned.