The Promise
Warner Independent Pictures (WIP) | Release Date: December 30, 2005 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
53
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 26 Critic Reviews
Positive:
10
Mixed:
13
Negative:
3
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
60
VarietyRobert Koehler
A mixed bag of near-risible storylines, second-rate CG effects, some fabulous set pieces, somewhat cartoonish martial arts fighting and difficult international casting. Read full review
60
The Hollywood ReporterKirk Honeycutt
While it aspires to draw the same audiences who admired "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" and "Hero," The Promise is but a pale imitation of those landmark films. Read full review
60
The New York TimesDana Stevens
The Promise occupies a curious landscape somewhere between opera and cartoon. Read full review
58
Portland OregonianShawn Levy
Sumptuous and beautiful and as silly as a sack of nose glasses. Read full review
50
Village VoiceMichael Atkinson
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 full review
50
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
The over-the-top acting is forgivable, but the plot's incoherence is not. Read full review
50
Entertainment WeeklyStaff (Not credited)
There's a nice Road Runner-cartoon moment when the slave runs really, really fast, carrying the wounded general on his back while dodging an attack of CG bulls. I can't imagine Road Runner was what Chen had in mind for the most expensive movie ever made in China, but then, I was born too late for the time of the snowy eagle. Read full review
50
Austin ChronicleMarjorie Baumgarten
Like its images, The Promise billows through the imagination as it unfolds but it leaves little lasting impression once its last feather has fluttered. Read full review
50
Wall Street JournalJoe Morgenstern
So absurdly overproduced that there's even a surfeit of cherry blossoms. By the end they look like litter.
50
Boston GlobeTy Burr
Has a daft sweep, and if you're in the mood for empty swordplay in baroque settings, purple dialogue delivered with straight faces, and romantic yearnings that never, ever resolve, The Promise may be your cup of oolong. Read full review
50
Charlotte ObserverLawrence Toppman
The actors were mostly nondescript, sometimes noticeably clumsy. Stunt coordinator Dion Lam brought a bit of freshness to the martial arts choreography, but the rest of the film was as stale as a week-old carp on a fish vendor's pushcart. Read full review
42
Baltimore SunMichael Sragow
It aims for outlandish and athletic love lyrics and instead achieves all the potency of a makeshift nonsense song banged out on a toy lyre. Read full review
40
Washington PostStephen Hunter
The movie is full of invasions, assassination attempts, chases and escapes in seemingly random order, the result being completely chaotic. Read full review
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