Yun nan chong gu

I enjoyed the 2016 "Mojin: The Lost Legend", so of course I sat down to watch the 2018 movie "Mojin: Valley of the Worms" here in 2021 when I was presented with the opportunity to do so.

However, I must say that this 2018 movie is a step back for the franchise. Whereas the 2016 movie was driven by a proper story and felt like a thrilling adventure, this 2018 movie is just an empty shall of a movie presented by pretty CGI visuals.

The storyline in "Yun nan chong gu" (aka "Mojin: Valley of the Worms") felt like it was written on a short flight somewhere. There was little contents to the storyline, except for a constant outrunning and battling CGI creatures. So if you sit down to watch "Mojin: Valley of the Worms" hoping you're in for a thrilling adventure, you might want to skip on this movie.

As for the characters in the movie, well they felt like cardboard cut-outs really, as they did little more than either try to outrun or fight CGI creatures. So you are not in for a whole lot of character development or interactions here.

Director Xing Fei just didn't really manage to deliver a movie that felt up to par with the 2016 movie in any ways. Sure, "Mojin: Valley of the Worms" was watchable, but this is essentially just a movie where you lean back in the chair, turn off your brain, munch on the popcorn and just enjoy the pretty CGI effects.

"Mojin: Valley of the Worms" was a disappointment, and it is hardly a movie that I will ever watch again, as there was just too little contents to the storyline to support more than a single viewing.

My rating of the 2018 movie "Mojin: Valley of the Worms" lands on a very lukewarm and mediocre five out of ten stars.

Other than the CGI that I can give credit to, the acting was so childish and their "heroic" actions were so dumb. All they know is to say "run" when they wake the monsters. Facing the monsters, they got the brilliant mind to use a regular rope to stop the monsters. When they were running away from the giant crocodiles, one of them used a bow and arrows to fight back. When they were facing any challenges, the team would unconsciously stand together in a straight line for the camera shot. Watching this movie made me feel like it was made for seven years old kids. Strongly suggest MPA film ratings should create a new category called NC-7: No One 7 and above admitted. Clearly children. Adults are not admitted.

If you're looking for action / adventure, this movie has it. Don't go in expecting much more. The plot is thin, the storyline consists of run run hide run some more stab run shoot a bow and never run out of arrows run run run hide run hide run more jump... well, that's the story.

The ending is especially disappointing as it just hangs the audience in mid air and leaves them there, as if we're supposed to magically know what the director is thinking. Is this a cliff hanger to a third movie? Did they succeed or fail in their quest? The writers never clue the audience in on what's going on.

The CGI in this was superb. The sets, the monsters, etc, are all up to snuff-- as one would expect in any 2018 movie worth its salt. However the characters are 2-D, the plot resolution non-existent, the movie ultimately disappointing. I'm being generous in giving it a mediocre 5 stars... and that's based on CGI alone (as well as some pleasant music in a few places).

There's just no excuse for sloppy, lazy writing. If ya don't have a good script, don't make the movie.

Mojin: The Worm Valley is great for those viewing audiences whom loved Hollywood 's 80s Raiders of the Lost Ark to 1990s Jurassic Park/ Tomb Raider films. Yes, there is a lot of CGI effects, but it's to be expected with this genre and quality of entertainment.

This film is a follow-up sequel to the successful 2015 Mojin: The Lost Legend. Yes, this follow-up doesn't top the first film, but it still delivers a great adventure. This film like the first one is based on Zhang Muye's best-selling book series, Ghost Blows Out the Light.

Its director Fei Xing uses CGI action sequences with inventive creatures that reveled Ray Harryhausen's Jason and Agronauts films. The CGI works rather well, with a good musical score.

The cast includes Xai Heng as Hu Bayi, Gu Xuan as Shirley Yang and Cheng Taishen as Professor Sun as they chased to Tomb of Emperor Xian. It was probably better to see this film in 3D and to view the first Mojin film prior to seeing this follow-up.

This is a typical Chinese action-fantasy movie. It has excellent visuals and special effects, but only mediocre acting, some awkward jokes, and of course the inevitable budding romances that never seem to go beyond a quick, unnatural kiss. What always strikes me in films like this is how the heroic warriors can slay dragons, giant monsters, and otherworldly creatures without breaking a sweat-yet they act like 10-year-olds around women. And the guy in S-sized clothes somehow ends up with the nickname 'Fatty.' I suppose that's just a cultural difference.

At times, the film felt like an Indiana Jones or Lara Croft adventure, packed with fast-paced action, survival moments, and fights. At other times, it resembled a platformer video game, with characters fleeing from monsters, leaping across platforms, and solving puzzles. The journey takes place in a lost and inaccessible world that strongly reminded me of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's classic The Lost World. We get prehistoric animals, rivers and streams, jungles, remnants of an ancient civilization, and more.

I haven't seen the previous Mojin film, so I can't say if this is a direct sequel or a standalone installment. Either way, the story was easy to follow, and I never felt like I was missing essential background. That said, the cliffhanger ending suggests there may be more to come. If so, I'll be glad to watch the sequel.