O Mistério do Gato Chinês

This movie presents one of the most adorable camera work you will ever see. Actings are also quite amazing. The cgi is acceptable too but could be better.

However, the story is not rich enough or has not been told properly. You can clearly see that the director is trying hard to keep you on the edge of your seat but there is no enough material to do so.

So, overall, it worth a shot but it's not the best.

If you like magic and ilusion in a interest fable in a ancient China you will enjoy this movie.

Seeing that this film is adapted from some Japanese series, I would like to say that I have not heard or seen this series so I watched this film without any expectations, not even having seen the trailer or poster before watching it.

To begin, at the beginning it seemed really interesting and the plot pointed to a deep involvement of the main characters, and seeing how it contains mystery, I expected there to be many mystifying encounters occurring TO the main characters. However, as surprised as I was, this is the first show I have seen that sidelines the main characters into simple narrators quite early on.

The plot is also kind of disconnected, with a few main plot lines just barely having any connection with each other. Regarding the genres listed for this movie, I would say it is 70% drama, 20% fantasy and 10% mystery, which is pretty amazing for how the movie was trying to develop. Well, it is only 10% mystery because the presentation in the movie is so obvious that I don't feel bewildered at all. It's like a roller coaster ride with a straight track likening a railway, barely any twists and turns and just totally boring. My friends and I were dozing off at times, one kept asking when the movie ends and the other wanted to leave 30 minutes before the movie ended.

There were some very beautiful scenes, which add points to this movie, however they were usually used for some scenes which do not progress the story much. Oh yes, there are quite a few scenes which felt like they could be removed and nothing else would be affected, also known as fillers.

Regarding the cast, I'm not sure it is just me but some of the acting and actors/actresses do not seem to fit into their roles that well, for example the monk, whose behaviour and facial expressions seem quite uninhibited for "a renowned monk".

After seeing a few stellar reviews, I am still confounded as to what makes this a great film. Sure, there were great graphics and a few twists here and there, but overall it felt more like a documentary. It felt like a history documentary instead of some suspense drama that keeps the watchers' interests going.

My overall verdict is that unless you like terribly straightforward movies that presents content to you straight up, it is much better to invest your time and money watching another show instead.

Chen Kaige shows a stunning artistic ambition in this Legend of Demon Cat. The story behind the mystery is simply beyond imagination, and the production design, costume, hair & makeup, music score and visual effects along the way are just impressive. This film is a spectacle about Chinese culture and history, and the way it presents them is unique and surprising. Besides the dazzling visuals, believable narratives and characters also help convince the audience that the unfolding fiction is real.

Legend of the Demon Cat is a colourful Sino-Japanese fantasy movie. It follows a former Chinese government official and poet who teams up with a Japanese monk to investigate strange events at court leading to injuries, illnesses and deaths. The dynamic youngster and the calm intellectual soon realize that all those events are related to a vengeful cat. They need to figure out the secret behind the mysterious animal in order to stop further catastrophes.

This movie convinces on several levels. The costumes are colourful and eye-catching. The locations look diversified and elegant. The two different lead characters complete each other in a balanced way. The first half of the movie sets a mysterious tone but also has solid pace.

Things get worse in the dragging and disjointed second half. The second hour mostly consists of lengthy flashbacks and the two intriguing main characters simply become listeners or spectators. The story also becomes more predictable and one would have hoped for a more spectacular outcome.

In the end, this movie should please to fans of colourful fantasy movies and those interested in traditional Asian culture. The mysterious parts of the story vanish in the second half, the dramatic elements become predictable and the crime elements are replaced by complicated flashbacks. It's regrettable that a movie that showed much promise in its first half changes so drastically in its second half. The director and scriptwriter tried to experiment and innovate but a fluid pace and clearer structure would have been the better options in this case.