OK I confess.
I watched The Promise (aka Master of The Crimson Armour) on Christmas Eve primarily for Cecilia Cheung. You see I am quite besotted with this HongKong-born, Aussie-educated lass. To me she ranks right up there with Ms Zhang Ziyi, whom it seems has taken quite a bit of flak recently for her lead role in Memoirs of a Geisha. But more on Ms Zhang later, when I've seen the gorgeous geisha drop her kimino in Kyoto lah :P
But seriously, I've always had a thing for big-budget Chinese epics like Ang Lee's Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Zhang Yimou's Hero and House of Flying Daggers as well as Tsui Hark's Seven Swords. Don't ask me why but it must be the beautiful Chinese scenery and the fantastic Chinois sets and costumes that make me all tingly.
The Promise, in most respects, doesn't dissapoint. The 42-million-dollar blockbuster by renowned Director Chen Kaige, is the biggest-budgeted film in China's cinematic history. It stars Korean heart throb Jang Dung-Kun, Japan's Hiroyuki Sanada and Hongkie real-life lovebirds (ok on-and-off lah, I'm not sure) Cecilia Cheung and Nicholas Tse. Shot in exotic locations throughout China, it has won rave reviews from the mainland press for its vivid imagery and high-tech special effects. Something of a Chen Kaige for the masses.
The storyline revolves around a slave Kunlun(Jang), who grows to be a hero as he fights his fate and falls in love with a beautiful princess (Cheung), who is bound by her promise to the Goddess of Destiny that her great beauty comes at the expense of finding true love. Of course this is an over-simplification of a messy love triangle that erupts when Sanada, who plays the glorious General Guangming and master of the slave and the evil Duke Wuhuan (Tse) enter the fray.
If you can close one eye to the fantastic (read bordering on the ridiculous) scenes of Kunlun running so fast he flies and the show's frequent forays into time travel, the luscious sets/costumes and very eye-candy-gorgeous Cheung and Jang should be enough to keep you satiated. The plot, although not razor-sharp, retains enough bite to keep pace with the wonderful cinematography so characteristic of Kaige. I also particularly liked General Guangming's crimson army, which to me was so reminiscent of Darth Vader's red-clad Imperial Guards on the deck of his Imperial Star Destroyer.
More importantly, I could feel for the beautiful but emotionally lonely Princess YingCheng as well as the poor slave Kunlun who struggles between his true feelings of affection for the tortured damsel and his desire to obey his master the General. Tse is credible as the evil Duke who is also enamoured with the Princess and at the same time pretty fed up with having to live beneath the shadow of the illustrious Guangming. You could say Tse has a knack for playing the bad boy.
The Promise doesn't promise to delight just about anyone and everyone. But if you're looking for a dose of romantism with a huge dollop of class and good acting, Kaige's latest is for you.