Movie Poster

The circle means that one day you will return.

# Review

Based on the Ming dynasty novel Investiture of the Gods written in the 16th century, this film tells the story of the last king of the Shang dynasty in an epic between gods, humans, and monsters.

I first started this film on my Hong Kong Airlines flight from HK to Suzhou but couldn’t finish before the flight landed. It wasn’t until my EVA Air flight from Taiwan to Toronto that I finally had the chance to finish the film. I was worried I wouldn’t be able to finish because Western streaming services don’t have this film and the film really blew away my expectations. The production value is very high for a Chinese film and it very much feels like the Chinese version of Lord of the Rings or Game of Thrones. As with epics, there are many characters and some characters are definitely very corny and one-dimensional, such as Naran’s demon concubine and Huang Bo’s whimsical Jiang Ziya. At the same time, there are also some very excellent roles, such as Li Xuejian’s wise Duke Ji Chang, Fei Xiang’s tyrannical King Yin Shou, and Yu Shi’s youthful Ji Fa. Aesthetically, the film also has great character and set design that reflects both modern tastes and traditional Chinese culture; unfortunately, the CGI is a hit or miss. Overall, despite all of its corny dialogues and one-dimensional characters, this film definitely sets the bar for Chinese fantasy epics.

# Conclusion

The modern retelling of a Chinese epic.

# Overall rating: 7.5

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