Available on Digital, Blu-ray, and DVD May 28th, 2024, from Well Go USA.
A mythical war from 3000 years ago between immortals, monsters, and humans, Creation of the Gods I: Kingdom of Storms shows a small part of the battles and serves as an opening to a much larger story.
Based on the novel by Zhonglin Xu, the film is written by Jianan Ran, Ping Ran, Cao Sheng, and Wuershan, with Wuershan directing as well. The story here is complex with tons of creatures, action, and a little bit of everything else in the world and beyond. The story here is fun to go along and has a ton of twists and turns and everything possible and not possible. It’s one of those films that is controlled chaos, perfect for those who love their films to show a lot, be a lot, and have just so much in them, they require multiple viewings. This is the case here and it’s phenomenal. The is a film made with a ton of heart and ambition and it works great with it all. The writing is good, the direction is good, and the way it mixes live action with CGI is beautiful. Being the first of a trilogy (all filmed at the same time), this is an opening story, the world building that will lead into the second and third film (those last sequences promise big things).
The cast here was gathered from international auditions, of course of actors who could speak the language and look the part, to create just the right group of people for the story. This goal is one that works here, the cast is solid with of course some being a bit above the others in terms of performances, but overall, this is an ensemble epic high fantasy film, and the cast does fantastically well with the insanity going on around them (or not in the case of the CGI). Some of the top acting here is done by Yosh Yu, Huang Bo, Kris Phillips, and Bayalag. The cast works here, so does the CGI.
The CGI here is solid with some things looking better than others and CGI fire is still not good, a forever complaint. When it comes to the settings and beings brought the screen by the CGI, some of them are fantastic and amazing to look at while a few are just a wee bit off. That being said, the stone beings brought to life by the effects, the giants, some of the fight sequences enhanced by CGI, and everything else (but the fire and a few beings) is great fun to watch. The CGI here does a few different things that makes it work: It is used in backgrounds in a rather pretty way, blending in quite well most of the time, and it is used to create mythical creatures and monsters in a way that doesn’t necessarily makes them real look, but gives them the right look for what is needed here. The fact that the CGI characters do not try to be real, they just are as they are, helps the CGI greatly and will help the film from looking too dated too soon.
Showing these performances, the CGI, and more, the cinematography by Yu Wang is so pretty. The work is done carefully, playing along with what is there and what is only there after post-production, showing a care for details, lighting, and proper framing. The film looks beautiful here. The editing by Ka-Fai Cheung, Yuan Du, and Shuo Huang helps these images and helps create a good pace for the film and make the most of the fight sequences.
Now, there is a lot more here, and then some, including wardrobe, set decor, and art direction that all work together to create a cohesive film and one that is filled with beauty and so much more. It all helps fill the run time with so much, a few rewatches will be needed to catch it all.
Creation of the Gods I: Kingdom of Storms is a fun epic adventure in a mythical version of history, one that is filled with wonder and beauty, with good and evil, with gods and monsters. A story that is but the beginning of something much longer which doesn’t seem to be ready just yet (at least according to what could be found online for now).