The enchanting phantom

Everybody says that this new reboot doesn't live up to the classic 1987 Joey Wong and late Leslie Cheung. I say please open our mind and see this movie for itself and not always comparing to the classic one.

I saw A Chinese Ghost Story in theatre back in 1987, so I know how it feels to see Joey Wong as a siren phantom and late Leslie Cheung as the humble scholar. It was an excellent movie and a blockbuster one that it sparked a new genre in HK cinema. But I want to judge this new reboot by itself and it's quite an outstanding movie, so let's grab our popcorn and just enjoy it!

Worth watching 8/10.

Not as good as previous version . All Scripts , directing , all funs and Casting can't compare with the previous .

Top 3 mainland movies: 1. Battle at Lake Changjin 2. Moon Man 3. THis.

The first Chinese Ghost Story was done by Hong Kong cinema, it was one of those hong kong movies that mainlander been passing around a lot. (others are like Once upon a time in China, Stephen Chow movies, etc).

They been redoing a lot of Hong kong movies, they sell good most the time pretty good within China. I seen a bunch of them, most of them, Technologically beautiful, but NO heart...

This one, is may be I guess its exception, they follow pretty deeply from the old movies, it did bring me back to past memory a little, its good thing. The main theme song they translated from cantonese to mainlander are great, the actors are good look, the main guy even look a bit like Lesley Cheung.

The problem for most Mainland movies often times they feel like good, just not good enough.

Art is about one thing Ive learned in many years, if you havent gone wild at, you havent succeeded yet.

Its a better version than louis khoo version and slightly similar with more enhance on the 1987-1991 version on the costume, storyline, developement characters, plots and CGI. Incomparable to Leslie and joey (Obvi!) but kudos with the director for creating such nostalgic. Epic rendition of the original movie in history ever without adding and changing too much the structure from Tsui Hark version.

The original Chinese Ghost Story is definitely a classic-- one of the fantasy greats. A star-crossed wuxia love story between a bumbling young bureaucrat and a reluctant demon, punctuated with bad-ass demon hunter action.

Unfortunately, the original is also pretty dated at this point. It would be hard to find a new audience able to appreciate it.

No, Enchanting Phantom can't quite live up to the original, at least as it exists in the minds of those enough lucky enough to have enjoyed it in its day. But that doesn't mean EP isn't a good movie. It's not great, but it's good.

It does suffer from the same problems typical to modern Chinese fantasy. There's too much CG. There's too much focus on action at the expense of character. It often feels like Chinese fantasy directors would rather be making video games. But if EP suffers from these issues, it suffers from them much less than other recent Chinese fantasy fare.

Meanwhile, the compelling love story is still there, and the action is enjoyable even if overemphasized. More, the imagery is incredible.

Recommended for new fans of Chinese fantasy (adult or child); recommended for fans of the original. It won't be unforgettable, but it's an enjoyable watch.