Qing dian da sheng

Lovely sets,spectacular action choreography and costumes

I sat down in 2022 to watch the 2005 Chinese action comedy "Qing Dian Da Sheng" (aka "A Chinese Tall Tale") for the second time since first watching it back in 2005. I only remembered the movie by its title and movie's cover. Oddly enough I had entirely forgotten the contents of the movie.

But with good reason, because writer and director Jeffrey Lau delivered a massive dung heap of a movie here with "Qing Dian Da Sheng". The entire storyline was just one random scene after another put together in what assimilated being a storyline and faked coherency. I was seriously looking for a sign of a red thread as this movie trotted on for 106 minutes. Trust me, this movie feels and looks like a collection of random ideas and concepts put to the screen.

And as if a lack of an actual storyline or any sense of coherency wasn't enough, then the CGI effects in "Qing Dian Da Sheng" have aged like stale wine. The visual effects are pretty horrible to look at. And even by 2005's standards, the effects were something from a computer game in the early 2000s. It wasn't great then, and it sure isn't great now.

I will say that the props and costume departments that worked on "Qing Dian Da Sheng" definitely managed to deliver something worthwhile amidst the heap of rubbish that is the rest of the movie.

The movie is starring Nicholas Tse and Charlene Choi in the two leading roles, and I wonder how proud they are of this particular accomplishment.

If you enjoy Chinese folk tale movies, then do yourself a favor and stay well clear of the 2005 movie "Qing Dian Da Sheng".

My rating of "Qing Dian Da Sheng" lands on a very generous three out of ten stars.

If the description:

...then the angel flew into the tree demon's mouth, and her golden staff turned into a gatling gun wielding robot which proceeded to shoot down the evil demon birds...

sounds intriguing, then this is a movie for you!

This CGI infused tale travels between the realms of fantasy and science fiction with a very confusing, but ultimately enjoyable result. The plot follows the exploits of a young monk traveling with an ugly demon, and the love that blossoms between them. Their quest to rescue one of the monk's companions takes them from earth to heaven through time and space.

The story is fairly confusing, mainly due to the ever stranger plot twists, so its best just to sit back and watch without trying to make too much sense of things. The movie relies heavily on CGI effects, but no more than the Matrix or Star Wars movies. The two leads are likable, and they encounter many interesting characters along their journey. There are a few tongue in cheek moments, but thankfully the characters don't interact with their audience.

Make no mistake, this movie is often very weird, and goes beyond the realm of 'serious' fantasy movies, but it stays away from being too silly, making it a pretty enjoyable experience.

The one line review of this movie is silly and confusing.

This movie has romance, action, fantasy and comedy but seriously misses good storyline.

Acting is over the top and sometimes irritates you and so as CGI.

A silly confusing boring movie.

are you crazy or what? this movie has talent who are you to criticize a movie that was made by famous directors and producers? i mean you must be watching some crappy version because if you had a proper version you wouldn't think its some low resolution game graphics..

this movie is for people who enjoy hongkong cinema the other side to what Asian people enjoy watching.. you are such a sellout.. hongkong cinema is totally different to that of Hollywood, hk cinema is in a class of its own...

so if you don't enjoy watching movies from hongkong producers don't go and ramble on about how its a waste of time to watch.. just let other people enjoy the movie..

and personally I've seen this movie and i love its story and the way it was made..