Wu ji

This film could have been very good if only they would have allocated that huge budget to better special effects. The other important thing that needed to be accomplished was to write a much better script.

There was some great visuals in this which hit the spot and were quite pleasing. Some of these scenes can be viewed in the film trailer.

I do not fault the actors for the shortcomings of this film, with the exception that they should have challenged the director more regarding some scenes and dialog which were absolutely stupid. Enough has been said by other reviewers concerning this.

I felt sorry for Cecilia Cheung in the fact that the director Chen Kaige seemed to try his best to make her look like a wax corpse, rather then a beautiful Princess.

This film had a lot of potential, but it got wasted. It is a shame. It is not the worst film in the world, it's just that it could have been really something special.

I challenge you to watch it and make your own conclusion. I am pretty confident you will agree with me after doing so.

SPOILER: In 'The Promise' Cecilia Cheung plays Qingcheng, an orphan girl trying to survive. While on a battlefield, she tries to find scraps of food from the dead soldiers to bring back to her sick mother. While trying to escape the son of one of the generals, Qingcheng runs into the goddess Manshen (Hong Chen). Manshen informs Qingcheng that her mother is dead and strikes a deal with her. From this day forth Qingcheng will always live in luxury, but every man she falls in love with she will eventually lose. Qingcheng agrees to the bargain.

This movie is a combination of 'Hero' and 'Bulletproof Monk'. This is another Chinese legend epic that really fails as a movie. The moral of the story is hard to follow and takes forever to get its point across. On the plus side, it is a very visually stunning movie. It better be since it is the most expensive film in Chinese history with a budget of $35 million.

If you like 'Hero' and 'House of Flying Daggers', you might like this. Else, don't go see it.

SPOILER: OK, I was excited about seeing this movie in the theater on the big screen. I couldn't understand why I movie I thought was interesting, entertaining and beautiful with great acting performances was only receiving mediocre reviews. Then, I saw the movie. They totally re-edited the movie from the version I have on DVD! There were parts that were cut out that were important to the storyline. Like the part where the goddess shows General Guangming the King being killed my the master of the master of the Crimson armor. It wasn't in there at all. So when Kunlun went to save the King it didn't make sense because it wasn't established that the King was even in danger. And we were supposed to have seen the King killed and known Kunlun was going to do it as part of the theme of destiny being impossible to change. The entire movie's overall plot was based on destiny and that whole scene was a major part of establishing Kunlun's destiny to be with Qingcheung and the General's destiny to lose the armor and his status. There were more edits and changes made also. All of them important to the storyline. It wasn't even the same movie anymore! I'm extremely angry with the Director Chen Kaige for doing this to his work (or allowing it to be done). The China Version on DVD is way better and I'm sticking to that. The only thing that save it for me was the acting performances. I recommend seeing More Nic Tse Movies like Jade Goddess of Mercy or Moving Targets or New Police Story with Jakie Chan. And Everyone should see Tae Guk Gi, One of the best war movie I think, it's starring Jang Dong-goon.

When I saw the trailer for The Promise, it didn't look too impressive to me, but I noted that it is a Chen Kaige film, and Chen Kaige is reason enough to watch a film that might not look so good.

So I watched The Promise (or Mo Gik), and I must say that it is not often I watch a film with my jaw down most of the time in reaction to the visual majesty of the film.

When I watch movies, the first thing I look out for are the new things to see, more so than the stories. That's the whole point of the cinema, right? To use our eyes. The Promise delivers full marks on that front, with precise and unique cinematography that captures and compliments the breathless and mystical elements of the film in dazzling colors and sweeping scenery.

At this juncture I must note that The Promise is shot digitally, and employs a wide range of digital effects to create the semi-fantasy world of fluorescent colors and out of this world settings. One of the common complaints about this film is that the CGI, as well as the set decoration in this film looks highly amateurish despite it's grand setting. I have to agree that it's not the finest looking visual effects in the world, but I'm proud of it nonetheless. For a budget 4 times less than movies like Star Wars and King Kong (despite it being the most expensive film ever made in China), the effects are pretty darn good to see. Watch it in context, and it'll be the finest thing that China has ever seen.

As for the acting, I can't say too much about it. A Korean and and a Japanese take up two of the four lead roles, and both of them speak mandarin well enough to pass off as Chinese characters. Cecilia Chung dazzles the screen not only with her beauty, but simple gestures of seduction that would capture any man's attention in an instant. Nicholas Tse, whom I personally consider as someone who cannot act for nuts, manages to act a little bit this time as the cunning Duke.

Action, romance, and dialogue mesh together happily and consistently throughout the film, accompanied by the epic score by Klaus Badelt.

A dazzling experience in the cinema. The film is not without it's flaws, with plot holes occurring every now and then, and moments of extreme cliché. But before these moments shame the film, the next moment of visual cuts in and saves the day.

8/10

Most comments for "The Promise", or "Wu Ji", on the IMDb forum are mainly negative. While it's obvious a film that could have been better, it still offers a stunning look that Chen Kaige has given it. It helps he was working with an excellent cinematographer, Peter Pau, who photographed this film with lovingly care. The result are exquisite images that might not mean a lot to the fans of films of this genre, but will delight others, like this viewer, who is not into this type of fantasy film. The music of Klaus Badelt plays well in the context of the movie. The film has some of the fabulous costumes of any film in recent memory.

It's easy to dismiss the film as a total failure. Other, more recent fare is cited as being much better, which could be true. But actually to experience the film as a gorgeous fantasy out of the talented director Chen Kaige's mind is worth the price of admission. Unfortunately, judging by the screening we attended recently, this film has not found an audience.

Dong-Kun-Jang is impressive as Kunlun. Hiroyuki Sanada also does good work as the General Quianming. The gorgeous Cecilia Cheung lends her beauty to her character, Princess Qingcheng.

The director will surely recover from this experience and concentrate on a more worthwhile story for his next venture. Chen Kaige deserves better and he will surely rise from the ashes like the magnificent phoenix he is.