Good ‘Gods’
Wu Ershan’s polished, pan-APAC Ming fantasy adaptation ticks all the boxes to be China’s first true event trilogy.
creation of the Gods i: Kingdom of Storms
Director: Wu Ershan • Writers: Ran Ping, Ran Jianan, Wu Ershan, Cao Sheng, based on the book by Xu Zhonglin
Starring: Yu Shi, Fei Xiang, Chen Muchi, Huang Bo, Narana Erdyneeva, Li Xuejian, Xia Yu, Hou Wenyuan, Yang Le
China • 2hrs 28mins
Opens Hong Kong September 28 • IIA
Grade: B+
There’s no denying the massive influence JRR Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings has had on fantasy as we know it, and to a degree, Peter Jackson’s exhaustive (and exhausting) 2001-03 screen version. They are a thing… a painfully Eurocentric thing. The elves and ogres and fairies and so on of Tolkien’s brand of fantasy have a distinct style that’s been taken as gospel for a long, long time. I call it Hairy Feet fantasy (I hate that shit). Recently, the bar was re-set by George RR Martin and the bafflingly revered Game of Thrones – in print and on television. More sex, more violence, more politicking, fewer hairy feet, but essentially the same. So when something different breaks through the pop culture haze, it’s a welcome respite from Hairy Feet. For proof check out Marlon James’s African epics starting with Black Leopard, Red Wolf. If you dare (there’s no movie yet, and there’s unlikely to be). Another case in point: Wu Ershan’s adaptation of Xu Zhonglin’s 16th century epic Investiture of the Gods.
The first entry in a planned trilogy, Creation of the Gods I: Kingdom of Storms | 封神第一部：朝歌風雲 has all the required elements of high fantasy: Historical vibes, folklore and mythology, beasties and demons, magical scrolls and prophecy, rival lords and shady AF court counsellors. It’s all wrapped in intricate costuming (by Hongkonger Tim Yip, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon), sweeping wide screen cinematography (by Tian Zhuangzhuang and Lou Ye regular Wang Yu) and high end VFX, with pros from around the world chipping in to create a spit-polished final product. And just to make sure it all works like a well-oiled machine, seasoned Hollywood producer Barrie M Osborne (Face/Off, The Matrix ) was on the job. Osborne is probably best known for shepherding Jackson’s back-to-back-to-back LotR trilogy to 18 awards and nearly US$3 billion in receipts. Whether CotG rises to those lofty heights (it’s shooting the same way) remains to be seen, but it’s off to a good start. Best of all? It’s not bloody Journey to the West.
Plus there’s creatures!
For anyone who didn’t grow up around here – and whose fantasy touchstones are Beowulf, King Arthur and the aforementioned LofR – the story is as complex as any of those tomes. As the Shang Dynasty gives way to the Zhou, the gods in Kunlun become distressed at the chaos running rampant. They decide the best way to halt the Great Curse that’s been unleashed (long story) is to give the Fengshen Bang, a sacred scroll, to the Shang king and restore order. Monk Jiang Ziya (Huang Bo, No Man’s Land) is dispatched to deliver this Fengshen Bang, along with his godly fire and water assistants, Nezha (Wu Yafan) and Yang Jian (Ci Sha). So far so gods-y.
Meanwhile in the earthly realm, the tyrannical Shang king Yin Shou (Taiwanese actor Fei Xiang, AKA Kris Phillips, AKA Chinese James Brolin) has become bewitched by Daji (Mongolian-Russian model Narana Erdyneeva), the daughter of the rebel Su who’s got a fox demon all up in her business. His son, Yin Jiao (Chen Muchi), suspects something is up with his dad, but every time he tries to get more details, he’s mistaken for an attempted murderer. So he kinda sorta teams up with one of the four hostage-sons (long story) of the cardinally appointed four dukes, Ji Fa (Yu Shi, Born to Fly), who’s own father, Ji Chang (Li Xuejian, Under the Hawthorn Tree, The Water Margin), Duke of the West in Xiqi, has been framed for treason (long story). Ziya lands in the middle of this mess and promptly realises the Fengshen Bang cannot stay with these maniacs and takes off. Hot on his heels is the nasty monk Shen Gongbao (Xia Yu, The Painted Veil), who wants the scroll’s knowledge for himself. Then Ji Chang is rescued by a flying, green troll thingy. You guessed it. Long story.
There’s a tremendous amount of story – and backstory – in CotG, and the info-dump in the prologue is initially cause for concern. But Wu (Painted Skin: The Resurrection) teases out the story in digestible bits, and regardless of the sheer volume of content, CotG is never confusing. Wu gives his young actors just enough guidance to allow them to separate from each other organically, and never lets them get overwhelmed by the veterans. Somehow, some way, Wu and relatively green co-writers Ran Ping, Ran Jianan, and Cao Sheng manage to distil an engaging, entertaining story from some pretty meaty source material, and refocus and re-imagine the core action just enough to feel fresh as well as appeal to non-readers, which is crucial if the film is to justify its record breaking budget. More than a few characters meets grim fates (enough to elicit an “Oh, DAMN!”) and the expected double crosses and defections don’t induce groans. On top of that, the film clocks in a little sexier than a Chinese fantasy epic normally does; Daji has a licking fetish, bless her heart, and when she and Yin Shou are alone the film flirts with straight up horny. Yes, guy! Not to be outdone, but the hostage sons get an extended opportunity to show off some flesh of their own (aaaaaaabs). Sex and nudity aren’t the defining traits of a “good” or “bad” movie, but pretending the characters (and modern audiences) are as monkish as Ziya is just filmmakers sticking their heads in the sand. CotG stumbles a tiny bit in the home stretch as it tacks on sequence after sequence after sequence to set up Part II (Giants? Giants!), but for the most part the film’s pacing right up to those final 20 minutes or so is nearly perfect. There is no clock-watching despite its generous run time. Bring on Creation of the Gods II and III. — DEK