Originally Published: 2006-05-14

At $30 million, Chen Kaige's The Promise is the most expensive Chinese movie ever made, but the result is puzzlingly sloppy and disappointing. Featuring a plot that is too convoluted, CG effects that are almost laughable, and martial arts sequences that are more cartoonish than exciting, the pic is pretty much a disaster.
Originally released under the title Master of the Crimson Armor in China, The Promise has been trimmed nearly 20 minutes from its original 121-minute running time. Even with that, though, the movie feels bloated and sluggish.
Inspired by "wuxha" fantasies, the movie opens with war orphan Qingcheng (Cecilia Cheung), who is blessed with riches from a goddess under the caveat that she will lose all her male lovers. Fast forward and Kunlun (Jang Dong Gun) helps the General (Hiroyuki Sanada) win an impossible battle. Now Kunlun must rescue the King (Cheng Qian) from invader Wuhuan (Nicholas Tse), and he does so disguised as the General. But when he reaches the King, he sees him abusing Qingcheng and pretty much rescues her. But both the master and slave fall in love with the woman, and this causes complications especially during a time when Wuhuan continues to wage battle through deceit and ambushes.
Many of the situations are ridiculous, especially some of the rescue sequences that take on a silly conceit. But the biggest shame is the terrible special effects that are being used more and more in Chinese cinema in place of the real stunts that have made that industry so great. The CG is so bad, in fact, that it's impossible to ignore and, most tragically, it is used too much throughout The Promise.
But as with all of Chen Kaige's films, the atmospherics and costumes are absolutely gorgeous and breathtaking. Now if he could only simplify the story somewhat, and concentrate less on hollywoodizing, then maybe he can make another Farewell, My Concubine.

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