Ju she chuang nu xiao

Initially I thought 'great, probably just another questionable Chinese creature feature' when I stumbled upon this 2022 movie titled "Ju She Chuang Nu Xiao" (aka "Rising Boas in a Girl's School"). But given my love of the Asian cinema and a life-long love of creature features, of course I had to watch what writer Xie Wen Jun had to offer.

Then there was the English title, I mean "Rising Boas in a Girl's School", well that just sounds like some kind of sleazy, lewd movie, now doesn't it? Was this seriously what they went with here? I hope it was meant as spoof and a joke.

The storyline in "Ju She Chuang Nu Xiao" is pretty straight forward, if actually not generic for a creature feature about deadly snakes. But it was actually adequately entertaining, so directors Xie Wen Jun and Guo Yu Long actually managed to deliver something worthwhile here.

Needless to say that I wasn't familiar with the cast ensemble in the movie. But the actors and actresses they had cast for the various characters and roles were doing good jobs.

Visually then I will say that "Ju She Chuang Nu Xiao" was actually okay. The special effects and CGI animated snakes were looking adequate, for the most parts. And that is rather important for a creature feature such as this. I just didn't really dig the fact that the snakes were able to screech and shriek.

"Ju She Chuang Nu Xiao" is worth a single viewing, but the movie's script and storyline just doesn't have the contents for more than just that first and only viewing.

My rating of "Ju She Chuang Nu Xiao" lands on a bland five out of ten stars.

This strangely titled film begins in a remote part of China where some sleazy corporate executives have devised a plan to feed various kinds of snakes a special new formula to stimulate growth in order to have more material once they skin them to make items such as handbags and shoes. What they don't count on, however, is one particular snake to grow to an enormous size and wreak havoc in the lab and--along with numerous other snakes--escape into the wilderness toward a college where female flight attendants are being trained. Now, rather than reveal any more, I will just say that this film managed to incorporate non-stop action and mediocre CGI to come up with what should have been a fairly entertaining movie experience. Where it failed, to a certain degree, was with some of the comedic elements, which simply weren't that funny. Likewise, other than a few of the main actors, it was difficult to identify most of the other characters because they were seldom addressed by name. In short, while this wasn't a bad movie necessarily, had more attention been devoted to the script, it could have been much better than it actually was, and I have rated it accordingly. Average.

Attending a special flight attendant college, a group of trainees staying there notice that a series of attacks by massive snakes have thrown their plans into chaos and must try to get to safety to stop the snakes which proves more difficult when their rivalries and jealous nature threaten everything.

This was a massively fun outing that has quite a lot to like. Among its better qualities are a standout storyline that allows for the film to revel in a solid series of storylines throughout here. The initial setup of the snakes escaping from the illegal harvesting factory where they're being treated with special chemicals to increase their size for the harvesting process that would turn them into fashion products and arriving at the training academy being in close proximity that allows them to invade and overrun the campus is a fine setup. The work done here to provide the kind of acceptable storyline for the constant carnage to come as the snakes seemingly interrupt the usual series of petty drama and clique-styled fighting to help get an idea of the characters in rapid succession with the main girl being bullied by the others for her compassion and generosity even at the expense of the training which makes for a solid overall starting point. With this established, the film scores unbelievably well with the snake action as the rampaging snake is let loose so early on it makes for some great scenes here. The escape from the harvesting lab is a spectacular rush of human-sized snakes swarming victims while the massive creature runs around the outskirts of the chaos swallowing others whole for a strong starting point. The ensuing chaos of the creature appearing at the graduation ceremony and sending the school into a panic almost immediately after with a series of high-energy scenes drawing the fleeing group being overwhelmed by both sizes as the snakes start taking out numerous victims throughout campus. Continually forcing the survivors into various parts of the school as they try to stay alive leading to fantastic encounters in the changing area, the freezer units, out in the parking lot, and other locations throughout the campus result in near non-stop action with plenty of creative sequences and high-quality effects. These overall cause the film to come off incredibly well although there are some slight drawbacks to the film. The main issue here is the rather irritating use of unnecessary character drama in the second half trying to impart some kind of tension in the group as they have to escape. Trying to build up some kind of rivalry between the main students at the school is fine, but to bring up the idea of class and superiority over each other while in the middle of an escape attempt from a giant snake that's been actively hunting and killing them throughout the campus is a moronic touch that doesn't feel realistic. Stopping the carnage to continually revert back to these petty arguments at this stage is a momentary momentum halting move that doesn't feel realistic or authentic in the situation either, and is the main factor holding this one down. Combined with some of the same silly CGI work usually found in these kinds of films, these overall are what hold this one down.

Rated Unrated/R: Violence, Language, suggested sexual activity, and violence-against-animals.