HKIFF Review: Saving General Yang 忠烈楊家將 (2013) – Hong Kong
Review by: Andrew Chan FCCA AACTA FIPRESCI
Review Date: 9th April 2013
Directed by: Ronny Yu
Starring: Ekin Cheng, Vic Chou, Xu Fan, Yu Bo, Raymond Lam, Wu Chun and Adam Cheng
In cinemas around Australia and Hong Kong on 4th April 2013.
Reviewed as part of 37th Hong Kong International Film Festival 2013
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The issue with Ronny Yu’s latest action blockbuster epic “SAVING GENERAL YANG”, is that there are far too many people, a clear lack of focus and an inability to maintain the audience’s attention span. With all the pretty boys poster, the film will definitely attract a full house teenager girls audience, but for action fans and even Ronny Yu’s fans expecting another “FEARLESS” or “BRIDE WITH WHITE HAIR”, “SAVING GENERAL YANG” is nothing like the aforementioned films and more likely alluded to “FREDDY VS JASON”. Assembling a cast of Ekin Cheng, Vic Chou, Xu Fan, Yu Bo, Raymond Lam, Wu Chun and Adam Cheng is not easy and directing them all in one movie is even harder. When the best thing are the cheers you hear from the noisy teenager girls quadrant in the audience, where each male character are being introduced, you know that this film is far more promotional art than actual cinema. I am not sure, what made director Ronny Yu take the film on board, but whatever it is, this is Yu’s worst film and for god sake, even “FREDDY VS JASON” is better entertainment. It is this bad.
I am not going to go into the detail with each characters or actors, as none of them came through with a performance, but rather like shooting a commercial with zero character and almost impossible to identify . Everyone just seems to appear here and there in random spaces, only to collect a big hefty pay check, before leaving the set for other venture. Veteran Adam Cheng’s probably comes of best, as most long time cinema fans, eagerly awaits his presence on the big screen for a long time. He is probably the only character that comes off somewhat interesting within the midst of mess that Yu presents to us.
All in all, words cannot describe how bad, incoherent and irrelevant “SAVING GENERAL YANG” really is. The world is full of bad cinema, but there are films that knows they are bad and somehow manages to entertain by being unintentionally funny. However, there is no such saving grace in this movie. The real issues are not just Ronny Yu’s poor direction, but rather from top to bottom, script to editing, Ekin Cheng to Vic Chou and pretty much everyone involved, except for the adequate period costume designers. Perhaps, the film is better of as a pure commercial, selling hot boys and Adam Cheng. I feel like I have ramble more than enough, but sometimes, you just have to get it out. My sincere apology, if I offend anyone, but let’s hope next time, for everyone’s involved they all make better movies. (Neo 2013, Reviewed as part of 37th Hong Kong International Film Festival 2013)
I rated 1/10
I have just finished watching this, Saving General Yang, and it is actually good.
Well, I’m not a movie critic, so this is definitely not very objective.
I hate sad endings and this movie has colossal sad ending. However the storyline, as odd as it seems, successfully carried me to the end of the movie, wanting more of it. Even now as I’m typing this the images from the movie are flashing in my mind.
I’m not a movie critic either, as per the comment above me noted – that their comment is objective also because we’re not a movie critic, so thanks for listening to my thoughts!!
This movie requires some knowledge and appreciation of the story and history surrounding the background historical figures during the Song Dynasty. Unfortunately, like many story or book remakes, basing a movie on assumed knowledge is not that helpful for viewers who had no background understanding of such history.
Personally, I enjoy reading stories and watching movies that illustrate the reasons or stories behind various folklore and legends passed on through generations. Often these can lead to the formulation of proverbs or phrases, and/or Confucianism teachings, etc. This movie falls into that category!
(This is just one of many, many editions already done over the past 2 decade already, via TV-series or movies by different directors in mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, etc.)
Through the layers of CGI graphics, I still saw a satisfying rendition of a historical legend and folklore story for the Yang Family in the Song period; still based on some documented historical figures and events surround battles of that time.
As per always, romanticized additions and alterations for sake of cinema and audience appeal condense the stories of the Yang family, and simplify the political and military power struggles during that period of the Song.
I feel that this movie chose to put the central focus on the prophet message “destiny cannot be countered, 7 will go and 1 will return” lingers in the back of our (the audiences’) minds.
Since knowing that only 1 brother will survive, watching each brother fall no matter how much we root for them, makes us accept the prophecy of their fates that cannot be countered – history happened already anyways.
Thus, I really enjoyed this illustration of that prophecy, a reminder of that history.
The teaching associated with this folklore story and legend are related to 4 central morality characteristics of loyalty, filial piety, benevolence, righteousness. Those who know the teaching, know the background behind it, know the story, and anticipate the unfolding of the movie.
All in all, an enjoyable watch due to it bringing to life the story and legend it is based upon. The casting of popular male actors/stars from mainland China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan also helped to increase the audience appeal. The movie’s casting choices also meant people who initially watched with a focus on those actors but not knowing the back-story, now got exposure to this folklore legend and history!
I enjoyed the movie. Now, time for some post movie microwave popcorn!
Overly harsh to be honest. I agree with the above post that to truly appreciate the Yang family legend and any adaptions showcasing it, one must be familiar with the story. Even so I can’t see how this movie was as bad when I watched it. Yes the story is fast paced and there’s limited development for every single character, but granted I felt that this movie was made for a audience that already know’s watsup with the Yangs. The 7th son killing the son of the Pan family in a tournament, the rivalry between the Yangs and Pans, the war between the Chinese Song empire and the Khitan Liao, battle at Golden Sand Beach, the prophecy of 7 sons going into battle, etc…..these all were introduced within 25 min of the movie. For people who are already familiar with the folklore, this is like how Marvel fans watch the numerous Spider-man adaptions….they may love it or hate it but always strong, close feelings to the source material. To people who never heard of the Yangs, it’s probably too fast-paced to be appreciated or absorb fully to the narrative. The script isn’t completely faithful to the origin story either as it switches from a patriotic campaign to recover lost land to a rescue mission of filial duty to save the Yang patriarch . Nonetheless, the spirit of the legend is still there. The key to enjoying the movie is not hoping that a single main character to stand out but to accept the 7 sons (and daddy Yang) as a integral entity and that they’re fighting for each other and a common cause. It’s really quite enjoyable as long as you’re not expecting a grand treatment of a warrior family whose history suppose to span 3 generations. For a little over 2 hrs it’s really not a bad job at all. Tung Wai’s action was frenetic and brutal if not realistic enough to convey a certain mortal danger to all characters even the good guys. Adam Cheng impresses the most I thought. He was charismatic as Yang Ye, dignified yet humane. Ekin Cheng I thought was very effective as the stoic eldest son, who does brooding and commanding convincingly. Vic Chou was pretty damn cool as the almost silent 3rd son. The other sons were alright, they have their own moments but are overshadowed by Ekin and Vic. I thought the main villain Yelu Yuan by Shao Bing was underwhelming and generic. Xu Fan as Madam Yang was okay, she didn’t really get to do much from the script except worry most of the time and weep at other times. There’s some really good things like the Su Wu/Li Ling connection to Yang Ye, the breakout battle out of the siege, but some missed opportunities too (war breeds more misery angle could’ve been explored more of a theme, Pan Mei’s enmity is more of a sideshow rather than the direct cause of the Yangs’ tragedy) as the movie kinda does too much or not enough in a limited run time.
Could it be so much better? Absolutely…but is it unwatchable? Absolutely not as well. I would say it’s really worth a watch.
Just recently watched it and in some ways it reminded me of Saving Private Ryan. I too enjoyed it to the end and was rather sad to see the brothers meet their demise in trying to save their father. The CGI was good in comparison of a lot of films I have seen and I was intrigued by it. 8/10 for me.