The Ghouls (2015)

I thought I should give a contrasting opinion to the glowing reviews for those who might have had a different experience with this film as I did. I might have liked this movie more if I was familiar with the source material, especially in relation to the characters. Without a background in it, I found the characters to be underdeveloped and the plot overly complex with big plot holes in it. The movie relied heavily on CGI to carry the story along. If Chen Kun and Shu Qi hadn't starred in this movie I would have rated it lower, but they are two of my favorite performers which gave this movie a bump in the score.

I've seen reviewers compare it to Lord of the Rings and Indiana Jones. The plots in those films were laid out more clearly than this one and the characters were more fully developed. Though they relied on CGI and mythology they were also character driven. In this movie, Shu Qi's character felt plopped into the story with no background of where she came from, what her skill sets were, and much of anything about her except that she had been in a complex intimate relationship with Chen Kun's character. They dressed her like Lara Croft, but instead of being a badass she more often than not ended up at the mercy of someone else. We're given plenty of flashback scenes of Chen Kun's relationship with Angelababy which felt thin instead of like an epic or all consuming story of innocent love that would have haunted him for twenty years. It was strange to have all the romantic flashbacks while they are trying to make me care about his bickering relationship with Shu Qi. Sometimes I can just go along for the ride even when the story is all over the place but this was not one of those times. I didn't care for the side kicks at all, finding them more annoying than funny. The villains were completely lacking in spark for me as well as all the red shirts (Star Trek reference). And time and time again most of the characters behaved in illogical manners that caused many of the dangerous situations. Without their reckless behavior I suppose there wouldn't have been the opportunity for all the moments of once again escaping death with spectacular special effects.

The special effects were actually pretty good and there were plenty of scenes where they pulled out all the stops to display them. I just wish that I'd cared enough about the characters to feel a sense of tension when they were running for their lives or dangling by a thread. I don't mind the old tropes of booby trapped tombs, swarms of ravenous creatures, and buildings crumbling apart, just give me some people to care about as they save the world from destruction---again.

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SURPRISINGLY AWESOME!

When I first saw the trailer, I thought to myself, "hey this looks like a Chinese LORD OF THE RINGS: THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING!" I was immediately drawn to the movie.

Turns out, IMO, it's even better than LOTR! Sure, there are other reviews that compare it to Indiana Jones. But, I've never been fond of any Indy movies, and this one isn't about stealing valuables from a tomb ONLY. The story goes much deeper than that.

Here's the part that may surprise a lot of ppl. Turns out this is a multicultural Asian work. Turns out the tomb in question was a Japanese war bunker (on Chinese soil) that happened to tap into the supernatural part of the underground labyrinth by accident. The zombies are dead Japanese soldiers in said bunker. And even one of the antagonists, Yoko, is played by a Japanese national. In fact, even the movie's soundtrack is composed by Endo Koji, a Japanese musician!

In regards to the plot, I've felt that the technical aspect of the movie could be better as even the average Japanese movie looks slightly better, in terms of overall cinematography. But the plot is where it blows most Japanese movies I've reviewed so far to smithereens. It's so rich and funny that it almost felt like a Jin Yong work... (In case anyone doesn't know, Jin Yong is one of the most well-known fiction authors in China).

Acting and cast was superb as well. The main protagonist could cycle between a younger adult and an older himself easily, as was the other male protagonist. I've found their roles a bit more complex than Aragorn in LOTR, who never played a younger himself. Hence, my kudos to the actors (and actresses) in this movie.

And as I've already mentioned above, Endo Koji compose the kick-ass soundtrack, so the music sounded more Western than Chinese/Asian, since that is what Japanese musicians are good at.

In terms of rewatch value. Definitely! Remember the Inuyasha ending song, "My Will", where we see a certain red flower being animated and then being bent by the stalks by Kikyo? There's one just like it in this movie and they actually explained why that flower is so special and unique in the movie. That was probably my favorite part too, seeing something that was never really explained in an anime I've watched over a decade ago get resolved in a completely unrelated movie!

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