Wu ji 2005

Moira MacDonald, Seattle Times: Chen's strength seems to be more with character-driven stories; here's hoping that his next film returns to more comfortable ground. Read more

David Edelstein, New York Magazine/Vulture: A heady blend of swordplay, somersaults, fairy-tale romance, and computer-generated whoosh. Read more

Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader: Chen Kaige clearly intended this Chinese fantasy-action spectacle to top Zhang Yimou's Hero, and I must admit that I prefer it to the earlier movie. Read more

Tasha Robinson, AV Club: The Promise naturally expresses its mythic qualities through stunning visuals, breathtaking costuming, and a great deal of action, and it adds in Kaige's Ridley Scott-like fondness for vistas full of floating, drifting objects, from feathers to flo Read more

Bill Muller, Arizona Republic: Fans of newer Asian martial-arts movies will be satisfied with The Promise, especially because it contains the aerial wirework and swordplay expected of such movies. But the film is not as accomplished as the work of Ang Lee or Yimou Zhang. Read more

Ty Burr, Boston Globe: It suggests that talented Chinese directors are being led astray by the seductions of CGI and wirework fantasies. Read more

Kevin Thomas, Los Angeles Times: It's a knockout that works on many levels. Read more

Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune: Oddly, The Promise -- which takes place hundreds, even thousands, of years ago, when art directors ruled the earth -- is flagrantly otherworldly but in a way that somehow weighs the picture down. Read more

Bruce Westbrook, Houston Chronicle: As is evident by the film's strong start and faltering finale, the trouble with any promise is failing to keep it. Read more

Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly: I can't imagine Road Runner was what Chen had in mind for the most expensive movie ever made in China... Read more

Terry Lawson, Detroit Free Press: Much of The Promise resembles a Cirque du Soleil extravaganza, which makes it tough to take seriously. Read more

F.X. Feeney, L.A. Weekly: The story it tells, measured strictly in terms of emotional power and overall fun, is as moving and pleasurable as any matinee item by Ford, Hawks or Raoul Walsh. Read more

John Anderson, Newsday: A princess with a curse, a case of mistaken identity and some of the worst special effects in a film by a world-class director. Read more

Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger: [The film elicits] the wide-eyed joy of seeing hundreds of soldiers ride through sets of colossal extravagance. And the sweet release of, briefly, suspending all holds on reality or even logic -- and surrendering to the joys of a fairy tale. Read more

James Berardinelli, ReelViews: The over-the-top acting is forgivable, but the plot's incoherence is not. Read more

Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: A mess of a movie. Read more

Ruthe Stein, San Francisco Chronicle: Laden with a plot that could generously be called silly or, less forgivingly, stupid, it never achieves lift-off despite numerous scenes of warriors doing battle in midair. Read more

Rick Groen, Globe and Mail: In the midst of such unrelenting splendour, it's easy to nod gratefully -- and then to nod off. Read more

Geoff Pevere, Toronto Star: With The Promise Chen Kaige has proven enough of a professional that he can make the product. But he remains too much of an artist not to scribble on his signature. Read more

Robert Koehler, Variety: Even in fantasy, an internal logic must apply. Read more

Michael Atkinson, Village Voice: You can't help wondering how the same Fifth Gen filmmaker who made Yellow Earth and Life on a String could've fallen on such hard times, or justified such goofiness to himself. Read more

Stephen Hunter, Washington Post: The Promise is too full of frenetic disconnection and arbitrary comings and goings to connect meaningfully with the hearts and minds of its audience. Read more