The Yin Yang Master (2021)

Bridge to Terabithia

If you've seen the other movie, you might be wondering if they are two parts but they are actually different with the same concept. Because I've seen the Dream of Eternity first, I couldn't help but compare but it was clear as soon as it started that though the protagonists are the same, the story itself and the execution are completely different.

This version focused a lot more on its adventure aspect and the choice of humans and monsters instead of humans and demons differentiated both straight away. Whilst the visual effects on both films are both amazing in their own ways, the pacing is where I found the deciding factor was. Dream of Eternity's strength lies on its characters and their strong relatability to the viewers mixed with the solidly directed storyline, amongst all the other well-executed factors that made it such an enjoyable and stunning film for me.

Here, I found the pacing really offset the impact of everything. I found the climax a bit too quick where the buildup seem to have just been starting, leaving not much of a strong impression after everything's been done. And if you are expecting the same level of bromance Qingming and Boya had, I'd say to lower your expectations. If I hadn't watched Dream of Eternity first, I wouldn't have appreciated Boya's character here as much. Qingming on the other hand, both actors in both movies have offered different interpretations to Qingming's character and they really have offered different sides and appeal to them. However, the villain is not quite as good and at times felt a bit tacky and like I was watching a children's movie (and I'm not sure if it has anything to do with this being based off of a game). Unfortunately, it didn't have the same finesse and classiness its counterpart had.

Overall, still a good watch especially if you liked Dream of Eternity. It's nice to be able to see a different spin to the story but unlike the latter, it wasn't as stunning and didn't have much of a lasting impression that DoF had. It reminded me a lot of Bridge to Terabithia though which helped me connect to the monsters especially Red Ghost and the ferrets later on.

Leggi di Più

A colourful depiction of a dark tale

As a passionate fan of fantasy genre and an old admirer of Chen Kun and Zho Xun, I'd waited patiently for this film to be on Netflix and I wasn't disappointed.....


Story: Fantasy worlds and Chinese xianxia with demons (monsters) and human stories has always been attractive to me and I must admit, at least in films, I've been rarely let down. I haven't played the game but "TYYM" has an interesting and involving plot. Story is said nicely and the pace is right so you'd barely feel it's 2 hours long.


Not having any prior knowledge of the story, at the end I was able to grasp characters' thoughts, motives. backgrounds and growth. Characters were introduced well and their first impressions kind of showed their personalities. World building and plot structure is fantastic and believable. Even though, I would've liked it to explore characters more deeply. Also, the film spent too much of the screen time to reach the bridge scene thus the last plot twist after that was a bit bland.


Cast: Chen Kun is excellent as cunning, mysterious yet internally struggling Qingming, he has a boyish aura around him that make him look the perfect young and rather vulnerable half human/half demon. Zhuo Xun is great as calm and powerful Baini as well. Their on screen chemistry and harmony shine as always and over shadow the supporting, younger characters.


CGI: TYYM has excellent and very real CGIs. I've watched too many CGIed films so I have many material to compare and I say it's good! Most of the side characters and nearly all background ones are monsters, despite this animations aren't glaring or cartoonish ( like Chen Kun's other fantasy "Zhong Kui and Snow girl ..."). Animals and demons' features are detailed and fight scenes are choreographed tastefully and artistically. My own favourite was Red Evil Ghost, lol.


All in all I really enjoyed this film and I would like to think the post credit animation means a sequel is in mind, since the world-building was so excellent and characters had potential for more adventures. Maybe in the meantime I would take a chance with the game!

Leggi di Più

An outstanding film that is just as good as -- if very different from -- Dream of Eternity

I watched Dream of Eternity (the other Netflix Yin Yang Master film) and this one back to back in the same week. I know nothing about the source material but was attracted by excellent trailers and intriguing summaries. Coming from someone who has barely a passing awareness of the Onmyoji universe and no particular preference in terms of actors, I can tell you that the two were on equal footing as far as quality and watchability.

It does confuse me just a little that this one isn't as well-loved as Dream of Eternity, but for anyone wondering what the major differences are between the two -- and whether or not those differences amount to one or the other being better -- let me help a little.

Dream of Eternity (the other Yin Yang Master film with Deng Lun), is a very quintessentially Chinese story. The feel of the magic, the harsh golden chill of the capital, the Chinese humor and the almost obtuse but elegant storytelling that includes metaphysical and even existential themes, are all more familiar to someone who is accustomed to heavy Chinese fantasy. As such, the story can't help but feel a little richer. Too, the development of the relationship between Qingming and Boya is a major part of the what moves the plot forward.

This one, the Yin Yang Master, had a similar feel to an American blockbuster as far as pacing and storytelling. The story feels more approachable to someone who is unaccustomed to (or not particularly a fan of) those very particular Chinese types of fantasy. Nevertheless, it still has a rich, unique fantasy feel, made even more immersive by a broader bit of world-building. (Dream of Eternity has an almost claustrophobic sense of isolation as the heroes worked in close quarters and in a limited amount of time to solve the problem). It feels more like an adventure and less like an urgent detective mystery.

The story for this one focused more on Qingming's relationships with human beings in general and the people who used to be his friends in particular. Boya is a major character, but his interaction with Qingming is limited, but important. Boya, in a sense, develops independently. And this development affects his opinion of Qingming and his decision to help him or not.

In Dream of Eternity, the demons (not a very accurate translation, I'm afraid, but probably no better English word exists) feel more like human weapons, like the allies you can choose in complex rpgs. They are well-developed, fully-fleshed and wonderful.

In Yin Yang Master the demons exist in many varieties. The more human but powerful, the truly grotesque monsters, and the very cute little creatures, of whom Qingming has adopted several. This variety lends a kind of comic book feel to the story that was lovely. And the cute little creatures really were a very wonderful bonus -- their urgent pantomiming to Qingming when they were trying to deliver information was so delightful.

In both films you have outstanding special effects, wildly impressive fight scenes with a cool Chinese sorcerer's flair, and very good acting from all involved. Dream of Eternity also had that heady, moody Chinese storytelling feel to it. While Yin Yang Master accomplished broad worldbuilding and an epic sense of adventure.

Dream of Eternity sometimes felt too melodramatic (a trait I actually liked, so not an issue for me), while there was a candy sweetness to the overall feel of Yin Yang Master. But Chen Kun, with his characteristic dangerous severity, cut the sugar enough to balance the whole thing.

The takeaway here is that they were equally good films. But they were quite different. It's better to go into both without expecting anything in particular and then let the film be what it is.

As far as this one in particular: the story was very good -- if quite straightforward -- the monsters were unique, the sweet little creatures were too cute for words, and the interplay and development between the wide assortment of characters was very satisfying, if not as deep as it could have been. But the film had no apparent aim for depth, which made it work so well. The over-the-top visuals and almost absurd cute creature antics would have made a profoundly deep and heavy story feel a little odd. As it was, the balance was just right.

All in all, an excellent film. A less challenging watch than Dream of Eternity, but in a good way. I highly recommend them both. But I feel like this one needs more champions.

Leggi di Più

Waste of good actors

I don't understand why a great actor like Chen Kun participated in this film. This is for kids. Maybe that's his goal, he feels like a father, leading by example, fighting "evil". The premise that monsters are equated to evil and then he is supposedly unbiased, only on the grounds that he is half-monster is childish. I don't care about the production, because visual effects are again, appealing to video game addicts, which I'm not. I watched reluctantly less than half of the movie, waiting for a turn of events. But it is so predictable, following all the cliches, so I dropped it.

Leggi di Più

Fun but lacks impact

I have to start by saying, as a big positive, I love how this movie expanded the world, and gave us even more visual delights with everyone's spells and the monsters/familiars. The world presented to us in this movie is a much wider, richer, more colourful world than in The Yin Yang Master: Dream of Eternity. However, when it came down to character's emotions and connections with one another, I found myself not feeling anything.

Not only did I feel nothing for these characters, but I couldn't understand their feelings for each other either. We were told they cared, but ultimately what I saw couldn't convince me - they felt poorly developed. Even the villain's motivation felt super weak to me... Comparably, while Dream of Eternity was much more constrained in terms of world-building, emotionally it knew how to make us care about the characters and show how they cared/began to care for one another.

Overall it's a fun movie, but eye-candy alone isn't enough for me, I need meat in the story, and sadly I felt like that's where this movie faltered. Watch if you want a fun 2 hour movie that looks good, but if you're looking for a similar emotional experience you may have had watching Dream of Eternity, you may end up let down.

Leggi di Più

Relentless video game

I'm a RUYI'S ROYAL LOVE IN THE PALACE fan and so Zhou Xun brought me here. I predicted she's be a bait and switch -- and she was -- but it was nice to see another RUYI actor in the lead.

To me this film felt like a video game staged for the big screen. The quest was a video game quest, the actions the stuff of video game players. It didn't feel like real people at all -- which great diminishes a work like this. The story was so busy with plot the characters were nearly irrelevant.

I fear this film is for younger generations who cannot stay awake if two characters speak quietly in a room. That said it is an impressive spectacle. But I had to pause it several times and go take a mental break. If you have a mild headache this piece will turn it into a migraine with 20 minutes.

Leggi di Più

This Movie Was Good

I mean everything about this movie was like really good like the clothing was really nice the CG was really good and overall everything just looked really beautiful in the movie but I got to say that I did not like the storyline as much compared to The Yin and Yang Master Dream of Eternity. I just think that Dream of Eternity was a lot better because it made me excited and it pulled me in through out the whole movie. The Yin and Yang Master was good but didn’t pull me in as much but everyone has different opinions so yea please watch it and give your own opinion.😁

Leggi di Più

TOTALLY DIFFERENT THAN THE FIRST YING YANG MASTER DREAM OF ETERNITY!

This is one good but not as good as the first one (Ying Yang Master Dream of Eternity) and I'm waiting for Long Ye (Jessie Li) to come back because at the end of the first movie, she was still breathing and it seems like she's going to appear in here. This is a completely different movie compared to the first one.

VISUALS:
The visuals are great but not as majestic as the first one. The first movie was so cool it feels like you're watching a Marvel movie. It really is because they copied the portal spell from Doctor Strange making them sued by Marvel. That's why it was cut early in the cinemas in China. This time they made different teleportation spells (because of the Marvel/Doctor Strange issue. It was not as cool as the first Ying Yang Master.

CHARACTERS:
There are no characters from the first movie. They change the whole character. I've waited for Bo Ya (Deng Lun) to appear because he's one of the main characters of the first YYM. Their teamwork was awesome, I miss that. There are new cute CGI characters. I love the cute little demon ❤️

ACTION
There is not so much action here. It really felt like they rely on visuals which were really disappointing (compared to the first one) The story was ok. Everything was just fine.

OVERALL: If you haven't watched the first YYM I can recommend you this. Watch this first and then watch Ying Yang Master Dream of Eternity because those movies have different stories but the same main character Qingming (Mark Chao) But if you already watch the first YYM, this can satisfy you. It has fine visuals and of course, it's about Qingming--the Ying Yang Master.

Leggi di Più

Which Yin Yang Master to Chose

It's really not fair to compare this to the Yon Yang Master: Dream of Eternity that was also just completed but I really cannot help but think of both when reviewing this movie.

Let me start by stating I am a huge Chen Kun fan and also a Mark Chao fan so I was looking forward to see how both portrayed the character. I was not disappointed in either portrayal. Mark Chao is an expert on emotions and making you feel for the character without even speaking, while Chen Kun is a master at complex characters that are neither a hero or a bad person, just watch his masterful portrayal of Ning Yi in Rise of the Phoenixes. As for the rest of the acting, hands down Dream of Eternity was better in my opinion - Olivia Wang and Duo Wang were absolutely fantastic. So I found the A=acting of Yin Yang Master to be acceptable but not great for Chen Kun.

I saw another review say the two movies is like comparing a Marvel movie to a Star Wars movie. I agree with that but maybe not in the way it was intended. Which leads me to the story. I felt this version of the story was more about special effects and less about a story. I was never invested in Qingming and Boya's friendship, in fact I was never even sure they were friends in this movie other than one drinking evening. Also, the relationship with Qingming and his master, never felt fleshed out. I felt more in the first 10 minutes about Qingming and his master in Dream of Eternity than I did in the entire TheYin Yang Master movie. The stories are very different.

Finally rewatch value, I have really no inclination to re-watch The Yin Yang Master. When I finished I simply thought OK. I have already watched Dream of Eternity four times.

If you are a Chen Kun fan than you will enjoy his exceptional and nuisances performance. If you like special effects than this movie is well done and definitely goes further into the demon realm.

Leggi di Più

Visually pleasing

Visually pleasing and colorful. Really feels like a fantasy movie with the animals although the ferrets remind me of Rocket (raccoon) in Guardians of the Galaxy.

There wasn't much story, just more of an internal struggle of Qingming between good or evil but I liked the sad ending. Like the other version, the villain was predictable, but the giant creepy hand looked funny as opposed to scary and reminded me of Thing in Addams Family. The red hair and his posing also looked unnatural and not really menacing. I also wasn't sold with the romance (?) friendship (?) whatever it is between Qing Ming and Bai Ni.

The supporting characters felt more like fillers and were just there because they need Qingming to have some allies. Their stories didn't have much depth. Boya was way younger than what I was expecting, and didn't have much bromance with Qingming. Instead he matched more with Shen Le, who was a supporting character. She was cute but wasn't interesting enough. The red evil was so cute though and the fight scene was between him and Boya was fun!

Overall, this movie felt like a mishmash of different films. It could have been better if the movie was shorter and had more interesting characters that we want to root for, but overall it was enjoyable.

Rating: 8/10

Leggi di Più