So excited, just finished watching
I've been waiting to watch since the release date on 12/25/20, its worth the wait! I just loved it, great cast and awesome acting! All my favorite actors Deng Lun, Mark Chao, and Xu Kai Cheng all in one movie...I have watched alot of Mark Chaos movies and TV shows and Xu Kai Chengs TV shows before so I am familiar with them but Deng Lun is my all time favorite actor, I have watched almost all of his TV shows. I watched it with my 10 yr old son and we both enjoyed it very much...will be watching again and again!Was this review helpful to you?
Visually outstanding, great acting, excellent ost
I LOVE this movie.The story itself is well developed, the script is really good, the characters are interesting and the actors and actresses play their roles amazingly.
The best:
* The visuals of the movie are amazing. Some chinese movies tend to have less budget and is noticeable the good special effects on this one
* The music, perfect, for every moment there was a nice music on the background that matched the situation perfecly
* The story is not too complex but also not too simple. It has a nice plot development. Also, all the characters have their moments to shine
* Deng Luo and Mark Chao have excellent chemistry, the brotherhood on this one is really nice
The worst:
I don't really have any negative to say about the movie jajaja, I really loved it!
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I FELL IN LOVE WITH A MOVIE!
I really don't know where to start with my review...wow!!!!! I'll try to make it short...CGI , cinematography and fight scenes were flawless! 10/10
Story- I love the relationship development between the main leads, I'm surprised that the writer/director was able to fit in the "love/friendship" arc in 2 hrs time. The villains love arc was poignant and yet beautiful, I think we really can't call them villains but only people who wanted to spend their life with the people they love. You'll understand them and as much as you hate the process, in the end it'll break your heart as well. I actually was teary eyed after I saw the backstory.
For the ML's story arc, was beautifully executed. I really can't call it slow burn since it's just a 2 hrs movie, but it feels that way. Their fight scene were more of an "introduction", a process where they start to built their strong "friendship" (ahem love!). It is more of a teasing and testing their friendship. I love how they trust each other so much so that they are willing to sacrifice each other in the process. First movie that I fell in love with.
Acting/cast- I am a HUGE fan of both ML's, I've never doubted their acting prowess. They perfectly fit the role. Kuddos to the side characters/supporting casts as well, big or small part, as long as you did your best, you'll definitely shine. The movie as a whole was perfect not only because of the ML's but all characters who shone brightly in their own way.
Music- Okay, I watched the movie first and FELL head over heels with the ending song -Infatuation Tomb 痴情冢.
After watching I googled the song since I wanted to know who sing that song.... and yeah...
Traitorrrrr (it's me btw)!!!!!! OMGeeeee what abomination is this???? How can I not recognised Deng Lun's voice???
I think it's a crime to look gorgeous, can act and sing beautifully at the same time. I cannot with this guy!!! That said, I fell in love with Phoenix again.. *sigh* I'll be single forever!
Rewatched value- Need I say more? lol
Overall: Don't miss this movie just beacuse of some issues/scandal which happen 10+ years ago or you'll be missing something beautiful.
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The acting of the actors are undoubtedly. Each character is played very nicely and I was immersed in the story. I really like the bromance between Qing Ming and Boya, they are my favorites!
This movie has entered the list of my all time favorite movies.
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Good always triumphs!!
Two yin-yang masters need to deal with a dark conspiracy in the royal court after a serpent awakens.The solid plot combined with beautiful special effects, the acting of the two protagonists and intertwined mysteries make it a must watch production.Qing Ming,played by Mark Chao,is thoughtful,,calculative, attentive,stands for justice,and goes to any lengths to protect the world.
Together with Bo Ya, played by Deng Lun,they form and invincible team and bring peace to the world .
The step by step unfolding of the dark conspiracy,the special effects towards the end,the friendship between Qing Ming and Bo Ya make it a must watch Chinese movie.
All the actors gave their best and Mark Chao and Deng Lun really stole the show.
At the end,good always wins over evil.
I am really surprised and also impressed with this movie.Definitely it's a good and must watch.
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The One Great Love and Sacrifice
Wow what a combination of great performances, execution, story, stunning visual effects and production! This drama not only boasts an obviously high -budget production but it also delivered in every factor that mattered, It is difficult to find a great balance of everything nowadays, where one seem to excel in one thing, it glaringly lacks in another. But this movie was just stunning overall. It was ambitious but it never strayed further to compromise its storytelling. Everything complemented each other and this was boosted further by sincere performances by the leads, most notably Mark Chao and the Princess.Mark Chao seem to have this command on screen and side by side with Allen Deng, it just elevated the quality of the movie even more. His expressions, down to the tiniest ones, conveyed so much emotions that even when he was doing those hand signals, what might have looked ridiculous and taken away from the scene just integrated nicely with the whole experience because he did them so convincingly.
The whole story was about the good and bad, yin and yang and how this concept, which is not new, have played out in this one compels you to watch it and grabs your whole attention. More than the stunning visuals and Mark Chao's performance alongside Allen and Olivia Wang, the story had substance and direction was solid. I thought whilst watching this movie how great the novel it's been adapted from must be seeing this all play out on screen. This movie has really captured the essence of the story because as someone who didn't have prior knowledge of the novel, everything was easy to follow along and the concept and flow were all very logical.
I have seen a behind the scene of this prior to its release and what drew me the most in that video was how high-budget it seemed to be and of course the cast who are a few of the most well-known faces in the Chinese entertainment industry. But like with a lot of other productions with impressive budget and visual aesthetics, I had my reservations because many fail to put importance on the actual story. You can breathe a sigh of relief with this one because it really felt like the story was done with sincerity that it really radiated with it.
It's been so difficult to get into any show these days but this movie grabbed my attention from the get-go. I was captivated the whole time and I enjoyed the whole ride. Really happy I gave this a chance and I cannot wait to see Mark Chao in a fantasy drama again, hopefully in the near future!
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A Satisfying, High Quality Production with ABSOLUTELY NO Stress level
It's been a while since I wrote a review. When I saw this in MDL, I just dived into it, and oh boy, was it perfection!!! I have never seen such SSS quality CGI. The spells were mesmerizing. The concept of demons and guardians and their magics were very interesting. I was amazed when Boya transformed into the vermillion. I thought it would be irreversible so I want to know more about that. I was surprised when he came back to his original body. Anyway, I loved the show. I may be exaggerating, but that's exactly what I'm feeling right now. How I wished this could be made into a series, with both of our leads in place. I sure am a fan of Denglun, Mark, not so much. But these two had great dynamics and if they worked for a little longer, I think they will make a great duo.Anyway, the production was truly high-end and cinematography and camera angels were exceptional. This movie captured all my aesthetic desire in a film so I am immensely satisfied. Also, the story was light. There were really no bad villains here. They're sympathetic villains that everyone can or may relate to.
Verdict, LOVED IT! I wish for more!
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DON'T MISS THIS IF U R A BL/BROMANCE & WUXIA FAN
VISUALS, CINEMATOGRAPHY, CAST, PLOT, ACTIONS... everything was on point. Specially the BL VIBES. Most people are saying it's bromance but it's definitely screaming out loud that it's a censored BL. It's gives off the soul-mates vibe similar to the ones we got in Word of Honor, Killer & Healer, etc. I personally never felt like it was a brotherly bond. It was more of an enemies to lovers trope. And damn! The graphics are just soooo beautiful! The Chinese city shown is one of the best and most beautiful city I've seen to date. The plot was interesting. The villian was hot! And the MLs are top notch actors. Overall, it's a must watch. Don't miss it.Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
Dark action fantasy, has depth the more you watch
Wang Xiwen's acting is so good in here okay her crying scenes broke my heart.That aside this movie was something when it came out, I think it was the only one I've watched more than 5x in a row. I loved the mythology, the cinematography, and I'm frankly surprised it came from Edward Guo's hands since he's know for convoluted storylines but this one was clear and poignant throughout. I even joined a Discord server for the series and wrote stories for it after a while, it was just that addictive.
It has high rewatch value to me cause I picked up on details every time I went back and I'd recommend it to anyone, especially those who are a fan of bromance. Also Wang Duo is in it as a morally-gray villain again and he is sooooo good at those roles, you can watch just for him alone!
You can always trust Guo for his visuals so the overall style was dark, broody, and super stylistic + symbolic, he loves his blatant symbolism as well as his subtle hints so it's fun to catch details he slipped in on a rewatch. Music is dark and melancholy to match. I feel like a lot of his works have a subtle Japanese tinge to them so he really was the perfect director for this story based on Japanese onmyoji xD
The story was simple and straightforward but I liked the twist with the princess being the villain in the end and all the mini story arcs that wrapped up for each of the characters as they progressed. I also love the parallelism that Guo favors so much, fir st with Qing Ming listening to his master's farewells in the beginning of the movie and THEN how that elegantly segueways into his master bidding farewell to the princess that part was sooooo good it gave me sadness goosebumps.
Really sad Deng Lun got canceled in c-ent because I WANNA WATCH THE SEQUEL SO BAD DANGIT AND NOW IT'LL NEVER COME OUT...sobs have some leaked clips here I guess: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eEVaOqoE40M
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Highly recommended!
Being a huge fan of Mark (Eternal Love) and Allen (Ashes of Love) I was highly anticipating this film with them working together. Of course I watched this as soon as it came out on Netflix and I'm so happy it did not disappoint. I had confidence in the story because it is base on a Japanese novel Onmyōji and I was right. It flows well and has depth. Casting and acting are absolutely superb, not only in the main two leads but the other 3 support actor/actresses are excellent as well. I love the chemistry between Mark and Allen and both actors exude their own charisma on screen. You can also tell and appreciate how much work was put into costumes, sets, designs, and production. There are also intricate fight scenes I love which I had to slow motion and rewatch multiple times to fully appreciate. One negative is some CGI fight scenes, can cause a disconnect with audience and could be better executed. Overall it is a movie I very much enjoy and look forward to part 2.Was this review helpful to you?
Rolled a "Snake Eyes," & I'm not all that mad about it...
Full disclosure: I have somewhat of a love/hate relationship with Chinese [Fantasy] movies & dramas. I've enjoyed them (the visuals are to my vision what "umami" is to taste), but it's always been in spite of something, such as distracting voice overs, incomprehensible (to me) spiritual references, blatant sexism, etc. Also, I admit that I'm a basic, [Western] b*tch who loves a happy ending, & I can't think of more than 1 or 2 C-dramas I've seen that have scratched that itch. I do believe our definitions of what one is differ considerably.This movie, while not absolutely perfect (I still have an itch I can't seem to scratch), has come more close than any other show of Chinese origin I've ever watched. I really, really loved it! The story was compelling & easy to follow, the audio was well done, the cast was all *mwuah!* ...chef's kiss! I cared about the characters rather quickly so the development was there, & the visuals! Ahhhhh! Amazing! I honestly didn't want it to end. Where is a 75 episode-long saga when you want one, eh???
If somebody asks me for a Chinese-based recommendation, I finally have an answer that doesn't come with disclaimers, & I'm pretty happy about it!
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