[Movie Review] “Zhong Kui: Snow Girl and the Dark Crystal” is pure, simple entertainment

 

Zhong Kui (Chen Kun) and Snow Girl (Li Bingbing) meet. (Yahoo Singapore)
Zhong Kui (Chen Kun) and Snow Girl (Li Bingbing) meet. (Yahoo Singapore)

Should you watch this at weekend movie ticket prices? Yes.

Should you watch this at weekday movie ticket prices? Yes.

Secret ending? No.

Running time: 118 minutes (~2 hours)

“Zhong Kui: Snow Girl and the Dark Crystal” is a Chinese fantasy film about the adventures of the titular Zhong Kui as he gets involved with a mystical artifact called the Dark Crystal, which has the power to reshape the cosmos. It stars Chen Kun (Zhong Kui/Demon King), Li Bingbing (Snow Girl), Winston Chao (Zhang Daoxian), Zhong Ling (Yang Zishan), and Bao Beier (Du Ping). It is in Mandarin, with Chinese and English subtitles.

“Zhong Kui: Snow Girl and the Dark Crystal” is a rather entertaining Chinese film that blends a fairly Western style of graphics and special effects, with a traditional Chinese mythical story that regards the natural order of the universe as the priority of all living things. It’s not meant to be taken too seriously, what with the hammy lives and overacting, but it’s meant to be a fun adventure romp across heaven, earth, and hell.

Zhong Kui's rage.  (Yahoo Singapore)
Zhong Kui’s rage. (Yahoo Singapore)

Highlights

Entertaining special effects

A lot of effort was put into the special effects – and it shows. It’s a very ambitious undertaking, and on a very broad level it creates a fantasy world full of magic, grandeur and mystery. There’s no denying the amount of detail and work that went into generating the landscapes, monsters, and sparkling blasts that pepper the movie.

The twist in the tale

For what is ostensibly a straightforward narrative about good and evil, it has an unexpected twist that sits you up just as you think you’ve predicted what will happen next. It changes the whole tone of the show, and sets up enough conflict and tension to keep you intrigued throughout the movie.

A spectacularly larger than life Demon King

The Demon King’s arrival was met with loud reactions and surprising enthusiasm from the audience. The Demon King is one big ham, and considering the role is also played by the same actor who portrays Zhong Kui, it shows a surprisingly amount of versatility for Chen Kun. His on screen time may be short, but the Demon King is one of the most memorable characters in the film.

Zhang Daoxian (Winston Chao) and his servants. (Yahoo Singapore)
Zhang Daoxian (Winston Chao) and his servants. (Yahoo Singapore)

Letdowns

CGI movements are dated

There’s a lot of effort put into the CGI, but the problem is that the art direction comes from five years ago. It’s good CGI – for a 2009 computer game. This is not the fault of the animators, but rather by the director of the animated portions. As a result, you get stiff, jerky movements that feel awkward and uncomfortable.

Corny lines

Too much shouting and declarations of vengeance and anger make half of the dialogue a rehash of virtually every overdramatic Chinese movie. It gets the point across, but surely there could have been more effort in using less tired lines?

Anti-climatic ending

The movie builds towards an exciting confrontation, where the underdog hero faces the nigh invincible villain. Yet the actual fight is not as well animated, or even exciting as some of the other battles in the movie. It’s a hard letdown, because you’re not quite sure if the climax is over or if it was just an atrociously one-sided duel.

Snow Girl's arrival. (Yahoo Singapore)
Snow Girl’s arrival. (Yahoo Singapore)

“Zhong Kui: Snow Girl and the Dark Crystal” is, ultimately, a fantasy film created to bank on special effects to carry it through. While the effects are middling, the overall vision for the show is a sincere effort to entertain audiences for two hours. And with that in mind, the movie does succeed as pure, simple entertainment.

“Zhong Kui: Snow Girl and the Dark Crystal” opens in cinemas 12 March, 2015 (Thursday).

This review was also published on Yahoo Singapore.

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