Saving General Yang

Firstly, at the time of writing this movie has only got 5.5/10 which seems kinda crazy to me, so don't be put off by the low rating.

Firstly this film took me completely by surprise. General Yang has seven sons who have to save him (I won't say any more - no spoilers). What amazed me is how the director has managed to give each of them depth and character. Rather than simply seeing them as seven brothers you get to know each one individually, both the good and bad of each character.

Secondly, I can't remember the last time a movie of this kind literally moved me to tears, but this one got me! It's the scene where they are next to an old grave of a past warrior. You will understand why when you watch that scene.

Watch this movie, I promise you won't be disappointed!

I have watched this movie just out of curiosity to find out if there was any "connection" with "Saving Private Ryan" and to some extent there was. The plot is quite obvious with a resemblance of old fairy tales about seven warriors. There are all movie elements you expect to see in recent Chinese movies like love, brotherhood, master and student relations, political intrigues, wisdom, betrayal, revenge, etc. Everything is the way it should be, the good guys remain good ones till they die and bad guys are either punished or learn their lesson. As a person who has been watching martial art movies for many years, I could appreciate the quality of fighting scenes choreography. I can hardly imagine how warriors of the past could fight for hours using their weapons when one gets tired after fencing for just an hour. Of course there are special effects, but most of the stunts are done with minimal "wire use" that has been heavily exploited by Jet Li in his last movies. I cannot say this is one of the best martial art movies, but I did not have a feeling of wasted time after watching it. The main thing that kept me watching this movie till the end was a prophesy written by a wise master. Intrigued? Then watch it yourself.

Saving General Yang is an excellent Chinese period war movie in the same vein as Red Cliff and Warlords. Of course, the three of these films differ greatly. SGY takes place in Northeast China, early Song dynasty where the righteous General Yang is trapped behind enemy lines and his seven sons rush to the battlefield to rescue him. Directed by Ronny Yu, who directed some of my favorite Chinese language movies such as Fearless and The Bride With White Hair. As usual for Ronny Yu, SGY is real sharp looking with exceptional camera-work. Yu did well with this period epic with top notch cinematography, great action, nice sets/costumes, good storytelling and solid performances from the cast. As this is a war movie, I felt the film needed more blood. Even so, that is a minor complaint as SGY is a very solid and well made movie.

This was a very easy to follow film with a simple premise: seven sons sent to save their father, and the obstacles on their journey. The film has some really great visuals, especially the attack scene at Wolf Mountain. Bloody hell, that was great! The film also has a great score and convincing acting. Brace yourself, though, the ending is not what you expect.

Joining a line of movies about the Yang family generals that has grown longer than their lineage is Ronny Yu's 'Saving General Yang', an earnest if slightly underwhelming recount of the bravery of their seven sons who rode forth into war to rescue their embattled father. As far as such big-budget historical war epics are concerned, Yu's addition stands out as an exemplary example of how to do large-scale action sequences right, though its simplistic story and underdeveloped characters prevent it from joining the leagues of 'Red Cliff' and 'The Warlords'.

Co-scripting with Edmond Wong (aka producer Raymond Wong's son and writer of the Wilson Yip-Donnie Yen 'Ip Man' movies) and Scarlett Liu, Yu keeps the story straightforward in fleshing out the themes of "忠孝仁 义" – translated literally as loyalty, filial piety, humanity and justice – which the Yang warriors are supposed to personify. A border war with the Khitans from the North sees the decorated General Yang (Adam Cheng) rising to the call of his Song emperor, but he and his frontline troops are betrayed by their supreme commander Lord Pan (veteran martial arts actor Leung Ka-Ying) when the latter leaves them to fend for themselves upon an enemy ambush. To the aid of the wounded and outnumbered General Yang are his seven sons, each of whom make a solemn promise to their mother (Xu Fan) to bring dad home.

Apart from a red herring by a prophet who foretells that "seven sons will go but only six will return", the plot is generic to the point of being bland. Quickly whittling down the good guys to just General Yang and his sons, what unfolds is a series of cat-and-mouse chases as the Yang clan attempt to evade a certain Yelu Yuan (Shao Bing) and his band of about 100 Khitan warriors, the former of whom bears a personal grudge against the veteran Yang for killing his father in battle years ago.

In order to care about the subsequent fates of the Yang brothers, one must first be able to identify with them – and we're not talking about differentiating which actor plays which part. Unfortunately, the characterisation is shallow at best, rarely venturing beyond the badge of loyalty and heroism that every one of the seven brothers is supposed to wear so proudly on his sleeves. Among the seven, more attention is comparatively spent on the Sixth and Seventh Brother (Wu Chun and Fu Xinbo respectively) – the former we learn is deeply in love with the Emperor's sister Princess Chai (Ady An) and the latter is portrayed as an impetuous wild card often disobeying his father or his elder brothers' instructions – but neither fails to engage beyond a superficial level, except of course if you're already biased for that character based on your fondness for the actor (here's looking at you Wu Chun fans).

Instead, what becomes clear over the course of the movie is that plot and character are just devices for Yu's elegantly staged action sequences – with the help of veteran action choreographer Dong Wei of course. The first of these immediately grabs your attention as the Yang warriors overcome their disadvantage in numbers with a smart tactical manoeuvre that literally lights up the sky over their enemies; and the rest that follow are no less rousing. Yu ensures that each of the brothers has his own well-defined personality on the battlefield owing to a certain weapon of choice – be it First Brother's (Ekin Cheng) 'guan dao', Third Brother's (Vic Chou) bow and arrow (a la 'Legolas') or Fourth Brother's (Li Chen) twin cleavers. No matter which member of the ensemble cast you are a fan of, rest assured that each gets his own time to shine on the field – though particularly memorable is Third Brother's poetic and edge-of-your-seat gripping one-on-one with a rival archer amidst a field of tall grass.

In turn, the who's who of male celebrities in Chinese (and by Chinese, we mean Mainland China, Taiwan and Hong Kong) cinema acquit themselves with competent to impressive physical turns. Deserving of special mention is Wu Chun, whose performance in the film's climax will surely have his fans cheering, and whom brings the right mix of naivety and maturity to a role that grows increasingly significant as the film progresses. There is also plenty for Ekin Cheng's fans to cheer for, as the once immensely popular Hong Kong actor gets probably his meatiest role in recent years that harks back to his 'The Storm Riders' and 'A Man Called Hero' films. And in a rare big-screen appearance, Adam Cheng brings gravitas and depth to his patriarchal character who is both a stern and a loving father at the same time.

Such a star-studded cast is reason enough to see 'Saving General Yang', though one had hoped that Yu and his fellow screenwriters could have adopted a more character-driven narrative that would certainly have made the familiar story a more compelling one. Nonetheless, Yu's first film in seven years after the critical and audience hit 'Fearless' still sees the veteran director bring a solid and assured directorial hand to offer thrilling blockbuster entertainment. As for learning more about the Yang family, that will have to wait for the next Yang Generals movie, which we are sure will not be too long away.