Jade Dynasty 1 (2019)

Jade Dynasty is a mediocre movie. It is kind of entertaining, but that's not because of the plot, but because of the great actors who delivered amazing performances and the pretty scenery which blessed my eyes.

The first half was very exciting, but the second was meh. And the ending was a bit unsatisfying. The characters, I must say, were very cool, especially the main lead Xiao Fan. Such an adorable dude, lol.

What I loved the most about Jade Dynasty is definitely the cinematography and the CGI was actually kind of good? Well, some fights were a bit too ridiculous, but overall, I was very impressed.

I mean, the only thing that I didn't like about this movie is the story and the way it was presented. But it has everything else - interesting characters and relationships between them, great performances, breath-taking cinematography.

I would recommend it if you are looking for a movie to pass time. But honestly, you can just pass it and watch something else instead.

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A bit above average movie, with really disappointing ending. Watch it if you are Xiao Zhan Fan.

Story: ★★★
I don’t know the movie or the novel so I don’t have any prejudices. A clumsy but kind-hearted boy who turned into a demon but still got the likings of all the pretty girls around him. We have seen these types of stories and they are nothing new. However, I believe the book or novel has a pretty complicated story and interesting character development. However, all these were rather difficult or impossible to pack into a 90min movie. There was just not enough time to develop any attachment to the characters and comprehend why they did the things they did or felt the emotions they try to display. Esp. the two main leads - you don’t really comprehend why they suddenly started loving each other. The final scenes supposed to evoke a lot of sadness with the audience but failed to do so. The sudden emotional changes in the main characters are just a key gap of the movie adaption (and all happened towards the end) which left a bad taste and many question marks for me.

Cast and acting: ★★★★
The movie has a great cast. The acting is pretty flawless most of the time. Xiao Zhan once again topped himself by successfully portraying the clumsy, unskilled but kind-hearted Xiao Fan. This goes for all the female leads. But I guess because it's difficult to understand characters’ motivation I also cannot appreciate their acting this much. The other problem I had was that all of them are so major that you do not know who is lead vs. supporting. I mean why is Tina Tian a supporting role vs. Li Qin? She has as many screen time or even more than Li Qin. But overall I have no complains about the acting. The fighting choreography is really beautiful and one of the best I have seen in Chinese movies.

Camera and post-production: ★★★★
The cinematography and the CGI are really nicely done. I have seen many low-quality CGIs in Chinese dramas that this one really comes refreshing. I think that it is the major watching point of this movie. However in order to show these beautiful choreographies (e.g from the female leads) one left out a quiet bit of zoom-ins to characters' faces which are a bit of shame given they are so good and beautiful actors.
A major turn off is the dubbing of the voices. The voices do not look like they are coming out of their mouth and is esp. bad for Xiao Fan. The voice does not match his mouth movement so many times. And what about this sudden lower voice at the end of the movie? Did they switch the voice actor? For me, voices are one major part of a good movie and the acting itself and that was a huge disappointment.

Summary: ★★★
Overall, I think you should watch the movie to see Xiao Zhan’s great acting (and to see some of the other female leads) cinematography, beautiful costumes and CGI. But if you want to enjoy a good movie that does not have a proper ending (that has a pretty weird cliffhanger) that’s probably not one you should go for.

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