The Good:
A clear and direct modern adaptation of an ancient Chinese story. The character design is superb and on point, competing directly with both high-budget western titles. Beautiful animations (where it's not rushed).
The Bad: Would cause confusion amongst both Western and Eastern audiences. The scene where Xuan and Blanca gets trapped inside the derelict "exorcism" chamber would not make any sense to both Western and Eastern audiences alike. The eight doors which Xuan deducts from are in reference to the Irregular Gates, which itself is associated with the Eight Gates, the Gate of Life, of Death, of Closing, of Brilliance, of Rest, of Fright, of Opening, and of Injury. Character development-wise, we never fully understood the purpose of the grandmother. What was her relation with any of the villagers? Was she a relative of Xuan? Why didn't Xuan leave her at his place, because he's a doctor?
The Unsophisticated: There are clear signs that the movie was rushed and was overbudget. In several scenes, character detail drops significantly and the animation goes from an A+ grade to a B-, looking rushed and unpolished. In some areas, liquid simulation also seemed off, making it more shiny and slimy than it actually is. Furthermore, in some parts of the movie, such as when Xuan get's turned into a demon, the movie suddenly changes in refresh rate, going down from 24p to something like 15p, adding onto the unpolished feeling of the movie. The movie also often cut to black to transition to different scenes, breaking the audience's attention, and bringing dissonance to the story telling. It's fine to show sudden scene changes where it applies, for example when Blanca get's knocked out, but suddenly fading to black and jumping to the river scene after the general's right-hand man's monologue? That just feels cheap and uncreative. For reference, it cuts to black six times. Another gripe is the scorching death scales. How the hell is the General even able to extract the scales when they're activating? Even the Master claimed that she was beyond her bounds should they activate, yet a mere mortal is able to. In the end, the scales don't even serve any real purpose. It doesn't do anything, and when it seems like its supposed to? The General just spits them out and they disappear for the rest of the movie.
The Bad: Would cause confusion amongst both Western and Eastern audiences. The scene where Xuan and Blanca gets trapped inside the derelict "exorcism" chamber would not make any sense to both Western and Eastern audiences alike. The eight doors which Xuan deducts from are in reference to the Irregular Gates, which itself is associated with the Eight Gates, the Gate of Life, of Death, of Closing, of Brilliance, of Rest, of Fright, of Opening, and of Injury. Character development-wise, we never fully understood the purpose of the grandmother. What was her relation with any of the villagers? Was she a relative of Xuan? Why didn't Xuan leave her at his place, because he's a doctor?
The Unsophisticated: There are clear signs that the movie was rushed and was overbudget. In several scenes, character detail drops significantly and the animation goes from an A+ grade to a B-, looking rushed and unpolished. In some areas, liquid simulation also seemed off, making it more shiny and slimy than it actually is. Furthermore, in some parts of the movie, such as when Xuan get's turned into a demon, the movie suddenly changes in refresh rate, going down from 24p to something like 15p, adding onto the unpolished feeling of the movie. The movie also often cut to black to transition to different scenes, breaking the audience's attention, and bringing dissonance to the story telling. It's fine to show sudden scene changes where it applies, for example when Blanca get's knocked out, but suddenly fading to black and jumping to the river scene after the general's right-hand man's monologue? That just feels cheap and uncreative. For reference, it cuts to black six times. Another gripe is the scorching death scales. How the hell is the General even able to extract the scales when they're activating? Even the Master claimed that she was beyond her bounds should they activate, yet a mere mortal is able to. In the end, the scales don't even serve any real purpose. It doesn't do anything, and when it seems like its supposed to? The General just spits them out and they disappear for the rest of the movie.