This is a visually stunning fantasy. The acting is decent throughout and the action sequences are quite good. As most Asian fantasy movies, the storyline is somewhat convoluted making it difficult at times to understand the characters. It also has a soundtrack befitting an epic fantasy.
145 Reviews
It's OK. A mashup of movies that I'm luke-warm to.
andymhancock4 May 2021
I was inspired to watch this because "Yin Yang Master" (also 2021) was entertaining. This one was different. It was a feast for the yes in terms of CGI, very realistically rendered. But the plot was convoluted, and the reasoning for the plot seemed so very arbitrary that I simply didn't care.
This movie was a mashup of old chinese kung-fu movies of medieval times, TLR, End Game, Dr. Strange, E. T. (at least the glowing fingers), and probably others. Like ye olde chinese medieval movies, the characters take themselves way too seriously, and every sentence is uttered as if a gem of wisdom to be savoured. Tiresome.
The fight scenes in the beginning was as ballet as can be. At the end, however, it got more realistic. Thanks or that saving grace.
The scenery was awesome, as was the music. Set design, etc., all great. The story? Meh.
This movie was a mashup of old chinese kung-fu movies of medieval times, TLR, End Game, Dr. Strange, E. T. (at least the glowing fingers), and probably others. Like ye olde chinese medieval movies, the characters take themselves way too seriously, and every sentence is uttered as if a gem of wisdom to be savoured. Tiresome.
The fight scenes in the beginning was as ballet as can be. At the end, however, it got more realistic. Thanks or that saving grace.
The scenery was awesome, as was the music. Set design, etc., all great. The story? Meh.
Beautiful imagery, but very slow movie
siderite11 February 2021
This is a film that is over two hours long. Most of it is people emoting with their faces without doing anything, moving slowly, talking slowly. The rest is a bit of Wire-fu and CGI and a lot of knowledge lost in translation. That doesn't make it a bad film, because the production values and acting were good, while the story is a combination of murder mystery, detective story, love drama and monster flick. Yeah, it goes all over the place. It's just slow.
Moreover, a lot of other reviewers took the story to be about the love between the master and the empress, but to me it felt like it was more between Qing Ming and Bo Ya. Certainly they had the more romantically long face emoting moments. And that ending!
Anyway, there is a lot of stuff lost in translation for a Westerner. Even if we don't need to understand the mechanics of the magic, or the spirit servants, or the giant snake, we can get the overall idea for the story. But as many other people said, what you see translated in the English subtitles is also not enough to understand what the people are talking about, certainly not the finer metaphorical and cultural aspects of the dialogue.
Bottom line: I watched this on the TV app, which doesn't have a speed setting. Netflix! Make the speed setting available everywhere!! Did I mention the film feels really slow?
Moreover, a lot of other reviewers took the story to be about the love between the master and the empress, but to me it felt like it was more between Qing Ming and Bo Ya. Certainly they had the more romantically long face emoting moments. And that ending!
Anyway, there is a lot of stuff lost in translation for a Westerner. Even if we don't need to understand the mechanics of the magic, or the spirit servants, or the giant snake, we can get the overall idea for the story. But as many other people said, what you see translated in the English subtitles is also not enough to understand what the people are talking about, certainly not the finer metaphorical and cultural aspects of the dialogue.
Bottom line: I watched this on the TV app, which doesn't have a speed setting. Netflix! Make the speed setting available everywhere!! Did I mention the film feels really slow?
Mediocre at best.
Shevy-Chan7 March 2021
I feel like 6/10 may even be too generous. Still, it is visually pleasing.... but it was hard for me to look past the largely incoherent storyline. Such a shame because it had so much potential. To enjoy this movie you have to lower your expectations in advance.... and try not to think too much about the insane amount of plot holes.
The movie needs a sequel
ffadityawahyudi5 February 2021
I don't have the codes of this universe, I didn't understand everything.
nouyrigatantoine27 February 2021
Nice sets, nice costumes and choreography but a little too much CGI for my taste and codes that I do not have which prevented me from understanding everything and being fully connected to the story.
I haven't seen the other films in the series. to see for the regulars and the curious.
Don't recommend.
friendshipjohn7 February 2021
This movie deserves a higher rating
yg07315 February 2021
Great cg, complete story telling, all the actors and actresses perform their best in this movie. and of course the background music, the sound track is perfect. Even though I think the director should cut some scene out, but this doesn't affect me from liking this film. I don't see a reason why this movie is rated so low. Wondering if those people spamming here ever watched this film.
Beautiful visuals fail to lift confused story
Gentzen5 May 2021
Even films leaning on mythology and fantasy have to have some sort of internal structure and coherence. This one fails on both counts. In fact, it's as if it doesn't really care that the fantasy elements are internally consistent and events make some sort of (even fantastical) sense, as long as the visuals are pretty and the emotional element overwhelming. It scores high on these two counts, for sure. Everything else is more or less left unexplained, hovering on thin air, so to speak (the princess's travels and actions, why the three guardians failed to appear, etc.). Emotions are lofty indeed, as befits mythological narratives that paint extreme situations in broad strokes, rather than insinuating the complexity and nuance of real-life situations. On their own, though, they are not sufficient to lend sense to a world of mythology. Non-western systems of belief have their own internal logic and actions are explained by it, if differently to actions in a western context. The movie fails on this score, and soppy acting by the main characters is no substitute. What all this gives us is lots of disjoint scenes of spectacular action and intense sentiment, underlined by very good CGI and visual work. It does not give us a full-scale movie.
It's Bad. Amusing, but Undeniably Bad.
mikedufresne20137 February 2021
Warning: Spoilers
This movie is bad. Period. If you liked it, you either did so ironically, or you are a bot programmed to like this movie and give it good reviews. I assume there are many such bots, given the state of this review section. I was tempted to give it 2 stars simply because of how amusingly bad it was, but based on how many 9-10 star reviews this movie has received, I would be doing a disservice to movies everywhere if I didn't give this movie the lowest rating possible.
First of all, it makes no sense. Did a child write this? Is this fan fiction of some sort? Who came up with this story? It's basically every aspect of traditional Chinese cultural packed together and compressed into an incoherent mess. The protagonist, Qingming, is a yin-yang master (whatever that is) who can create Doctor Strange portals but for some reason can't learn a simple protection spell after training for twenty years (spoiler: he finally figures out the spell exactly when the plot needs him to). Also, he can pull magic spirit orbs from people's heads (including his own) that basically do whatever the plot needs them to do. Want to capture a desire-eating worm demon, put a loved one out of their misery or activate an ancient guardian statue? Use magical head orbs!
Also, there are too many plot holes to count. My favorites are the "twists" that are meant to mislead the audience but that literally make no sense if you think about them for even a second. For example, when we "learn" about Shouyue's deception, which was both obvious and ridiculous at the same time, we see that he didn't really put the magic spirit orb thing into guardian statue to activate it like we thought he did. Instead, he moved the orb away at the last minute, so it didn't actually go into the statue!! 😱 But wait...why would he bring the spirit orb thing to the statue in the first place and pretend to put it in? Literally nobody was watching him except us, the audience. Nonsense.
To give the movie some credit, the final encounter is pretty dope. First, a Godzilla-sized snake monster (aptly named "Evil Snake" in English) appears and threatens to destroy the world unless the good guys can awaken the last guardian statue. To stall the monster, Qingming, who can summon demon helpers (read: slaves), summons a demon ninja, a demon calligrapher and an ice-beam shooting angel-demon to fight the Evil Snake. By the way, the Evil Snake is being controlled by Shouyue, who turns out to be Qingming's dead master when he was young (what?), but then actually turns out to be a spirit guardian clone the dead master created to protect (and, apparently, also sleep with) the princess, Fangyue. Also, Fangyue had the Evil Snake inside her body originally, but decided to put it into Shouyue instead, because she loves him and doesn't want him to die (FYI, having the Evil Snake inside you makes you immortal). However, Fangyue immediately regrets her decision and tries to kill Shouyue, conveniently forgetting that she just made him immortal minutes earlier... Anyway, another character named Boya decides to use his own blood to awaken the last guardian statue, which causes the statue turn into a dark angel-demon version of him. Qingming then opens a Doctor Strange portal to teleport angel-demon Boya closer to Shouyue, and Boya then turns the portal into a sword, throws it at Shouyue and kills him. Shouyue could have stopped the portal sword if he wanted to, but Fangyue kills herself, to Shouyue's surprise, and he give up on life. It should be mentioned that Shouyue wasn't surprised by Fangyue's death because he loves her or something dumb like that, but because he also forgot that she isn't immortal anymore.
Like I said, amusingly bad.
Jokes aside, I will mention that the sexual chemistry between Boya and Qingming was a pretty refreshing sight, though it didn't really amount to much in the end. I assume the director was trying to hint at their feelings without getting flagged by Chinese censors. However, the film was apparently banned in China anyway because the director admitted to plagiarizing a famous book he wrote. Of course he did.
First of all, it makes no sense. Did a child write this? Is this fan fiction of some sort? Who came up with this story? It's basically every aspect of traditional Chinese cultural packed together and compressed into an incoherent mess. The protagonist, Qingming, is a yin-yang master (whatever that is) who can create Doctor Strange portals but for some reason can't learn a simple protection spell after training for twenty years (spoiler: he finally figures out the spell exactly when the plot needs him to). Also, he can pull magic spirit orbs from people's heads (including his own) that basically do whatever the plot needs them to do. Want to capture a desire-eating worm demon, put a loved one out of their misery or activate an ancient guardian statue? Use magical head orbs!
Also, there are too many plot holes to count. My favorites are the "twists" that are meant to mislead the audience but that literally make no sense if you think about them for even a second. For example, when we "learn" about Shouyue's deception, which was both obvious and ridiculous at the same time, we see that he didn't really put the magic spirit orb thing into guardian statue to activate it like we thought he did. Instead, he moved the orb away at the last minute, so it didn't actually go into the statue!! 😱 But wait...why would he bring the spirit orb thing to the statue in the first place and pretend to put it in? Literally nobody was watching him except us, the audience. Nonsense.
To give the movie some credit, the final encounter is pretty dope. First, a Godzilla-sized snake monster (aptly named "Evil Snake" in English) appears and threatens to destroy the world unless the good guys can awaken the last guardian statue. To stall the monster, Qingming, who can summon demon helpers (read: slaves), summons a demon ninja, a demon calligrapher and an ice-beam shooting angel-demon to fight the Evil Snake. By the way, the Evil Snake is being controlled by Shouyue, who turns out to be Qingming's dead master when he was young (what?), but then actually turns out to be a spirit guardian clone the dead master created to protect (and, apparently, also sleep with) the princess, Fangyue. Also, Fangyue had the Evil Snake inside her body originally, but decided to put it into Shouyue instead, because she loves him and doesn't want him to die (FYI, having the Evil Snake inside you makes you immortal). However, Fangyue immediately regrets her decision and tries to kill Shouyue, conveniently forgetting that she just made him immortal minutes earlier... Anyway, another character named Boya decides to use his own blood to awaken the last guardian statue, which causes the statue turn into a dark angel-demon version of him. Qingming then opens a Doctor Strange portal to teleport angel-demon Boya closer to Shouyue, and Boya then turns the portal into a sword, throws it at Shouyue and kills him. Shouyue could have stopped the portal sword if he wanted to, but Fangyue kills herself, to Shouyue's surprise, and he give up on life. It should be mentioned that Shouyue wasn't surprised by Fangyue's death because he loves her or something dumb like that, but because he also forgot that she isn't immortal anymore.
Like I said, amusingly bad.
Jokes aside, I will mention that the sexual chemistry between Boya and Qingming was a pretty refreshing sight, though it didn't really amount to much in the end. I assume the director was trying to hint at their feelings without getting flagged by Chinese censors. However, the film was apparently banned in China anyway because the director admitted to plagiarizing a famous book he wrote. Of course he did.
All That Matters Is Love
yangdev5 February 2021
The language and cultural differences are still a huge barrier for people from English or other foreign language speaking countries to truly understand this movie. The fighting scenes and the special effects are simply not the focus of the movie. The theme of this film is love. For people who can truly resonate with this movie, it's really hard not to cry.
Audience from Asian countries definitely can better resonate with the love story between the Princess and Zhongxing (Qingming's master). Some people say the love in this movie is too philosophical or even cliche. One reason is they simply cannot appreciate Oriental style of love. Another reason is because the English script is too bad. Honestly, both the English dubbing and the scripts are bad. For English audience, I don't know if it will be better to listen to the Chinese audio and read the English script.
There are just so many things lost in the translation. The music is first class!!! I am a Chinese, so I can almost fully understand what this movie is talking about. The first time I watched it, I simply cannot stop crying mutiple times.
Audience from Asian countries definitely can better resonate with the love story between the Princess and Zhongxing (Qingming's master). Some people say the love in this movie is too philosophical or even cliche. One reason is they simply cannot appreciate Oriental style of love. Another reason is because the English script is too bad. Honestly, both the English dubbing and the scripts are bad. For English audience, I don't know if it will be better to listen to the Chinese audio and read the English script.
There are just so many things lost in the translation. The music is first class!!! I am a Chinese, so I can almost fully understand what this movie is talking about. The first time I watched it, I simply cannot stop crying mutiple times.
It's breathtaking
thanhha1988-238-6923830 April 2021
Warning: Spoilers
It's such a beautiful movie, breath taking sceneries I almost want to print them out and hang them on the wall.
I love the actors and their character, I love how they have grown to trust and fight alongside each other.
I think the weakest part of the movie is the storyline. For someone who don't understand the background, there are so many questions for me that the story feels patchy:
1. Why Boya said he grew up with the Princess when it's virtually impossible 2. What's the Hair demon thing about? I don't get it!
3. What's guardian spirit? A spirit can fight and die and it's body still live? WTF? Don't get it.
Etc
I wish someone explained the rules for me before the movie starts, I wish there were one main story line to follow.
That said, I'll watch it again just for the sceneries. It's that beautiful.
I love the actors and their character, I love how they have grown to trust and fight alongside each other.
I think the weakest part of the movie is the storyline. For someone who don't understand the background, there are so many questions for me that the story feels patchy:
1. Why Boya said he grew up with the Princess when it's virtually impossible 2. What's the Hair demon thing about? I don't get it!
3. What's guardian spirit? A spirit can fight and die and it's body still live? WTF? Don't get it.
Etc
I wish someone explained the rules for me before the movie starts, I wish there were one main story line to follow.
That said, I'll watch it again just for the sceneries. It's that beautiful.
Another embarrassing atrocity from the world's worst "big-name" director
pyxeljoe10 February 2021
Guo Jingming's films are so spectacularly, unwatchably awful that they are--on some level--a genuine miracle. How a dude this divinely untalented continues to get work is beyond me.
In addition to not understanding what a film should look, sound, or feel like, Mr. Guo also has no idea whatsoever how to tell a story. If you watch this movie, you will not only have no idea what's going on, you will be exposed to dialogue so pretentiously cringe-inducing it puts you at severe risk of permanent spinal injury.
So I didn't like it, in other words.
In addition to not understanding what a film should look, sound, or feel like, Mr. Guo also has no idea whatsoever how to tell a story. If you watch this movie, you will not only have no idea what's going on, you will be exposed to dialogue so pretentiously cringe-inducing it puts you at severe risk of permanent spinal injury.
So I didn't like it, in other words.
Simple and pretty
bananasonata8 February 2021
Got to say, this is a pretty movie. CGI effects are great, each scene was so beautiful that I would not think twice to screenshot and put up as my desktop wallpaper. But, the plot is very simple, quite surface thinking, there is not a lot of deep thought that can be resonance after watching the movie. I like the princess, I think her acting is good, I particularly like the scene where she stands below the pear blossom asking the man not to leave. So sad but beautiful. Honestly, I find this movie so boring, so predictable. However, if you want to watch something that free up your brain power, this is a good option.
Not that bad.
dcrocetti7 February 2021
This is a fantasy flick first, with a little action and lots of CGI. And expect to see similar graphics from the Avengers.
Personally, fantasy films story line bore me, and this one did too.
In summary, if you have nothing else to watch..
Shockingly pretentious and boring
MovieIQTest7 February 2021
We've tried to watch this movie for about 30 minutes and decided to quit. What another lousy Chinese CGI crap! The costumes and make-up not only over-the-top ridiculous, it's even looked more like a Japanese fantasy and horror movie. The screenplay, a big joke; the dialog, so pretentious and hollow; the make-up, Jesus....Don't know why Chinese movies have degenerated to such a low level without any substance but superfluously shallow. They just got huge budget to spend and didn't even give a damn to what they were making, all they did was to throw big money to make them look cool like Emperor's Gown with nothing underneath, not even an underpants, it's completely naked without nothing worth seeing. Korean's movies usually got 6/10 at least in rating, but in fact, most of the movies from Korea, generally got over 7.8.9/10. If you take a look at the Chinese movies, most were under 5.4.3.2.1/10 and most were unwatchable. This one is no exception, I gave it 1/10 score. If I could give 0/10, I'd be more satisfied.
Plot makes no sense but the bromance is great
Syy2148 February 2021
Convoluted storyline
emccyu8 February 2021
10/10 costume and set design. These areas are consistently stunning in Chinese cinema. The story however, is just told in such a counterintuitive way. Many things are left unexplained, motives are unclear and only clarified somewhat in the end. It felt like jumping into season 3 of a show without watching the previous build up episodes. I'd only recommend this movie for studying its visual aspects.
Much better than expected
postimast4 February 2021
I wasn't sure what to expect of this. Having been a fan of Chinese fantasy films for a while I expected it to be the usual subpar CGI and a decent story.
The CGI on this was absolutely fantastic, I was genuinely shocked, they've come a far way. The story, although a little rushed, was touching and beautiful with incredible acting. The director has had issues before but really pulled this one off and the script was great. All around a very entertaining Thursday evening film to watch!
The CGI on this was absolutely fantastic, I was genuinely shocked, they've come a far way. The story, although a little rushed, was touching and beautiful with incredible acting. The director has had issues before but really pulled this one off and the script was great. All around a very entertaining Thursday evening film to watch!
The good and the bad
kosmasp30 May 2022
I do believe in the good and the bad - especially because we define what those are. Something that was considered good to a degree a century ago, is seen as something else today. Views change, we evolve and that is good. If we evolve in the right direction - of course that alone is a statement that only works if you have similar views.
But that all aside, because it doesn't get too philosophical here. This is telling or giving us a fairy tale. Fantasy and action - and in quite the decent fashion I might add. If you are prone to or generally attracted to fantasy from the east (I know it may not make sense geographically, but I didn't come up with the terms) - you could do worse.
But that all aside, because it doesn't get too philosophical here. This is telling or giving us a fairy tale. Fantasy and action - and in quite the decent fashion I might add. If you are prone to or generally attracted to fantasy from the east (I know it may not make sense geographically, but I didn't come up with the terms) - you could do worse.
Are we watching the same movie?
ccastillo-789116 February 2021
Great Movie with a great storyline
appdatasoftware5 February 2021
The movie was great thanks to engaging fighting scenes and great acting from the actors. The CGI used in the film are also top notch and the storyline itself was great. The beginning of the movie was a bit hard to understand but over time the story began to reveal itself slowly and with a great amount of suspense. The plot itself was not predictable which made the film better as it kept you guessing. Kudos to the costume designers as all the outfits all suited the characters perfectly and looked great. Probably the only complaint I have about this movie is that there were a few unnecessary characters in the film that were only probably used to thicken the plot but other than that this film was thrilling to watch and is a great Chinese movie and is worth your time. (It kind of reminded me of detective dee)
So beautiful it hurts
kmoon7915 January 2023
First let me say I'm not Asian and I don't speak any Asian languages or know anything about Asian culture/myths. So I'm sure I missed a lot of important details because of this and I'm not used to this style of storytelling. But I've developed quite a fondness for Korean dramas recently which have now spoiled me and I can't stand Hollywood blockbusters anymore. LOL
With that being said, the story is a bit confusing at first but soon you get what's happening. The visuals are beautiful, the CGI is perfect, the action scenes are exciting but not overly violent or gory, and there is no nudity or sex. The acting is superb! Being used to over acting from Western actors with plastic faces, bulging muscles and blinding white teeth, this feels otherwordly in the best of ways. The soundtrack really transports you to a different world. The story is unique and I found myself invested in the characters immediately. I would love to see this as a series!
And OMG Asian men with long black hair are my new favorite thing (with all due respect).
With that being said, the story is a bit confusing at first but soon you get what's happening. The visuals are beautiful, the CGI is perfect, the action scenes are exciting but not overly violent or gory, and there is no nudity or sex. The acting is superb! Being used to over acting from Western actors with plastic faces, bulging muscles and blinding white teeth, this feels otherwordly in the best of ways. The soundtrack really transports you to a different world. The story is unique and I found myself invested in the characters immediately. I would love to see this as a series!
And OMG Asian men with long black hair are my new favorite thing (with all due respect).
Garbage movie.
allan_bisson25 February 2021
This movie is nonsensical. It is so confusing and has no rational flow. It's like a a dream where all these crazy wonderful things happen but you can't understand why. I was so confused and disoriented that it took away from how amazing it looked.
it's love
ladyliliroche25 October 2023
Warning: Spoilers
Truly... if it isn't love I don't know what that is... especially at the ending scene ;.;
If only we can get... more of that you know.
Overall its a... meh movie honestly. I just keep watching for the characters. I think the love devotion part - between the empress and her guardian was heartbreaking.
Qingming and BOYA have good chemistry. I enjoyed their banter as well and how it become the focus / theme of the movie as well.
I think Im just in a mood of these tragic love story. I do want it to have more magical things and I kinda feel bad for the other spirit guardians, especially since Seimei was just standing there, not doing much until the end lol.
If only we can get... more of that you know.
Overall its a... meh movie honestly. I just keep watching for the characters. I think the love devotion part - between the empress and her guardian was heartbreaking.
Qingming and BOYA have good chemistry. I enjoyed their banter as well and how it become the focus / theme of the movie as well.
I think Im just in a mood of these tragic love story. I do want it to have more magical things and I kinda feel bad for the other spirit guardians, especially since Seimei was just standing there, not doing much until the end lol.
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