I have just watched Painted Skin 2 - The Resurrection yesterday. What a movie! I don't usually write reviews for movies (to much time-consuming), but to this movie I feel the urge to do that, because it is totally worth it.
Firstly, I would like to stress the fact that this kind of fantasy movie is not just for anyone. Being in a country closely related to China in terms of culture, custom, and even language, I feel sorry for viewers from Western countries as well as many others as it's impossible for them to understand the story well. The concept of demons under the skin of a beauty, seducing men for their hearts is not new, in fact, it's a fantasy tale that has been spread among Asia for thousands of years. Hence, the movie itself leaves a very mysterious and beautifully thrilling impression to people who are familiar to the tale.
Opening the movie is the scene of the fox demon being imprisoned under the deadly cold ice. Such was the demon's beauty that a demon bird was attracted, freeing her from the ice. Then her journey of devouring human's hearts began, with the aim of finding a human who would voluntarily offer his heart so that she can become a true human, which leads her to the fateful meeting with the strong on-the-outside-yet-weak-on-the-inside, disfigured Jing princess and her love interest - the damaged hero Huo Xin.
The CGI scenes, which might look badly done and painfully fake to a lot of people, is one of the important factors attracting me. Just let yourself be, forget the reality and get into that fantasy mysterious world. The characters are typical of what people look like at that time - long-haired tough soldiers, beauty with big attractive eyes, fair skin and hair so long that it can touch the floor, flying all over the places beautifully when the wind comes. The movie is totally a feast to the eyes. Stunning visual everywhere, from the landscape to the people.
And the most important thing that contribute to the success of the movie: the actors. Zhou Xun (the demon) is simply flawless. Whether it's her look, or her acting, it's simply perfect. Her role is definitely the highlight of the movie. Whatever she does, no one can hate her. I can feel the pain in her eyes, the sadness hiding behind the mask of a evil demon. That is what I call a true actress. But that doesn't mean Zhao Wei (the princess) did a bad job. She played her role very well. There's no room for complaint. The reason why I love Zhou Xun so much is probably because her character of the demon in the movie is kind of more complicated and interesting to me. Comparing with those 2 actresses, Chen Kun falls a little bit flat. His role is very well played, it's just ... flat. However to combine all the 3 we made a powerful trio, making the mission to conquer all the box offices in China possible.
The plot, although I have to say doesn't have much originality, is still interesting enough to keep my eyes on the screen. The movie is a heart-breaking love story, dealing with the issue of true beauty.
Although we all claim that the true beauty is what people possess inside, isn't it true that everybody is attracted to a beautiful face in some way?
