What a movie to start off the New Year with! Continuing the first movie's box office success and technological breakthroughs, Creation of Gods II returns with more VFX shots than the total amount of shots in the previous. Whether the flock of dragons at the Kunlun Mountain, the paralyzing light beams afloat moonless sky, or the mythical gadgets of deities and giants, the film does not fail to entertain with its cinematic interpretation of classical figures, warfare, and anecdotes. The climactic battle of the "ten deadly formation" greatly balances quests of individual characters with the story's progression and involves numerous ancient tactics of war by Sun Tzu, such as sowing dissension, sowing discord, extraction, espionage, and assassination. All the meantime, director Wuershan is able to maintain quality narrative and aesthetic control of the coloring, lighting, costume, production design, and music accompaniment.
Performance wise, everyone except the two young protagonists from last film is terrific. Huang Bo, Kris Phillips, and Hsing-Kuo Wu --- all reputable actors and obvious carriers of their parts. Nashi's General Deng Chanyu veritably surprised me: a fierce warrior bound to war and honor who gradually reveals her capacity to love, compassion, and dancing by the fire. Even trivial side characters with less than minutes of screen time shine in their sequences.
The pacing of the movie's first half and some of the CGI (the blue giant) could definitely be improved, but overall a laudable success for a commercial film.
