A Writer's Odyssey - Wächter der Zeit

A Writer's Odyssey is a Chinese fantasy movie that follows two distinct story lines that intertwine on several occasions. In the real world, there is a young and gifted author who is targeted to be assassinated by a desperate father whose daughter has been kidnapped by pitiless human traffickers. In the world of the author's epic novel, a young hero tries to overthrow tyrannical ruler Redmane who manipulates peoples into attacking one another while secretly establishing a reign of terror with his powerful army.

This movie convinces on many levels. First of all, both story lines are quite intense and make viewers root for the clumsy, innocent and naive author and his courageous, desperate and resilient assassin as well as for the agile, determined and intelligent hero and his young female companion who oozes with creativity, flexibility and wit. The movie features stunning special effects that add a gloomy touch to the real world and a magical element to the fantastic world. The action sequences deserve to be praised separately as the showdown in the real world at an old library and in the fantastic world in the court of a mysterious castle leave lasting positive impressions.

There are only a few minor elements that could have been improved to make a perfect movie out of a very good one. First and foremost, the film has a few lengths in the middle section that could have been cut for a more dynamic viewing experience. Lastly, some character development could have been a little bit better such as for the antagonist in the real world who doesn't leave a lasting impression.

At the end of the day, A Writer's Odyssey is a creative, entertaining and quirky fantasy movie that is certainly more captivating than the endless prequels, remakes and sequels involving the usual Hollywood superheroes and supervillains. This movie deserves attention and acclaim and should have gotten a world-wide cinematic release if it had not been for the inconveniences of the ongoing pandemic. Make sure to watch this film on a legal streaming platform or to purchase it physically in store to support truly imaginative fantasy cinema.

Watched it based on the trailer which looked interesting. The subtitles made for a few head scratching moments, and the first 20-30 minutes you may not be able to figure out what's happening but eventually the movie settles in and its a very good movie. I took 5 friends who never watch foreign movies and they really enjoyed themselves. All of them said they would have never picked the movie on their own but were glad they saw it. The theater was empty except for us, we go see at least one movie a week and this was a unique experience that is very different than most Hollywood stuff. Think if it as Pan's Labyrinth meets Lord of the Rings meets John Wick.

Recommended.

Must be honest, the CGI in this movie is awesome, the effect looks natural, sometimes overused but in general it's still very well-made.

The story seems interesting but still has many illogical moments, the acting is good. Overall this movie deserves more points than it's currently is. Quality product.

It was a lot of fun, watching this movie!

I can recommand it!

Visuals are crazy! Liked it very much, also the music, the acting and the general story.

What was not so good?

A little bit illogical and seemed a bit flat in the end, but that's okay!

General recommandation!

I managed to grab a viewing of this as the storyline seemed interesting that a writer could be able to influence the real world and potentially have links to the story world that was created.

There is much that can be commended, which is mostly the creativity and work that had gone into set design and costumes in the story world along with the soundtrack by Jed Kurzel, with clearly significant work done to make each area stand out. There are clear highlights of creativity that definitely show that what China is capable of producing is on par with USA.

Unfortunately, the entire movie is let down with its storyline, which apparently had 4 screenwriters. Interesting elements are brought up and then dropped or never adequately explained, characters seem fairly bland and one dimensional with occasional hints of depth that is not able to be fully explored. I would say this is from trying to fit two linked stories into one movie, which naturally limits screen time for both.

The inevitable final boss fight is the prevalent over-the-top CGI that Chinese movies appear to be going for nowadays; ultimately good looking but the over reliance of CGI and length means as an audience you become disconnected from what's going on in the real world.

Some attempts are made to link things through in the denouement of the film however at this point with so many open ended plot elements it is difficult to know where to go from there.

I think perhaps if more time was spent world building and exploring the writer's abilities and expanding on this in a second movie or a trilogy by reducing the scale of the plot for this initial instalment it would have worked better overall.