I chose to watch this film based on the fact that it had been directed by Ronnie Yu, who is the director of the 1993 movie, The Bride With White Hair, starring Brigitte Lin, which I'm quite a fan of. Yu later went on to make movies in Hollywood and directed such films as Bride of Chucky (1998), and Freddy Vs. Jason (2003). He also directed British film The 51st State (2001) (a.k.a. Formula 51 in some countries) starring Samuel L. Jackson and Robert Carlyle, and later Jet Li's Fearless (2006), which I'm also a big fan of.
Now, my grasp of Chinese history is pretty sketchy at the best of times, with almost all of my knowledge coming by way of osmosis through watching Chinese films. Over the years I've picked up on the names of many of the different dynasties, emperors, generals, heroes, etc., but could never really form a coherent picture of what happened when. So I have no idea which film's are based on truth, or which ones are pure fiction, or both. So most of the movies that are based on events or stories from Chinese history generally seem new to me, and this one is no different. I suspect that your familiarity with these stories may well affect how much you might enjoy this movie.
Watch the trailer on YouTube (Embedding has been disabled).
Right, so here's the basic plot of the film; most of what I'm about to write happens during the earlier part of the film, so hopefully they're not plot spoilers (I'm against plot spoilers, and would never intentionally reveal anything to those who haven't seen a film). Anyway, Adam Cheng stars as the titular General Yang, who, along with his seven sons (Ekin Cheng, Yu Bo, Vic Chow, Li Chen, Raymond Lam, Wu Chun and Fu Xinbo, from eldest to youngest) and their men are defending the border of the Song dynasty's kingdom from the rival invading Khitan forces from the North.
Meanwhile, General Yang's sixth son is vying for the hand of Princess Chai (Ady An), who is betrothed to the son of the Pan family, Pan Bao. The Pan family are a fellow Song Dynasty family, and supposed allies of the Yang family. However, it is during a duel for Princess Chai's hand, between Pan Bao and Yang's seventh son (who is fighting on behalf of the sixth son) that Pan Bao is accidentally killed. This in turn, then leads his father Pan Renmei (who is the commander of the Song forces) to betray the Yangs and desert them when confronted with the Khitan forces.
During the battle with the Khitan army, General Yang is wounded, and taken away. It is here that the main thrust of the story begins, as Yang's seven loyal sons set out to keep their promise to their mother and battle to rescue their beloved father and leader. From here on in, the pace picks up, and then battle commences! At this point, we are privy to a prophecy which states that “Seven sons will leave; six will return...” Does the prophecy come true?
Ronnie Yu directs with his usual stylish visual flair and creates some stunningly detailed imagery. It's a great looking film, which recreates the battlefield very well.
The battle scenes come thick and fast, and the combat is solid, if not showy, but I think that suits this type of film, and the cast members that star in it. As it stands, Ronnie Yu goes for a more realistic looking approach, albeit with some unbelievable moments (a seemingly endless supply of arrows, anyone?). The action is relentless, but somehow some of the combat scenes, in my opinion, become a little repetitive. The final fight with villain Yelu Yuan (Bing Shao), however, contained some decent choreography, but ultimately you have a pretty good idea as to how things might turn out, so there are no real surprises. Of course, those familiar with the classic stories will already know how things turn out for the Yang family.
The story, while based on true events, is fairly basic, and not particularly out of the ordinary, but services the film quite well, and is enough to keep you engaged with the seven brothers and their mission to save their missing father. In my opinion though, we don't get to know the different personalities of the brothers in any great detail, but we're given just about enough for us care about where their fate lies in this story. Ideally I think there should have been more scenes focusing on the brothers' relationships with each other, and I don't really think enough time was spent on some of the other characters either, such as Princess Chai, or the Yang mother, played by Xu Fan.
All in all, I thought this was a decent, if slightly underwhelming film, which kept me interested without being overawed. Though not really a must-see film, I'd definitely recommend it to anyone interested in those old Chinese stories.
Buy the film on Play-Asia.com:
Saving General Yang [DVD Region 0]
Saving General Yang [Blu-Ray Region A]
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