Shang hai bao lei

I know China is home of great technology and literature. To make the jump to cinema should be a breeze, yet they keep churning up these terrible movies that start with exposition of what happened instead of showing us, with people doing all kinds of stupid things, with actors being really bad with mediocre CGI and music. French movie making with Chinese money! Make it happen.

The movie is a failure because it doesn't make you feel anything. The threat is an undefined alien ship that doesn't communicate, its technology never investigated and its weapon a cheap steal from Independence Day. The main characters have 1 big scene where they drink together and relate to each other as human beings, other than that they act like robots the entire movie. Why would you care? Everybody is doing their job and sacrificing themselves with calm or occasionally shouting a dead friend's name. An AI would have made a better movie.

Bottom line: I think they could have done a lot more with what they had.

I am disappointed with this movie. This was a big-budget movie with all the superstars. However, such a mediocre storyline and special effect, I thought I was watching a film from the Scifi channel!

Having watched Shanghai Fortress its hard not to see this rather mediocre film as political.

Its message seems to be China is leading the world and is at the same time, its saviour. If this sounds familiar, that's because the US has pushed the same message for years. Times are changing, that's for sure.

So putting aside politics how does this film stand up as entertainment. Certainly the special effects are well done and the pacing is mostly decent. Its does drag a little in the middle but not for too long.

The romantic interest between the young male lead and older female counterpart, seems a bit overcooked and absurd. As is the rather starchy and militaristic tone of the film, which reduces the key players to caricatures.

In shor,t this one's ok but you might find yourself rolling your eyes from time to time when you consider its rather simplistic overtones. 5/10.

A cross between the Chinese versions of 'Ender's Game' and 'Independence Day' which is probably better as a book as it seems to skip over a lot of stuff and the monologues would fit better. There's lots of dramatic music and inspiring scenes, but also lots of ham-fisted teen romance and a lackluster plot. The mix of Chinese and English voice acting is off-putting and although the military might and special effects are good (if a bit too CGI heavy), it's all too clean and family friendly. The plot is predictable and the characters are undeveloped, but the finale is pretty epic and exciting.

It's definitely not a 10/10 - those reviews must be Chinese people here just to support their country's endeavors.

As a kids film it's not too bad. Simplistic script and bland dialogue feels like it was written by children, and the music is sappy. The sound design is lacking and the sound mix is flat. There are very few moments of good acting. The CGI is not too bad.

What would help the story to bring it into adult-land would be a depiction of the wider global situation and more on the aliens intent, more artistic direction and of course a mature script.