L.O.R.D: Legend of Ravaging Dynasties

L.O.R.D. the movie is a pretty confusing situation. Whereas many stories in the action/fantasy category get tied down because of their lack of plot, L.O.R.D. has a great plot, but tells it poorly. There are actually a lot of things going for it, but in the end it's a bit of a muddled mess. For example, The acting was better than expected, especially with the amount of screen presence of Cheney Chen who I love to bits but has never been the strongest actor. The visuals are great (when the technology is working the way it should be). The general plot is interesting and creates a lot of room for character development and relationships.

The biggest issue is the way the story is told. There are many characters, and if you've read the books they are easy to identify, but if you haven't the movie will leave you confused about who hates who and why. The animation, though more advanced than most films, is really hard to watch sometimes, especially in the fight scenes. The English subtitles, are manageable but by no means palatable.

Despite all this I'm giving it at 7/10 because I did actually enjoy the movie as a reader of the books. I just feel bad for people who haven't.

Guo Jin Ming has muddled his books with sub-par direction and screen writing. If you've seen the movie and you like the premise of the story, I'd strongly recommend reading the book which you can find in English online. To find them translated you will probably have to look on fansites.