I watched this film during an excursion for my Chinese class. Since I'm studying the language, the best way to learn is to listen to people talking in Chinese, so we watched this film as it was just released. Just to put it out there, I don't usually watch Chinese films. I'm more into films like Inception, Pirates of the Caribbean, Finding Neverland, The Dark Knight, etc.
Did I end up being able to practice listening to some Chinese? Yes. Did I enjoy the movie? No. I thought the movie was really bad. I'm tempted to say it was rubbish.
Firstly, the plot. I think, in some weird way on a thin thread, the plot works if you can follow it. However, I went into the movie with only a brief synopsis/summary of the story, and half the time I had trouble following the story. This is partially because of the constant cutting between present time and flashback sequences - I often couldn't distinguish what time I was in; I had no idea whether Yifei Liu's character was supposed to be blind or not. The incoherent plot was also caused by the bad pacing of the film – it would jump between quick, short, action-packed scenes to long, drawn-out confessions of love.
I'm not a particular of the romance/drama genre so I won't consider this main theme when I'm rating the film. However, this film is absolutely loaded with romance and love. It tries to play with your emotions and, unless you're absolutely taken with the film, the attempt is futile.
Secondly, the characters. Most of the characters were played well. The performances by Yifei Liu and Yang Yang were not bad. There were, however, some moments that were cringe-worthy, either because their romantic lines were so cheesy or the actors were not as convincing in these moments.
Thirdly, the filming. The action scenes were quite entertaining. Costuming is very beautiful and effective in reflecting the Ancient Chinese context. Film score (music) was forgettable.
Visual/special effects are not so effective. Some scenes that showed vast landscapes/shots, like the underwater shot at the beginning, were breathtaking. However, there a moments where the effects are not so effective, such as the dragon(?) fight scene. Some visual effects didn't look real and made the film almost look like an animation feature. I can't help but compare these effects to other films I've seen, like Inception or Star Trek Beyond, where the effects are much more realistic and believable. (It is possible that this film had a much lower budget – I'm not sure).
Therefore, I recommend this movie to people who are interested in the Ancient Chinese theme, can handle romance overload, can ignore unrealistic visual effects, and like seeing a tiny bit of action. I do not recommend this film to people who have not done any pre-reading about the film. Even watching the trailer is not enough. (Besides, one of the trailers I watched only hinted about the love story – nothing about the context or the fantasy world it was set in).
Generally what I thought - I lost two hours of my life.
Did I end up being able to practice listening to some Chinese? Yes. Did I enjoy the movie? No. I thought the movie was really bad. I'm tempted to say it was rubbish.
Firstly, the plot. I think, in some weird way on a thin thread, the plot works if you can follow it. However, I went into the movie with only a brief synopsis/summary of the story, and half the time I had trouble following the story. This is partially because of the constant cutting between present time and flashback sequences - I often couldn't distinguish what time I was in; I had no idea whether Yifei Liu's character was supposed to be blind or not. The incoherent plot was also caused by the bad pacing of the film – it would jump between quick, short, action-packed scenes to long, drawn-out confessions of love.
I'm not a particular of the romance/drama genre so I won't consider this main theme when I'm rating the film. However, this film is absolutely loaded with romance and love. It tries to play with your emotions and, unless you're absolutely taken with the film, the attempt is futile.
Secondly, the characters. Most of the characters were played well. The performances by Yifei Liu and Yang Yang were not bad. There were, however, some moments that were cringe-worthy, either because their romantic lines were so cheesy or the actors were not as convincing in these moments.
Thirdly, the filming. The action scenes were quite entertaining. Costuming is very beautiful and effective in reflecting the Ancient Chinese context. Film score (music) was forgettable.
Visual/special effects are not so effective. Some scenes that showed vast landscapes/shots, like the underwater shot at the beginning, were breathtaking. However, there a moments where the effects are not so effective, such as the dragon(?) fight scene. Some visual effects didn't look real and made the film almost look like an animation feature. I can't help but compare these effects to other films I've seen, like Inception or Star Trek Beyond, where the effects are much more realistic and believable. (It is possible that this film had a much lower budget – I'm not sure).
Therefore, I recommend this movie to people who are interested in the Ancient Chinese theme, can handle romance overload, can ignore unrealistic visual effects, and like seeing a tiny bit of action. I do not recommend this film to people who have not done any pre-reading about the film. Even watching the trailer is not enough. (Besides, one of the trailers I watched only hinted about the love story – nothing about the context or the fantasy world it was set in).
Generally what I thought - I lost two hours of my life.