When I first heard about the forthcoming release of The Promise I commented that the talents of Cecilia Chung alone would elevate this picture above that of House of Flying Daggers. I should have remembered though that Chung has had a string of stinkers ever since she swept the gongs for her performances in One Night in Mongkok and Lost in Time - It seems critical recognition has been something of a minor curse for Chung whose struggled to pick a decent movie for the past 2 years (the less said about Sex and the Beauties the better) the only exception being the reasonably entertaining spoof of consumer culture - Shopaholics.

So once again we’re hit with the ugly reality of big budgets substituting for a lack of plot this time in The Promise. Chen Kaige (otherwise famed for the excellent Farewell My Concubine and Emperor and the Assassin) directs this occasionally stunning but ultimately hollow fantasy tale which takes a simple plot and tries to make it as incomprehensible as possible within the 2 hour running time.

One time peasant girl turned Princess Qingcheng (Cecilia Cheung) is destined to experience riches but never real love due to a pact she made with Goddess Manshen (Chen Hong) as a child to escape a life of extreme poverty. Manshen holds a similar depressing fate for military General Guangming (Hiroyuki Sanada), Master of the prestigious Crimson Armour whom despite being forever loyal to his Emperor is destined to be stripped of honour and shamed for treason. When Guangming is injured and left unable to make the agreed arrangement with the Emperor he hands his Crimson Armour down to his slave Kunlun (Jang Dong-kun) to pose as his body double, an act which unwittingly fulfils the prophesy of the Goddess.

The Promise is another fantasy epic awash with CGI, a growing trend in Chinese cinema. No longer is the curse of CGI reserved purely for over blown Hollywood output but Chinese movies have increasingly hit the same downward spiral. Used reservedly CGI can enhance a movie immensely but when the onscreen CGI becomes the catalyst for the very creation of the movie itself, inevitably any human element and genuine emotion is left buried somewhere under the visual extravagance. Of course this is something of a double edged sword as no one can deny that The Promise is a fantastical feast for the eyes. There’s the occasional ropy CGI shot during action scenes but the costumes and magical backdrops are always inventive and excruciatingly detailed. Even if there’s very little underneath Kaige creates an extravagant thick outer layer and that just might be enough for many movie goers.

Exactly why Chen Kaige decided to pick up The Promise is anyone’s guess. It’s a million miles away from the art house directors previous body of work and such over blown obnoxious nonsense stands out like a sore thumb compared to the intricate character driven pictures Kaige is renowned for. Perhaps in making a commercial movie he felt he was stretching his talents in some reversed way. If The Promise is to be judged by it’s Chinese box office takings then he’s once again delivered a resounding success.