Animal World

Animal World is the Chinese adaptation of the Japanese film Kaiji Ultimate Gambler.

The effects in this film are extremely good. It's used in a way which highlights impact moments and helps the film explain its logic based obstacles. Not everyone will be able to follow the logic unfortunately. The film does it's best to explain to the audience but does not slow down. My partner who is a native mandarin speaker said she got lost at times, so it wasn't really the language that was the problem. I really enjoyed the puzzle / riddle type thinking exercises the movie places in front of you.

The characters aren't built up or developed and lack substance. The film isn't focused on that. It uses that as a background to set the stage for the main part of the film. Once it starts though, the film managed to me engaged and excited looking forward to what happens next. Through clever use of special effects and camera work, you get to enjoy some well executed cinematography.

I would actually recommend this to some of my family and friends who I know enjoy these kinds of films. I would watch it again once it comes out on my devices.

In conclusion, those who enjoy fast paced, straight into the action that requires a bit of thinking will enjoy this movie. It was definitely executed well for the type of movie it is trying to be. 7 / 10

Truly one of the most insane things I've ever seen. If you love rock paper scissors, Michael Douglas phoning it in, and random CGI monster violence that serves nearly no purpose to the plot, this is the movie for you! In all seriousness, this does feel like a movie attempting to cater to perhaps the widest swath of film watcher demos I've ever seen: action junkies, weirdo gore heads, car chase aficionados, romcom fans, mathy puzzle junkies, anime kids, CGI freaks; certainly there's some Venn diagram crossover but to stuff it all in? INSANE. That the movie is pretty damn enjoyable on the whole feels like a minor miracle, but here we are. I liked it! When the pretty clever ending setup a direct sequel? I was excited! Look, life is kinda crazy. Sometimes you don't want a deep, contemplative work of art. Sometimes you just wanna watch a little 'Surviving the Game' style roshambo and enjoy the ride.

First of all, "gambling for life" is not anything new. We've seen the idea development in many movies and books already. There were all kinds of such games: walking day and knight, card games, labyrinths, TV shows, computer games... Even the extra-dimensional space sliced into cubic rooms (you know what I am hinting at!) So you can hardly be surprised or entertained by yet another kind of a game where stakes are so high.

And you can hardly say that you couldn't guess what would be the plot in general. Really, you can roughly outline it since the very beginning.

Yet, this movie is really good! And what makes it good is how story writers turned a very simple kind of game into a very deep and complex human interaction. How the gaming process melts into background to highlight all the complex things that happen between characters downstage. How the plot twists are really powered by human passions, not just gaming activities. And this is really cool! This is where really good movie making begins!

I won't say this is the best film of the year, but it is definitely good, and entertaining, and also quite beautiful (even with all the surrealistic ugly monsters that appear on-screen). Unexpectedly "western" kind of movie for China, too. See it! It's fun!

Im not gonna lie, when I first saw the trailer I was excited to see the movie, then I had the chance and it was not even close to what I expected. But at the end it was a really good movie. No regrets

It reminded me a bit Sucker Punch, the protagonist dissociation create a parallel universe. Very worth to watch it.