Two Yang brothers get ready to defend the family honor in Ronny Yu's Saving General Yang.

Ronny Yu makes a near return to form with a visually engaging historical mini-epic. Elizabeth Kerr reports.

The legends surrounding the Song Dynasty Yang clan are myriad, as are books, films and television series about their feats and renowned benevolence. In his first film since directing the ham-fisted, but thrilling, Jet Li starred Fearless in 2006, and after a steady diet of Hollywood schlock (Freddy vs Jason, Bride of Chucky), director Ronny Yu once again dabbles in a sprawling, multi-character martial epic. Saving General Yang is loaded with striking imagery, rousing battles and creative set pieces. It's also just over ninety minutes long, which means something had to go. In this case, it's any semblance of character. With seven sons, his wife and assorted enemies in addition to the general himself, there are a dozen key characters, each of which in theory is crucial to the story. If ripping action is what you seek, this is the film for you. If you're looking for clues to the motivation for this action and its ultimate impact, or fresh spins on familiar themes (regarding honor, duty and loyalty), look elsewhere.

When the great General Yang Ye's (Adam Cheng) sixth and seventh sons, Yanzhao (Wu Chun) and Yansi (Fu Xin Bo), kill the son of rival clan leader Pan Renmei (Bryan Leung) in an attempt to win the hand of the lovely Princess Chai (An Yi Xuan) it is the first link in a chain of tragic events that lead to his and several others' deaths. First seen punishing the wayward boys, Yang is nonetheless adored by his family and revered by his people. When the rebel Khitan-led by the son of the warlord whom Yang killed during an earlier conflict, Yelu (Shao Bing)-makes noises about usurping the Song emperor, Yang is called into service. Facing a vengeful enemy with a bitter "ally" at his side, Yang's prospects are weak at best. Sure enough, he's betrayed and then besieged, and Yang's feisty wife She Taijun (Xu Fan) orders eldest son Yanping (Ekin Cheng) to take his brothers and go find him.

The last interpretation of Yang mythology was the disastrous The Legendary Amazons, a film that was awesome in theory and dreadful in execution, and word on the street was that Yu wanted to tell a similar story until the earlier film flopped so miserably. The two films have nothing to do with each other, and if Yu hasn't regained his The Bride With White Hair mojo, he's at least come close, even with this unremarkable storytelling. Yu and director of photography Chan Chi Ying do manage a generous sprinkling of spectacular stand-alone moments worth seeing on the big screen: the Yangs running a flaming enemy gauntlet, a protracted battle at an abandoned fort and a final showdown in a golden wheat field with only arrows among others. There are hints of a more humanistic film in here; the quiet moments between Yang and his wife are affecting, and Cheng and Xu bring a believable comfort to their characters, such as they are. But those fleeting moments don't provide enough insight into Yang to allow viewers unfamiliar with Yang lore to understand what inspired such fierce devotion. That the seven sons are most often referred to as Second Brother, Third Brother and so on is a testament to how anonymous they are. Saving General Yang is sturdy, stately, and action packed, but its lack of people to feel for relegates it to good when it could have been great.

Saving General Yang opened in Hong Kong April 4.

(China Daily 04/05/2013 page7)