Jiang Ziya

I was 24 minutes in, and I desperately started chanting "please don't be a disappointment!" I've seen far too many Chinese movies (and of all types) to quickly get my hopes up for something that isn't what I expect it to be. And when someone reviewed this with a 5 and said that the "setting was too grand" and failed to deliver.. To that person I say : Buddy, you've never seen an actual terrible chinese movie, have you?

I would put this above Disney's Raya and the Last Dragon.

This movie takes a blank canvas and paints a world with beautiful lore of Gods, Spirits and Secrets, leaving the mystical to remain an unexplained mystery, yet doesn't alienate anyone. Somethings are better left unexplained, specially the magical kind. And the same goes for the cultural background of the story! This seems to be loosely based on an old Chinese novel.. but it's simple enough that someone with a ready mind can digest without issues. Might be easier for me since I've played too many stories and immersed myself in a large amount of video games.

The plot is very straightforward, and is not dumbed down by silliness (stupid characters, annoying plots, waste of time, etc.). It wants to tell you a story, and it doesn't deviate from it. Very refreshing and interesting. I LOVED IT, specially the way it ended. I'd give it a 10, but no movie is perfect (even though I can't really complain about anything with this one, not for what it is).

Apparently it's the 2nd installment of the "Fengshen Cinematic Universe" (sequel to 2019's Ne Zha, which I'll try to find now). But still, you can watch this as a stand alone (as I did) and enjoy it all the same.. be it for it's beautiful use of colors, CGI models and animations.

Don't believe the negative reviews. Most are spoiled by Hollywood. We don't need blatant exposition dialogues and to be spoon fed every detail of the back story.

This one is better than Ne zha, more mature, more character driven. Definitely wouldn't think it's a kids movie. One of the most moving movies I've watched for a while. Left me kind of sad though, despite the comedic mid-credits scene. I wouldn't watch it to be uplifted.

Absolutely worth the watch and doesn't deserve a smaller score than Ne zha whatsoever.

I gave Ne Zha, the prequel to this, more stars, but the storyline at times was a bit confusing & lacked a clear explanation on some of the main characters from gods to mortals & other creatures (i..e. Roles & relations to one another). In other series I've seen about the nine tailed fox it has been portrayed as good; disappointed in its portrayal here.

Otherwise storytelling was intelligent, sardonic, humorous, poignant. English voicing, often shaky in Asian films, was quite modern Western & culturally appropriate. Above all, the animation quality was good lacking only in individualized detail, e.g. In animals/humans the hair, skin subtleties were missing as well as detail in background objects.

Maybe it's because I'm Chinese, I actually like this movie (actually, lots of Chinese doesn't). I guess you can enjoy it much better when you don't see this as a typical movie, but as an extension of the existing, very old legends of Jiang Zi Ya. I don't know if there are other similar cultures, but in China's loose, complicated fusion of mythology, the gods can be roughly divided into two groups - the ones that are high and mighty, which we build large temples to worship because we want to stay on their good side, and the lesser gods who we invite to our homes to guard and protect. The former is neither malice nor benevolent, while the latter cares deeply for us mortals because most of them started out as mortals themselves (historical figures with written acounts). Jiang Zi Ya is one of the lesser gods. He is also believed to be the head of all gods. Why the contradiction you ask? I can only suspect it's because he's on our side, he doesn't mind if we are small and insignificant and full of flaws. You don't need to learn any script or religious ritual to call upon him, you can be completely ordinary and he still cares. And most importantly, lesser gods can have limits, it's acceptable that they aren't perfect. In fact we prefer it this way because once they begin to see the "bigger picture" or the "greater good", it can only mean massive bloodshed among mortals. Anyway, that's the Jiang Zi Ya I grew up knowing. And this movie portrays it successfully. To write about the struggle of a powerful god is difficult, and this movie has only done a mediocre job. But I'm perfectly happy to see my beloved god readapted on the big screen.

This is China's attempt to set up a film universe like what Disney's done with Marvel. Last year we were introduced to Nezha, a popular character inspired by the 16th century Chinese classic novel "Feng Shen Yan Yi" (loosely translated as Investiture of the Gods). This year a quasi sequel to Nezha is brought to us in the form of another important character from the Investiture of the Gods universe - Jiang Ziya. Based on a real historical figure who helped overthrow the mad emperor of the Shang dynasty (King Zhou), Jiang Ziya is fictionalized here, yet true to the novel, as a deity-in-the-making who's already gifted with supernatural abilities and magical skills to help him rid the world of demonic beings.

Jiang Ziya is an intelligent take on the fictional tale from the Feng Shen fantastical universe. The movie remains somewhat loyal to the Feng Shen story in that it sets Jiang Ziya up as a divine celestial god from Heaven who was sent down to the mortal realm here on Earth to capture an evil fox spirit, Nine Tail, who possessed a young innocent but allegedly extremely beautiful maiden named Su Daji on the day she was heading off to become King Zhou's consort. Nine Tail and Daji shared an unbreakable bond (bound together by an ankle bracelet) since that fateful day as this pair of fox and human spirits became intertwined and destined to be together for eternity.

This film follows Jiang Ziya's journey to capture Nine Tail all the while attempting to release Daji from her unfortunate fate. Along the way, viewers are treated to beautiful rendering of colorful depictions of ancient China and cutesy character designs with top notch animations featuring fast paced kung fu fighting.

The storyline features elements and plots from the novel with added bonuses like the adorably cute heavenly fawn that acts like a puppy called Four Alike (whose Chinese name, "Si Bu Xiang", actually means the exact opposite - "Four Not Alike"). As in the novel, after the fall of the Shang dynasty, here too King Zhou is deified as a deity who manages the marriage affairs of mortals. And like the novel, the promise of deification to the nine tailed fox spirit for successfully completing her mission to seduce and overthrow King Zhou was not fulfilled as promised, thereby causing Nine Tail a lot of resentments and a desire for vengeance on the perpetrator.

I really enjoyed this film and that's maybe because I'm a big fan of "Investiture of the Gods". I find this much more enjoyable than last year's Nezha. I can't wait for it to release in 4k so that I can watch it again and certainly looking forward to next year's entry in this glorified Fengshen Cinematic Universe, "ErLang Shen" (God with Three Eyes). Until then, we still have the the live action version of this epic tale to look forward to (Director Wuershan's "Fengshen Trilogy")