Feng Shen 1: Zhaoge Feng Yun

It's a phenomenal movie, it revolves around the core of the prophase of the Chinese civilization--fatherhood and inheritance. The director has excellent taste in history and Chinese myth. Very clear storyline and character shaping, all of them correspond to the ancient Chinese value system, the kind intent to manipulate his sons equals he wants to dominate the whole regime, but he has the ambition to eliminate his ancestors to build his surmountable power which makes he be seemed as a villain in Chinese culture. The cinematography is top-notch, I am appealed to the whole time in the movie! Highly recommended, it's a stunning epical representation of the Shang Dynasty and Chinese myth!

Let's start with the pros. Some of the costumes, art, and casting in the movie are excellent. Fei Xiang's face has a very advanced sense of screen quality, Yang Jian's casting, styling, and action design are bright and eye-catching, Su Daji is more in line with personal aesthetics, and the fox's dynamic expression is very dynamic. Zhaoge and Xiji are each unified in terms of visual sensibility, color, and design language, and from an art perspective, the shaping of the worldview is successfully completed. Zhaoge and Xiji are unified in their visual senses, colors, and design language, and from an art perspective, the shaping of the film's worldview is successfully completed.

The biggest problem is that the script is too weak in literature and has too many contradictory points of logic. The whole movie is boring if you take away the art and special effects. The deaths of Empress Jiang and Bigan were awkward, and the deaths were meaningless.

The original novel was published 400 years ago and have too many memorable moments. So it is very unsuitable for movie use. Moreover, Chinese classical novels, especially this type of novels, (hua beng) do not have the sublimation of characters in modern Western novels, so they are not necessarily suitable for movies. So the director made simplifications and trade-offs here. Many familiar scenes have not been retained. The perspective of the movie is abandoned and the change of a character is the most important driving force for the movie. The visuals have improved a lot. It is already very good to have such a performance.

An absolutely needed movie for Chinese cinematography. Surprisingly edgy and mystical that makes one wonder how did it ever pass the "bar". Many scenes reminded me of the Red Wedding from Game of Thrones, and indeed as many lauded, this could very well be the Chinese version of GOT or Lord of the Rings. At the same time, the film has so many things that is so distinctly Chinese in terms of its value system and culture. No doubt, I hope the sequels gets the green light, as these films could really push our culture and stories forward to a larger stage. Only gripe is that there is still a sense of awkwardness in some of the acting, most specifically with the King. Nevertheless, it is still one of the greatest villains I've seen in a Chinese film and the casting of the younger actors are fantastic, finally some masculinity again!

As a Chinese-speaking expat in China and a movie enthusiast, I've had the opportunity to watch the majority of Chinese films released over the past decade since my move here. With a profound respect for Chinese culture, "Creations of the Gods: Kingdom of Storms" was truly the cherry on top for me. It breathed life into my Chinese mythology fantasies, all while maintaining a remarkable level of professionalism. This movie boasts exceptional quality, and I find myself consistently recommending it to those around me. Witnessing the industry progress to such lengths is nothing short of amazing!

This movie deserves a place in cinemas worldwide. I hope it will be appreciated by viewers around the globe.