Chroniques du Royaume des Esprits

It's interesting to watch foreign movies that attempt to compete with Hollywood blockbusters, because sometimes you can find some entertaining movies that do things differently while being entertaining. However, there are definitely times when these foreign films can be as bad as the worst to come from Hollywood, and "Chronicles of the Ghostly Tribe" is one such movie. I didn't have a problem with the Chinese propaganda (every national cinema has films that trumpet their culture). And even though the special effects were kind of erratic, I didn't really have a problem with them as well.

However, I did have a big problem with the script. The first fifteen minutes are pretty coherent, but after that point, the movie becomes extremely muddled. There are a ton of unanswered questions and mysterious plot developments. Some of these head-scratching moments are eventually answered (kind of), but new murky touches come up to take their place. I don't know if the confusion was due to translation problems, a necessity to know Chinese culture well, or simply bad writing... though I suspect the third possible explanation is the answer.

The movie is well shot, fairly fast-paced despite its length, and it never gets to the point of being boring. But with such a muddled narrative, it's hard to care for the characters or what is happening. As a result, the movie is very unsatisfying. I would be willing to see these filmmakers do another movie, but only as long as they were working with a much better script.

Well now, this was rather interesting - almost like a cross between Indiana Jones and Journey to the center of the Earth (not that I enjoyed the latter). Although the visual effects are not award-winning, they were rather well done and added significantly to a thoroughly enjoyable action adventure. Some effects - like the attack of the demon beasts in the desolate town - were incredibly good. I enjoyed the fact that they did not add cheesy humor as most Hollywood films of this genre do, and the love interest was subtle and not overbearing. The music was great, too. This is just plain good old-fashioned fun with great modern effects.

The film starts well but slows down during the middle act. Also it moves between flashbacks which may confuse some viewers. The effects of the creatures and action were good but most of the things were offscreen n the kills were mild. Mayb the makers were happy with pg13. I have been a lil generous with a 7 cos of the creature effects n Yao Chen's luscious lips.

1979 in a distant area near Mongolia, huge monster skulls are discovered. The exploration team finds a way to the ghost temple, where dangerous beings can get through a portal. Not only the big "hell hounds", but also the tiny "fire bats", whose mere touch burns human beings to ashes. Hu Bayi (Mark Chao) survives and reads occult literature to understand better what has happened to the team. The movie continues with the second expedition probably in 1988, not "present day" as many reviewers wrote mistakenly, because we see a 1985 calendar and then get a subtitle '3 years later'. Also Hu Bayi is not an old man yet. Anyhow, he meets his lost love Ping, who now calls herself Shirley and pretends not to know him. The second expedition takes them to a destroyed desert town, and then the monsters reappear. What will happen when the portal gets opened again?

This fantasy movie is a bit complicated, not telling the events chronologically, but jumping between 1979, 1985 and 1988 (?). It's not too easy on the audience, but it's worth paying attention. The 3D effects work well, especially in the cave scenes when you really feel you can look down into the depths. I'm not entirely satisfied with the monsters, as the jumps don't look real. For the weight they must have, they jump much too high, looks a bit like rubber balls. Anyhow, the story satisfies, and the effects are still pretty good apart from minor grudges.

This movie is a prime example on how a few good individual parts alone can't make a great movie. It has arguably one of the better animations from Chinese films, gorgeous cinematography and intriguing occult mystery premise, yet the plot is thin and superficial. If a comparison could be made, the movie resembles video game, it literally jumps through outlandishly eye-catching set pieces and while they might look attractive, the working narrative is extremely disjointed.

Story mainly follows Hu Bayi as a member of archaeology team sent to uncover ancient secrets. He then meets with Yang Ping, the love interest and soon enough become the reason he volunteers for more dangerous mission. Eventually, the team finds creatures, relics, disasters and all sorts of oddities that the movie barely explains. Characters are ridiculously plain. Hu Bayi himself mostly follows order and narrates the plot while the heroine Yang Ping is depicted as mysterious female.

These personalities are lacking depth, especially when the movie introduces a couple of comic reliefs that don't matter much for story. The plot has the same problems from Jackie Chan's The Myth from years ago, it's too flamboyant for the sake of fantasy appeal that it doesn't have much continuity or clarity. It merely throws around some over-the-top fantasy gibberish to usher in new shiny sequences.

Fortunately, it does have some flashy spectacles. There's a clear investment on the visual presentation. The scenes are gorgeous, be it may the blue horizon from snow mountain or the trek across the desert. It's set in the right era with good nods to ancient trinkets and modern vibe, almost looking like The Mummy franchise for costume and design. Cinematography takes full advantage of the exotic location, the lightning, buildings and even details like banners or furniture add to the atmosphere.

Special effect is top notch, there are a few moments when the cameras pan to the beasts and you can see the fur waving around in the wind or how the chains rattle on their neck. It's a definite improvement from stiff CG many Chinese movies used even in last year. There's a bit of imperfection with the editing and practical effect, but when the overall scene looks so inviting, it's entirely forgivable.

In the end Chronicles of the Ghostly Tribe will leave audience with many aesthetically pleasing stages and also unsatisfied feeling on the story.