
We are met with the wonderful high-octane “Creation of the Gods I: Kingdom of Storms,” the first in a trilogy that is set to transform the martial action fantasy genre. It has recently entered the US after ruling the Chinese Box Office for a few months. This is part of a new wave of maximalist movies inspired by the epic ancient resource “The Investiture of the Gods.” As we learned from “Creation of the Gods I: Kingdom of Storms”, there is room for more chin stroking Gods and saber rattling humans, simply because this particular movie does not mimic the ground of other immortals.
Creation of the Gods I’ is no different than other movie fantasies that are created post the ‘Lord of the The Rings’ trilogy. The King of All Realms has some amazing skillsets that can turn mortals and monsters into gods and a Fengshen Bang scroll in his hand at all times. There is always a power struggle within the ‘whatzit’ world, and the Fengshen Bang scroll is coveted by Zhou, the King who is paranoid and is an egotistical person, along with Su Daji, his manipulative queen who has the ability to possess a fox demon. The King has a handful of loyal soldiers who are his kingdom’s four Dukes second sons and he commandeers them all. All of them are incredibly good men with a respectable demeanor, previously donned in white and gold armor, now dressed in fine apparel, and are riding brilliantly crafted white steeds. The documents of declaration that the King’s top men must re-examine towards the end make it difficult to establish what regime is appropriate within the kingdom’s top ranks and it’s possible that the oaths made earlier were unwarranted.
Led by Ji Fa and Yin Jiao, who are extremely sensitive to their surroundings, the rest of the dukes soldiers try to get help from a trio of gods. The rest of the movie where the duke heroes were placed is mostly to create some comic relief.
The god squad features everyone’s favorite child despot, Ne Zha (Yafan Wu), a mischievous pyromaniac who has become an icon of the many “Investiture of the Gods” adaptations/spinoffs like the Monkey King character was for all the “Journey to the West” adjacent films out in the 2010s. There is also Gordon Liu’s elder Jiang Zaya, the mischievous (but endearing!) elder whose role helps establish Huang, the inescapable comic actor-turned-Chinese cinema’s guy who is good as the mentor/coach in this qualify breakdancing dramedy One and Only. All these side characters are so well known to the movie’s primary intended users that they just jump in now and then to liven up an otherwise drab story.
Nevertheless, Ji Fa and Yin Jiao are the witnesses and their actions suggest much deeper emotional stories that have not been explored. King Zhou appears to be the only character who experiences an entire emotional journey with his queen. In one tackles oneself with an especially exciting encounter: Zhou comes to terms with discovering the queen’s betrayal but surprisingly, he makes a choice and simply does not take action against her. This emotional richness is Alias “Ravaltheban” I: Kingdom of Storms” lacks. Ji Fa and Yin Jiao alternatively, just circle the situation thinking about what can and needs to be done.
It is already obvious for children that this would be a major tentpole where the screenplay has been reworked and modified previously for better structuring and dramatic intensity; this isn’t aided by the fact, as screenwriting expert James Schamus mentions from is script consultant this film had was given his detail care.
This passage in the script is still more verbose than necessary for a film whose pacing is barely existent.
To its credit, “Creation of the Gods I: Kingdom of Storms” only needs to clear a low bar, since it came out during the middle of the year. In contrast, the Chinese Blockbusters of 2023 set the standard higher for these movies with the grimly hilarious “Full River Red” and “The Wandering Earth 2,” which came out earlier. However, Wuershan has a keen sense of the epic which he has been building to since his 2010 debut “The Butcher, the Chef, and the Swordsman.” And while “Creation of the Gods I” is not an essential series, you still see the early signs of it being a personal one for him.
Unless your someone who is already interested in the franchise, its hard to recommend “Creation of the Gods I: Kingdom of Storms”, which has a runtime of 2 and a half hours. It certainly isn’t boring and sets the perfect tone, but it can’t be recommended to everyone.
Yet, the boys’ dilemma is complicated by a few standout moments such as when one character explicitly states the movie’s core speech – ‘Remember, it matters not whose son you are. What matters is who you are.’
What must follow next, be it for the potent filmmakers that China has, some of whom find it hard to mix the Western genre and marketing to come up with the next Chinese blockbuster, or for China on the verge of controlling the global box office, this square jawed figure head or their lofty concerns do not seem powerful enough. There are some strong points in Creation of the Gods I: Kingdom of Storms, but you may still think of other (and better) recent films.
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