I will admit to enjoying the odd martial arts movie from time to time, though I am nowhere near considering myself a kung fu junkie. I usually need something more than just Jet Li’s name on a movie to be interested in it, and it seems that lately martial arts movies in general need a little something extra to get noticed as well. The latest trend seems to be huge sprawling epics with crazy costumes and overdone cinematography. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed Zhang Yimou’s Hero and House of Flying Daggers a great deal, but after watching the trailer for Chen Kaige’s The Promise I couldn’t help but think it looked like a knockoff. An impressive one nonetheless, but the look of this movie seems a bit forced. The story is about a beautiful princess and three men who fall in love with her; what they don’t know is that she has been cursed and any man she truly loves will be met with tragedy. The Promise premieres in New York and L.A. on May 5th, and will expand afterwards. Check out the trailer now at the link below.

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