Fengshen (2023)

Sons of a tyrant.

Wuershan's Creation of Gods trilogy is the culmination of an eight year labor of love that is the most ambitious and grand scale adaptation of Chinese classic Investiture of Gods ever. This Homeric, often chaotic tale of gods, demons and men that blends speculative history with myth and legend is probably the most widely adapted ancient Chinese vernacular novel. This grandiouse, exhilarating, action packed, and painstakingly crafted production is a visual triumph and an immersive adventure that is best experienced on an IMAX screen.

Kingdom of Storms is the first instalment that focuses on the origin story of the King Zhou of Shang and how he incurred the wrath of the heavens to the extent the gods intervened. In a departure from canon, this adaptation does not lay the moral decay of King Zhou solely at the door of the hedonistic, fox jezebel Su Daji. This version holds King Zhou accountable, clearly asserting that his ambition and moral flexibility already put him on the dark path from the get go. This is a more layered and manipulative King Zhou, who adopts all of his noble hostages including Ji Fa as foster "sons". He ruthlessly indoctrinates his own son Yin Jiao as well as his hostage sons into choosing to be sons of a tyrant over their own fathers. All of the sons are pushed to decide whose son they really are and what kind of man they wish to become. This recurring theme of conflict between father and son and right and wrong adroitly weaves most of the sub-plots together.

Kris Phillips with his magnificent build and his imposing, quietly menacing , almost mesmeric screen aura is impeccably cast as King Zhou. He so much looks and breathes the part that it is easy to ignore his at times bizarre Mandarin and the occasionally stiff acting. Although the stunningly gorgeous Naran is bewitching as Daji, the role lacks complexity. She doesn't get to do much more than alternate between a sensuous seductress and a cunning and feral animal spirit when cornered. This debouched couple lights up the screen with their dark chemistry but I could have done with a bit less of their wanton cavorting that comes off as too unsubtle Hollywood. Beyond their honed physiques and stunning atheleticism, both Yu Shi's Ji Fa and Chen Muchi's Yin Jiao won my heart with their brotherhood and their portrayal of initially bewildered and disillusioned sons who grow up to become fearless and resolved men. They stand out among the dazzling number of up and coming young actors who managed to make an impression in this whirlwind production as does Ci Sha's not so hot headed Yang Jian. The deities don't feature as prominently in this first chapter but I much enjoyed this first glimpse of the diabolically mischevious Nezha.

For those unfamiliar with the chaotic original works, the storytelling may seem cluttered with vignettes at the cost of plot advancement as this largely sets the stage for what culminates in the battle of all battles between good and evil. Beyond an almost gratuitous amount of wildly, intense action scenes, the narrative pays homage to key features of the original works from Ji Chang's meat pies to Bi Gan's seven chamber heart. It culminates in Ji Fa's hair rising escape from the Shang capital Zhaoge. Keep watching after the credits roll as the following epilogue sets up the next instalment where hopefully we see a lot more plot movement. This is a very difficult and messy novel to adapt but so far, I am very impressed with how cogently and fittingly everything ties together. This promises to be the best adaptation by a long mile of this well loved novel, the first part of which warrants a highly enthusiastic 8.5/10.0 from me.

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Epic Chinese mythology movie not to be missed

[PARDON ME, THIS IS LONG]

I'm giving this 10 stars, not because I'm Chinese (and naturally biased as many would probably think). I have never read the Investiture of the Gods (the novel on which the Trilogy is largely based), nor properly watched any relevant TV/movie production. (To those who are familiar with the original story, the Trilogy focuses on Jifa rather than Jiang Ziya who is traditionally depicted as the protagonist.)

I am giving this 10 stars, because I am truly in awe of the high quality of the movie consistently demonstrated in all aspects, a master-piece conjured with the blood, sweat and tears of a team of 8000+ crew: the mind blowing cinematographic effects, the exceptionally amazing actors (whether it be men or women, new or seasoned), the extremely elaborate costumes, the lavish grand palace and buildings crafted by 2000+ carpenters, the beautiful original scores and songs, the simply superb and talented Director Wuershan who has dedicated whole heartedly more than 9 years to the Trilogy while constantly striking nothing but perfection throughout... The list goes on.

I am very impressed by the new actors and actresses who survived 6-8 months in a very intensive training camp. Their daily routine usually ran from 5am to 9pm, 6 days a week, where they were required to undergo various types of training including riding, archery, combat, music, history, physical training, swimming and performing, all of which helped transform them into what warriors should look like 3000 years ago - not just the muscles, but also the SPIRIT! And yes, their acting skills may be debatable, but they are by no means awkward. They are meant to play roles that are in the teens/early twenties, which are exactly where they were when the movie started shooting more than 5 years ago. Practically all of them were new to equestrian, one of the many subjects they had to master in the training camp. By the time they graduated, they all became excellent riders that were able to perform amazing acts in concert. That's why the horseback riding shots are so breathtaking - no stunts at all. About this, I would in particular raise my glasses to Yu Shi (Yosh), the actor that plays Jifa. He has a reputation for constantly pushing himself to the limit, back then and throughout those years while waiting for the movie to be released (which was overdue for 3 years). There is a jaw-dropping scene where he turned around and shot arrows from the horseback without reins, something apparently so dangerous that no one else (the equestrian director included) in the set was able to complete. He insisted on performing the whole series of actions himself and after endless practice, day and night, he pulled it off with flying colors. I am sure this is only one of the many spectacular moments that he will be remembered for, down the line.

As for the King, I personally adore Kris Phillips' (AKA Fei Xiang) portrayal and I beg to differ from those who took the view that his acting was terrible. Anyone who goes to the movie with a peaceful heart cannot possibly have come up with that blatant conclusion. His dramatic expressions and awesome physique imparted life to the King who is known in history and novels as someone smart, strong, tall but most of the time, brutal... Many Chinese are of the view that no one else in modern days is better fitted to play the King.

Jichang, played by Li Xuejian, is another role that truly touches my heart. He is a veteran Chinese actor who has won probably all the awards in China that can be garnered. Some may laugh at the way he speaks in the movie, but please try to understand that he has been fighting nasopharyngeal cancer for more than 2 decades, which has seriously affected how he articulates and his hearing too. Why did they insist on using his own voice? It is because only that way, an actor could fully unleash to the audience what the role should really be like. Mr. Li's performance is powerful and flawless in every scene.

Surely, there are areas that require improvements. The special effects - yes, they could have been better but considering the lack of funding and the fact that the Director had to pay out of his pocket to keep it going, I am only hoping the first Installment of the Trilogy could score better in worldwide box office so that more funds can be injected to improve that area which is very important to the 2nd and the 3rd installments. The plot - yes, some wonderfully shot scenes did not appear in the movie, which arguably could help audience understand better, but the Director had to make a judgement call in order not to compromise the integrity of the story line, and having a movie longer than 2.5 hours means more difficulty in getting it released in Chinese theatres, apparently...

Truth be told. I've seen the Creation of the Gods 4 times, all in iMax theatres. Each time, I was able to find details that I previously missed. Each time, I was able to feel more. Last time that I did such a thing was for Titanic, and I only watched it 3 times...

So if you have a big heart and are happy to embrace all cultures, may I urge you to give this movie a chance, and please do so in an iMax theatre if you can!

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China just shows it too can make a great fantasy movie

I found out that Creation of the Gods took five years to make, and their selection of young actors to play the main characters in the movie and the training they all went through .. needless to say, drew a deep curiosity to watch the movie. I am glad to say I wasn't one bit disappointed! I am so impressed with the movie. From the brilliant acting from the old cast, the familiar cast and the young cast they all excelled and made this movie superbly entertaining! The animation is just amazing 90% of it.. not to mention the high-quality production value invested in the movie, and I was totally enamoured!! It's so real, I felt like I was watching the mythology that my mum used to tell us as our bedtime story when my siblings and I were toddlers.

I have watched a few movie editions and dramas (Investiture of the Gods) and none really did the novel justice, until Creation of the Gods. This is one Chinese fantasy movie I will recommend highly for Chinese and non-Chinese alike. A word of warning though, if you are not exposed to Chinese Mythology you need to prepare yourself for a ride!

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I was awake all the time watching this spectacular film!

OK- we, Chinese kids, know how Gods were created from our mom or grandparents in our childhood in the absence of the internet.

Watching several C-dramas on the Creation of Gods recently made me slightly interested in this mythology. Fei Xiang's recent interview in a S'pore tv channel actually sparked my curiosity when he said he had to train his body to look like a soldier warror instead of looking like an accountant in the scenes where he was required to show his topless chest!

Yes, I was curious to see his 'six-pack' body so I decided to watch this film.

The production is awesome although I am not a CGI fan.

Acting wise: Naran as Dai Ji was well chosen by the casting director. Da Ji in this film is dark and frightening in every scene. I just didn't know what she was going to do next ie. killing someone for fun or roasting her victim to stimulate her sexual desires.

Fei Xiang as a tyrant King Zhou of the Shang Dynasty is quite good. I remembered him as a pop star in the 80s but I was never a fan because I was too little at the time. I was outraged to see King Zhou being blinded by Da Ji and his willingness to kill his only heir. And, when he asked the four sons of the lords of the Shang Dynasties to kill their own fathers, the tyrant was doomed to hell.

Yes, he does have a six-pack! For a 62-year old man, his enthusiasm to aim for that shape is very impressive. Hats off to you, Fei Xiang.

Ji Fa and his father. I love this father-son relationship. Ji Fa was very intelligent for saving his father's life by proposing that the father should repent his treacherous intent. His father lived for another day unlike the other three lords who died by either being killed by his own son or committed suicide.

The immortal, Jiang Zi Ya and the two gods. I love these characters especially Jiang Zi Ya and his decisive actions. Na Za and the other God are excellent fighters who constantly save JZY because the latter had lost his immortal power once he returned to the mortal land.

Other supporting casts are doing a great job too.

Overall, it's entertaining especially for those who enjoyed the Lord of the Rings, not GoT though.

Watch it as the entertainment value is good value for money.

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the fox...

It was a long movie but I didn't loose any minute of it. For sure it was easier for me to understand than for my companion who does not watch any eastern productions. It was beautiful. So much attention to detail, so much action yet great photos, and awesome moments of the Fox demoness, się was my favourite character, the ending was suprisely like a cut of actikn for me, really unexpected though the scenes were completed and it was a closure, and you better sit still till the end of the lines on your seat as you might miss of more to come. I did not know before that this will be a trilogy. I enjoyed it a lot. It was refreshing.

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Chinese equivalent of Game of Thrones

I must say that this is quite a good effort for such an epic show. Plot is based on a very famous ancient Chinese novel and this film tried their best to condense/summarize the story within the limited time they have. I did not read the novel and am only familiar with some of the characters (Nezha, Yang Jian) so some of the parts regarding the immortals and supernatural beings were a little confusing. The storyline involving the mortals was easier to follow and I'm guessing that the 2nd and 3rd movies would be focusing more on the immortals plotline. Acting and cast were excellent and they really embodied the role well. I'm glad that the director chose to feature newcomers and they really are a breath of fresh air compared to the usual Chinese idols that seem to be a permanent feature in wuxia/xianxia chinese dramas.

Only gripe is the CGI is still miles behind the standards of Marvel movies. But I must say that there has been vast improvement from previous movies. This movie is really worth watching if you're chinese and are familiar with The Investiture of the Gods. Western audiences may have a harder time following but that isn't to say that it isn't worth a watch. Possibly waiting till the rest of the movies are out may make for easier watching.

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Too bad comparing to the original story

The original story contained many great things. It was built upon a wonderful fictionary world of many events, which are connected with what we are seeing now in old books about Buddhism, or in many statues in the pagodas. It explains the true meaning of the scroll, and many hidden philosophies of the two parties: Jiang Zi Ya represents one party, and Shen Gong Bao represents the other one, and why they became oppositions, why many Buddhas have their animals to ride on (as we can see from many photos in the book or the temples or pagodas). The original story also mentions that a new Kingdom will be born and led by a new King. It is totally different in this movie: the new King will be the hair of the throne of the old one, who is a bad King (King Zhou of Shang / Di Xin).
It is too bad that the team could not keep the story as close as the original one. It turned out to be a very conventional story, nothing is special.
Maybe in the future, we will have a chance to see the original story in the movie(s) rather than a movie uses the characters and some events from another old book.
If you come to see a movie as someone who doesn't know about the original story, you might enjoy it because of the visual effects, actors, and music.
But for me, it is just a movie without a soul!

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Intriguing Story

This movie was quite enjoyable. There was some predictability in the storyline with some questionable moments that made me go “of course that would happen or wow what a shocker (sarcasm),” but overall I can understand the high praise for this movie.

The Good

It was filled with high action from beginning to end and the overall story moved at a fast pace so things never got boring. Although I’m not familiar with all of the Chinese lore, it was neat to see it portrayed in a large feature film centered around war. The overall acting was a highlight here as most of the cast did a pretty decent job. Overall production was good with attention to details from the costumes, settings, hair and makeup, etc. wasn’t low budget at all. I’m glad the run time was also a little longer to give time to actually tell the story without it feeling rushed or too incomplete for the first installment.

The Bad

Not much in the way of character and world building. Most of the movie was shot in 1 or 2 locations. Though there was a summarized backstory in the very beginning, would have like to see this go deeper and explain more of the war backstory and king’s backstory in more detail so we could connect more to the story and motivations. Again, as mentioned at the beginning, there was some predictability in the story that I wish would have been turned more into an interesting twist. The OST was okay but not very memorable.

I’d recommend a watch for this movie if you like high action and stories about Gods.

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I see.

This was ok?
The Shang dynasty setting is cool to see - human sacrifice, lots of bronze armor and swords.
It's surprisingly horny for a big mainland Chinese movie, though the lusty sex-coded characters are all bad guys, obviously.
There's literally a scene of a dance number that's a metaphor for people fucking, with a woman shown "climaxing" with her dress and long hair.
That said, for such a big production it's surprisingly ugly at times - both the CGI and the colour grade.
I also wished all the hostages, princes and other young male characters were better visually distinguished.
I had trouble telling them apart at times, because they are all fit young men and wear the same hair and uniform all the time.

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Finally, someone understands that fancy CGIs are pointless without a good story. This movie not only has a story, it has heart.

The heart, and the moral center, is the Western Duke Ji Chang. His kindness is shown, not told. His love for his sons, both estranged or adopted, will move you to tears. Li Xue Jian’s performance reminds me very much of Ian McKellen’s Gandalf. Although old and frail, he emanates warmth, wisdom, and a kind of quiet strength. The physical and mental abuse he suffers is beyond what most people can imagine, but he does not let it break him or waver his belief. I stay tuned just to watch Ji Chang survive it all and see the sun rise on his legacy.

Ji Chang’s foil is the very virile, very tyrannical King Zhou. This is a man so morally bankrupt that he would eat his own son if it gets him what he wants. Kris Phillips looks the part of a brute, with just enough charisma that you can see why a battalion of young men would admire him, even willing to die for him. His relationship with the fox demon Da Ji lends a whole new meaning to the term “animal magnetism.”

The younger actors are more than just bare-chested eye candy. Yu Shi and Chen Mu Chi are well cast in their roles as the sons of Ji Chang and King Zhou, respectively. You see something of their father in both men, yet each is still his own person. Assuming the movie follows the book, you’ll understand the poignancy of their friendship and how it will be sorely tested in the future. Yang Jian, one of my favorite characters, isn’t given much to do here and rightly so. I just wish they made him more of a badass warrior like he is in book. Ci Sha’s portrayal of Yang Jian, while cool, is a little tame.

Can the writing be improved upon? Absolutely. The book has a lot going on, making it extremely hard to adapt into a movie. The writers are right in trimming it down and focusing on a few plot lines. The end result is still in the spirit of the Fengshen Bang, placing kindness and compassion above blind loyalty to an unjust regime.

I'm looking forward to the next installation.

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First movie in a planned trilogy

The news that this series was a hut in China came on my feed a week before my Netflix notification of this movie's availability for viewing. Being that, I completed this first movie investment out of 3 planned to be released.

I like that China is sticking to it's own mythological background than merging or using western entities for their international releases. I noticed during opening credit that screenwriting guru James Schamus was the consultant for this film. That tells me the goal of Chinese producers to give it a way to be also adaptable to westerner viewers.

The CGI is comparable to any popular and blockbuster western films. The story was told in a good phase tho there was a point early in the movie that I was puzzled as to how that demon fox came about. Did I miss it during the beginning narration?

The variety of characters keeps viewers away from being bored. There's ghastly warlock, tyranical ruler, slapstick comedy, humor, action, fantasmic/sexy demon fox, witty and comedic gods, ugly but adorable demon, and so much more. Viewers will be slammed by the grandeur of production here.
The god squad that includes boy tyrant, Ne Zha (Yafan Wu) is enjoyable to watch and reminds me so much of the Monkey King character.

This has savagery, violence, slapstick humor, and fantasy.

Being partly exposed to Asian culture, I enjoyed this first movie investment. For anyone else with no concept of Asian mythology and culture, this may leave you scratching your head though there's a good chance you may be entertained.
The end credit allows a good peek at what is coming for the second investment of this trilogy. Giants are coming and surprisingly, the tyranical emperor brought back to life by the seductive demon fox.

I am looking forward to the second film.

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