- 10
...an unadulterated pleasure from beginning to end.
—Tasha Robinson Onion AV Club
- 8
Chen's perceptive direction of his superb cast is equaled by the film's luminous cinematography, rich yet spare and stylized production and costume design, and rousing score.
—Kevin Thomas Los Angeles Times
- 8
...measured strictly in terms of emotional power and overall fun, is as moving and pleasurable as any matinee item by Ford, Hawks or Raoul Walsh.
—F.X. Feeney LA Weekly
- 6
Wu xia fans will still find things to like, but the uninitiated will probably find this slow going.
—Ethan Alter TV Guide
- 6
...in spite of its longueurs, and in spite of a visual scheme that occasionally resembles a pirated video game, there is enough grandeur and magic in the story -- and enough melodramatic conviction from the cast -- to make the film at least a partial comeback for this gifted director.
—A. O. Scott New York Times
- 6
The relentless gooey love triangles and flamboyant death matches beat you into a stupor by the third act, but the utter excess of it all--from gloriously bad wigs to obviously CGI-enhanced action scenes--is entertaining in all the wrong ways.
— E!
- 6
The assault of chintz is relentless--in support of a half-baked honor-love-mistaken-identity yarn--but it's also wildly campy.
—Michael Atkinson Village Voice
- 6
...a feast for the eyes but never really touches the heart.
—Leah Rozen People
- 6
...an overstuffed fairy tale heavy on the martial arts...
—Michael Phillips Chicago Tribune
- 5
If someone were to drop a couple of tabs of acid, wander in to a screening of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, and decide to make a movie of that trip, The Promise is what they'd wind up with.
—Pam Grady Reel
- 5
...a slim fantasy flimflam...
— Entertainment Weekly
- 5
...photographed in the wildest colors and doesn't ask anyone to believe it for a second - not that it makes one iota of sense.
—M.K. Terrell Christian Science Monitor
- 5
...it's still a pretty cool movie, but sadly, this one doesn't live up to its promise.
—Pete Hammond Maxim
- 4
...why does it look so cheap and inspire not awe, but giggling?
—Chris Barsanti filmcritic.com
- 4
...trivial and silly...
—Nick Schager Slant Magazine
- 4
...pretty much a mess of a movie...
—Roger Ebert Chicago Sun-Times
- 2
...employs laughable computer effects and second-rate martial-arts fighting to tell the hard-to-figure story of a princess and her three lovers.
—V. A. Musetto New York Post