1The Beauty Saves the Hero 美女救英雄
Demon Force is the long-awaited second chapter in the Creation of the Gods trilogy. Compared to the first film, it’s a massive letdown. The heart of the disappointment? It strays wildly from the classic novel. The whole “Demon Force” (魔道争锋) arc is a made-up conflict that stuffs the screen with Hollywood-style cosmic battles at the expense of the original’s political scheming and philosophical depth.The story resumes with Ji Fa defending Xiqi against the Shang king’s demonic hordes. He’s thrown head-to-head against Deng Chanyu, a rising Shang general leading the siege. Mongolian actress Nashi brings her to life with exotic, whip-thin athleticism—she owns every frame, radiating lethal power and feminine fragility in the same breath. I actually cheered this update to the old tale: slipping a fierce, layered woman into the mix. No question, she’s the beauty who saves the hero 美女救英雄 and runs away with the movie.
Too bad director Wuershan seems so smitten with Deng Chanyu that everyone else—from Jiang Ziya to Yang Jian—gets shoved to the margins and practically forgotten. The real crime, though, is what they do to Ji Fa: dumbed down into a lovesick, reluctant hero drowning in self-doubt just to prop her up. Then, to rub salt in the wound, Yin Jiao gets turned into the genie from Aladdin. I swung between fury and helpless laughter at the sheer ridiculousness—and at the total waste of Chen Hailiang’s stunning good looks.
There are enough jaw-dropping (if slightly overcooked) battle set-pieces to keep it from being the worst fantasy flick out there. But it never touches Kingdom of Storms in storytelling. I did love Deng Chanyu’s arc—even if it has no business in the Fengshen trilogy. For me, that lands it at 7.5/10.
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1So Many Icons, So Little Story Progress
If someone asks, “Do we need to watch the first part before watching Creation of the Gods II: Demon Force?”The answer is: YES. 100%.
Personally, I have mixed feelings about the second part. Compared to the first one, the vibe is noticeably different. In part one, it felt super exciting to see all these iconic characters we’re familiar with gathered in one film with a solid storyline. Part two, on the other hand, is supposed to continue and develop the story and characters until the big climax but honestly I didn’t feel like there was much progress in the main plot. Maybe they’re saving it for part 3?
In the first movie, I really liked Ji Fa, Yin Jiao, Ne Zha, Jiang Ziya, Yang Jian and even Su Daji. But in the second movie, the one who absolutely stole the spotlight was Deng Chanyu! She’s such a girl crush. A total badass female general. She’s strong, confident, fearless... like, she actually feels like a general who’s been through war. Not like those so-called "female generals" in idol dramas who look more like pampered noble ladies (full-on peach makeup, innocent vibes) and we’re supposed to believe they’ve been through war as general just because they ride a horse in a general outfit. Deng Chanyu is what a real female general should look like. Most idol dramas should take a note!
Sadly, I feel like her potential wasn’t used to the fullest. The second half of the movie was kinda weak. The romance involving her felt forced. There was also a political subplot that could’ve been much better, but I won’t go into it because spoilers. Either way, I’ll let it slide because Nashi absolutely killed it as Deng Chanyu. Her charisma was unreal.
Now let’s talk about Yin Jiao. he’s BACK, guys! (as expected) And he’s seriously OP. The master (played by Chen Kun) even turned fully white-haired just to bring him back. But it feels like they toned him down on purpose. Like, he’s obviously super powerful and should’ve been a key player in the final battle because he is a new hidden card, but he’s held back, probably because he’s not the main character. Same thing with Ne Zha. His powers didn’t hit as hard this time. Surprisingly, Yang Jian, the Kunlun Immortal, ended up being more memorable than both Yin Jiao and Ne Zha during the final battle. Oh, and I gotta say the CGI for Yin Jiao is kinda cartoony. Sometimes it legit feels like he doesn’t even belong in the same movie lol.
And Ji Fa… well, he’s the main lead, so of course they made him the center of everything. But it kinda feels like the rest of the characters had to be nerfed just so he could shine. Like he got all the credit just because he’s the lead. Maybe that’s a writing or directing issue from the start. It should’ve felt like he was important effortlessly like his presence and actions naturally made him stand out, not just because we’re told, “Hey, he’s the main character.” If we have to remind ourselves that he’s the lead, then something’s off with how the story built him up. A good protagonist just commands attention without forcing it.
Overall, it’s still a fun and entertaining film especially if you’re into cool characters and big battle scenes. And I honestly can’t wait for Part 3.
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Huh, unexpected
For those who don't wanna read it all: not as bad as I would've thought. You can see it once and forget about it. I've seen some critics as to why this one is worse than the first part, but thats wrong and I'll talk about that too, at the end. People got super-hyped by the "cameos" of all the known characters (no matter how sht the story itself was) and now they are sad for different motives. Basically, they went from "oh, wow, I know this one. And this one. And this one!" to "wait, what? I don't know this story, it seems new. I don't like new..." :))After the sht-show that was Part 1, I wasn't expecting much. But its a lot better. Still not "good", but better. And I'll say this here, because I must say it again and again. I'll talk about the movie's quality, not the enjoyment factor. Those are NOT the same. You can enjoy bad media, and thats ok (aka "my guilty pleasure"). Just make sure you know it is bad.
So. Visuals. Meh. That weird filter is gone, but now its just passable. The colour palette is a bit better. The cinematography is a bit better. VFX are meh. So, basically, those 3 (ok, maybe a couple more) super amazing shots and effects from the first movie are gone, but now we get a lot more mid stuff. Don't get me wrong, still lot of sht/meh, but the ratio is a bit better. Oh, still here, the fight choreography is meh, still lots of dumb techniques and clearly wire-moves. Because I forgot to say that it was sht in my Part 1 review :))
Audio. Meh/decent. Definitely an upgrade. Because now there is one. Also a couple of decent songs.
World-building still sht. New characters appear and you must acknowledge them, no matter what their backstory is. Period. The pacing is a bit better. It feels like a proper story. The production value seems high, again.
And now the main stuff. The script is meh. A lot better, for sure, but it is meh. At least now a couple more stuff makes sense. Yes, still some plot devices, plot contrivances and plot holes, but fewer. Also, some plot points were predictable, you can see what they'll try to do from the first 10-20 minutes. The same for the ending. Being an Chinese movie, I was expecting it. But a very big surprise: there is character development. Yes, I was shocked. And they tried to do it for more than one character. Are they amazing, or even good? No, not really. But at least there is something to be working with. Basically, the story got a tiny bit better, the storytelling got a tiny bit better and some execution got a bit better. But is it good? Still, no. You could call it not boring. If you're watching it right after the Part 1 with and all that "all glitter, no substance" approach, its at least enjoyable. Yes, the Part 1 had 1 extra amazing acting and VFX, for the same one, but the rest was just fluff, whereas now we got a somewhat "decent", if you will, movie.
Lets talk about something for a minute. A lot of criticism is that this movie is not the same as the source. Well, I haven't read the source and I can't say, but: the source and the new format can't and shouldn't be the same. What works in a book, it might be difficult to render in animation. What works in animation, might look silly in live-action. Every format has its pro and cons. A good (I won't even say "great") storyteller (producer/director/screenwriter) should be capable of such feat.
And I'll give some examples for easier tracking. Tolkien, Lord of the Rings. The director (that also had a part in rewriting it) made some changes. Two chapters became an whole arc, the ending got axed, complete character make-over, and so on and so forth. Jurassic Parc. The movie is completely different than the movie, because the director used character development. You would've assumed that the visuals would've been the most important part, but the director understood that a great story must also make us care about its characters. Another example: any movie adaptation of books by Stephen King. It is known the the author hates at least one movie, said they changed his book. Guess what? He make a TV show, the way he wanted to, and it was sht. His way of writing is very difficult to put in a movie as is. Because as I said earlier, what works in a book, it might not be doable for a movie.
And back to this movie. Was a lot changed? I don't know, it could be. Does it matter? No, not really. Sure, a point could be made that if you're gonna change it that much and not resemble the original work, you could just NOT do it at all.
So, to wrap it up. It gets a rating of 5. Kinda meh all-over. Re-watching? No, not really? Enjoyment value? I don't think so. The "fans" will hate it because it was changed, the "normal" viewers won't care enough. So it really is up to you.
Have a lovely day.
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An everlasting spirit of breathtaking and fantastic adventure !
It's rare for the second film in a trilogy to be better than the first, but this is definitely the case here ! It's been a long time since we've had such a good Chinese movie.This second part was incredible : super action scenes, the acting was good, very creative directing, a great cast with a lovely chemistry. It was epic, highly entertaining, filled with splendor, glory and epic tragedy.
The direction is really nice and also very convincing. You can tell that the team behind this film was highly motivated and put a lot of effort, love, and rigor into depicting the story as best as possible. A boundless energy emanate from this movie. It really feels like a breathtaking tragic adventure !!
The aesthetics, sets, costumes, and landscapes are reminiscent of many classic fims from Hong Kong & China, which I really appreciated.
The writing succeeds in combining extremely serious and triggering subject matter but also very specific to tragedies (such as perfidy, the themes of justice and revenge, legacy, legitimacy, what is right, good or bad, love, desire, the occult, friendship, the group, self-esteem, jealousy, the question of beauty, strength, the extremes that can provoke power or the monopoly of power, courage, spirituality, the idea of duty etc.) with a lot of humor, and a truly wonderful and adventurous childlike spirit (in a good way).
Some acting perfs could've been far better, I wish we got more depth through the dialogues.
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