This movie will be receiving greatly divided reviews in IMDb; because of the exclusively Chinese topic its target audience (the Chinese populations all over the world) would regard this as an over-narrated story (with numerous TV and movie adaptations since the introduction of the movie and television industry). Therefore the impressions of Chinese viewers would likely differ drastically from spectators who had not had a chance of familiarizing themselves with the tales of the Yang warriors, the adventures of brave men and women (yes the widows) spanning sagas in Chinese fiction. First of all, despite the cast of handsome actors from the major Chinese-speaking regions, the plot was flimsy. The characters hardly got developed at all amidst the endless fighting; the audience could barely distinguish one brother from another. The movie's focus was on the to-the-death rescue by seven fighter sons of a father held in a trap by their foes. Well the sons fell unwittingly into the trap and all but one survived. Being so outnumbered, I wonder if the several fights detailing how the brothers were killed were necessary at all - they should all have succumbed when the catapults attacked the besieged fort. The final fistfight was unrealistic; there was no reason whatsoever for the sixth son to win, unless multiple tragedies also impose superhuman strength on one. The final scene appeared to hint at a sequel - with the widows all dressed in militia armour - if the standards are the same the sequel best remains unfilmed. A final point in case it is lost in translation; in Chinese "six" and "sixth" is represented by the same character, so the guru master played a word pun with the oracle.
Review of Saving General Yang
