Visually pleasing
Visually pleasing and colorful. Really feels like a fantasy movie with the animals although the ferrets remind me of Rocket (raccoon) in Guardians of the Galaxy.There wasn't much story, just more of an internal struggle of Qingming between good or evil but I liked the sad ending. Like the other version, the villain was predictable, but the giant creepy hand looked funny as opposed to scary and reminded me of Thing in Addams Family. The red hair and his posing also looked unnatural and not really menacing. I also wasn't sold with the romance (?) friendship (?) whatever it is between Qing Ming and Bai Ni.
The supporting characters felt more like fillers and were just there because they need Qingming to have some allies. Their stories didn't have much depth. Boya was way younger than what I was expecting, and didn't have much bromance with Qingming. Instead he matched more with Shen Le, who was a supporting character. She was cute but wasn't interesting enough. The red evil was so cute though and the fight scene was between him and Boya was fun!
Overall, this movie felt like a mishmash of different films. It could have been better if the movie was shorter and had more interesting characters that we want to root for, but overall it was enjoyable.
Rating: 8/10
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Predictable but Pretty
The CGI and artistry of this movie was beautiful but the build-up and reasoning behind the villain's actions were completely lost.The villain did not have a compelling or relatable backstory and he was portrayed as completely evil without a thread of humanity, which doesn't draw any sympathy or connection with the audience. The triumph against evil was at a great cost that didn't justify anything. They try to portray the main character as the one in the wrong at the beginning, but the audience can immediately tell he was framed and misunderstood. There's no reason for him to be the one to have to fix everything. The supporting side characters were all there just to help fight a little and take up time. The other side characters were there to show humanity's ignorance and contrast with the main character and also didn't do much. If you took out everyone except the main character, his teacher and the villain, the story would still move forward. The whole plot was very predictable. that is not to say the acting was bad, just the storyline wasn't well developed.
The female lead's role was very weak. She doesn't get to show her skills much and is pretty much gone for most of the group action scenes. The second couple had more screen time than she did! She's there purely as a romantic interest and to shed some tears, which Zhou Xun is very good at, but it's still boring.
Overall, because of the poor build-up and character development, the ending wasn't satisfying either. I would recommend a one-time watch because the production is high value but the story doesn't evoke a need for a second watch.
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This review may contain spoilers
Roller Coaster Yin Yang Master
Yin Yang Master (Chen Kun) was a bizarre story. Monsters meets Star Wars meets Lord of the Rings meets Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles meets the Scorpion King meets Thing from Adams Family. The BGM sounded very Japanese, and no wonder. The composer is Shigeru Umebayashi. The creators had one hell of an imagination. Final message indicates that a sequel is in the plans. I hope the cast, including the CGI guardian characters, returns. William Chan's Claw Cimu will not make the cut. His incomplete antlers was funny. The Monster Snake was Sauron/Smaug.Excellent acting by Chen Kun, Qu Chu Xiao and Shen Yue. I did not recognize Cici Wang (from Tientsin Mystic).
I gave it a 7.5 overall rating because I found my anxiety level was rising throughout the movie. Having seen the original Onmyoji movies with Nomura Mansai and Ito Hideaki, I have to admit that the SFX budget on this movie was astronomical, compared to the Japanese movies.
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My two favorite guys; Chen Kun and Shaw Qu Chu Xiao (not William Chan)
Another version of Ying Yang Master played by Chen Kun and Shaw Qu, these two actors has different personalities that carry their screen characters alive. Chen Kun has strong, charismatic, firm, teasing personality while young Shaw Qu has style distinctive moves, youth freshness, compatible with veteran actors like Chen Kun, Zhao Xun, and William Chan. Bo Ya ( Shaw Qu) was ousted by Qing Ming (Chen Kun) and looking for him to restore his name and reputation. Like the other version, this one has weird creatures that got us scratch our head, but it's expected, but I like this version as much as Mark Chao and Deng Lun's one.Was this review helpful to you?
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Une nouvelle aventure pour le duo " Qing Ming & Bo Ya"
Ayant regardé il y a 2 mois le film « The Yin-Yang Master: Dream of Eternity », j’ai été attirée par ce film se passant dans le même contexte et avec le même duo de héros. (Même si les acteurs ne sont pas les mêmes)Bref introduction au film : Nous nous retrouvons dans un monde où monstres & humains ont su coexistés jusqu’au jour où le roi des monstres tenta de détruire l’équilibre. Ce dernier fût tué par les Maîtres Yin Yang mais son énergie et son esprit ne purent être anéantis et se matérialisèrent sous la forme d’une « Pierre à écaille ». Bien des années plus tard, celui-ci bien décidé à se libérer en possédant un nouveau corps, commence à manipuler un jeune Maître Yin Yang souhaitant devenir plus puissant…
L'histoire de ce film diffère fortement de celui de « Dream of Eternity ». Ici nous retrouvons Qing Ming comme un jeune Maitre Yin Yang en fuite suite à un massacre dans le bureau du Yin Yang. Ce dernier est à moitié « monstre », de ce fait, il est craint par ses pairs et ne s’intègre pas, il trouvera cependant sa place dans le pays des monstres.
Nous suivons son périple afin d’anéantir la « Pierre à écaille » cependant la finalité n’est pas celle attendue…
Questions sans réponses :
• Puisque Qing Ming est à moitié monstre comment a-t-il fini au bureau Yin Yang ?
• Que devient Qing Ming après son pacte avec le roi des monstres ? Arrivera-t-il à le gérer ?
• Quelles sont les origines de Bo Ya ? (Étant donné qu’ici il est garde royale & dans l’autre film un maître Yin Yang…)
• …
L’histoire bien que tragique ne m’a pas réellement émue… Je pense que j’avais trop d’attente ayant fort aimé la première adaptation :/ ! De plus, ce film m’a donné un sentiment d’inachevé… Oui, Ci Mu a été tué… Mais il n’était pas réellement « le méchant » de l’histoire puisqu’il s’agit du roi des monstres qui est à présent devenu le familier de Qing Ming… Je suis donc assez mitigée…
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Muy entretenida
Mira que a mí este tipo de películas no me hace mucha gracia, pero la verdad, es que al final me enganchó.La historia no está mal, pero lo que realmente y a mi juicio, le ha puesto la guinda a la película, son los personajes de Boya y Senle, sobre todo ésta última. Junto con el monstruo rojo, le dan el punto dramático, gracioso y romántico, que le faltaba.
Los demás personajes estaban muy acorde a sus papeles, sobre todo la del maestro.
Lugares preciosos, acorde a lo que se suele ver en estas películas.
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Fantastyczne wykonanie
Naprawdę nie mogłam przestać zachwycać się tym jak wyglądały te potwory. Ich animacja, to jak bardzo realnie wyglądały przy aktorach -twórcy naprawdę się postarali.Ten film był pierwszą chińską produkcją, którą obejrzałam i muszę przyznać, że jestem pozytywnie zaskoczona. Sama fabuła mnie nie powaliła, ale podobało mi się aktorstwo, to ile fantastyki w tym było, jak magicznie wyglądał ten świat. Sama relacja głównych bohaterów mnie zauroczyła. Chociaż jedna z kobiet troszkę mnie irytowała, ale nie wpłynęło to na mój odbiór całości. Wątek miłosny był czymś ledwie wplecionym w fabułę, co wyjątkowo również uważam za plus. Główna linia fabukarna nie została przez to potraktowana po macoszemu.
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