alexander-lewis Reviews

The Promise (2005)

If Hero were really cheesy...

[5/10 · 28 March 2006]

From the preview it looked like What Dreams May Come mixed with Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon mixed with Dynasty Warriors. I ordered it, as had I had Hero and House of Flying Daggers, confident that Kaige Chen, director of Farewell My Concubine and Zhang Yimou's fellow member of the 5th generation would deliver. What I got was, well, very campy.

The plot by itself, or at least the basic idea behind several plot elements, isn't bad. Interesting actually; unlike Hero, Crouching Tiger, and House of Flying Daggers, it takes place in a purely fantastical world, not necessarily China. Outside of that, there isn't much going for the film. The nice visuals in the movie are pretty much limited to what you see in the trailer; they are few and far between, and many are simply come off looking like cheap special effects.

Which is what really ruined the movie. The bad special effects. They were far more similar to those of the comical Kung Fu Hustle rather than the elegant Crouching Tiger. (Unfortunately the comparison is accurate...effects from running really fast to jumping rapidly seem to have been almost replicated in The Promise).

A couple of scenes were edited badly. Really badly.

I cannot believe that the man who directed Farewell My Concubine, Life on a String, and Emperor and the Assassin could have directed this.

So yeah, maybe rent it.

Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... and Spring (2003)

I was left speechless by this movie

[10/10 · 18 February 2005]

This film left me speechless, and I still have a hard time putting how I feel about this movie into words. After seeing it the first time in the theater, my friend and I couldn't bring ourselves to say a word to each other...not even in the car on the ride back. The second time I saw it, after purchasing it, another friend and I walked around the campus for half an hour in silence. The third time, a friend and I sat in silence in her room for an hour after the movie was over. This film is that profound, touching, and moving.

Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter...Spring is the most beautiful movie I have ever seen. Visually it is fantastic, though several films surpass it in this aspect. However, the film manages to speak directly to the soul (or...failing to believe in the soul...something deep inside anyone watching it), and this is where it's beauty lies. Parts are so affecting that a painful nostalgia for a place you never knew overwhelms you.

I am sorry I cannot be more helpful...the quality that makes this movie so wonderful is well beyond words for me.