Review

Review Date: 7-May-06
Spoiler Rating: Low
Juju Judgment: Just OK

The Promise (2006)

I like to think that beyond a scholarly interest I have an innate ability to appreciate traditional legend: an antenna, if you will, always pointed at the collective unconscious. In fact, I like to think that everybody has an inborn (if unrecognized) understanding of a mythic past when heroes performed magnificent deeds and the very gods trod on Earth among them. This yearning in me responds favorably to Kaige Chen's "The Promise," which is at heart an old-fashioned and universal Chinese fable. Its hero is a slave of mysterious origin (Dong Gun Jang) who is commandeered by a great general (Hiroyuki Sanada) to protect the kingdom from a dangerous usurper (Nicholas Tse). In carrying out this task, the slave learns his identity from a phantom assassin (Yeh Liu), proves himself worthy and brave, and falls for the most beautiful woman in the realm (Cecilia Cheung), who was cursed as a child never to possess love unless a miracle redirected her fate.

As I said, it's desirable on one level to relish such a tale, particularly when it offers escape from grunting Hollywood to a place where the manliest warrior feels comfortable in the same long hair and bright pink dress of his lady love. But the impact of any legend relies on the telling, and "The Promise" suffers in this respect. Right from the start, the movie's baroque spectacle and choppy editing threaten to submerge its moral and meaning. Chen exhibits an artist's eye for imagery and fan boy's reverence for Peter Jackson, but the showy backdrops and operatic fight scenes get away from him. (And some look downright cheesy despite his having the largest production budget in Chinese history.) The most dazzling effects turn out to be the actors, who have the faces and communicative skills of silent movie stars. Only through them do we forge the link to our interior selves, recognizing the concepts of honor, sacrifice, and love which make such stories eternal. All told, "The Promise" is everlasting in spirit but forgettable as cinematic entertainment.

Copyright © 2006 The Jujube (M. I. Kim). All rights reserved.