League of Gods is a 2016 film that was directed by Vernie Yeung with Koan Hui and was written by author Ku Zhonglin. The film includes an all star cast of Jet Li, Fan Bingbing, Tony Leung, Louis Koo, Huang Xiaoming, Yeung Wing,(Angelababy) Jacky Heung, and,Wen Zhang. Now… that was a large cast to type out. Such a cast forced the film to the number one spot in it's opening week in Hong Kong while also topping Jacky Chan's latest film but the ticket sales started a discussion about the continuing decline in moviegoers over the years. Something I have talked about before. We all know that a good bulk of films coming out of China have not been on their A game in a LONG time.
The plot for League of Gods makes you feel like the story had been in progress way before viewers started watching the film. You start to film then your thrown into this world that already formed a mission to get point A from point B without so much as an explanation for the viewer. We need the chance to catch up in order to be in the same frame of mind as the characters. Short explanations are given to viewers instead through flashbacks and character reference during speaking lines. This film honestly trips up on itself a couple times too. The plot makes it seem like this war between the Gods and this black dragon have gone on for centuries. Few scenes later, the characters are acting like the threat of the black dragon is a completely new conflict that none knows what to do with. Except for the holy sword that none knows how to find. That can happen when the storyline stripped down without all the special effects is as simple as find a sword to kill the dragon before the stars align together. No deeper meaning behind it to make the plot feel more complexed. Just a story good enough to justify the killer special effects. Lets talk about the good that this film does bring to the table. I thought this film was going to suck to holy heaven when I decided to buy the dvd. Surprisingly, League of Gods keeps you entertain with its visuals and lackluster story. The plot makes you take it seriously enough due to the nice pacing in storytelling. Some aspects of the film do suffer though. For example, the forced romance and the main character's connection to the mission to find the sword. I cringed watching that romance play out on screen. If the writer had given the two characters more time to get closer then the romantic feelings would have felt more real. Using love at first sight to speed up a romantic part of a film is hard to do. You have to make sure its done the correct way otherwise viewers will be taken out of the film's circumstance. The main character's background used for sentimental value worked for certain parts of the film. Viewers will be able to connect with him as he goes through his struggle. I actually enjoyed the wide range of characters that were shown during the film. There was something new to constantly see.
All the performances to me were all pretty much on an equal playing field. No one actors out shined the other but they all did a tremendous job keeping the film interesting enough to watch in its entirety. I just feel like all this fantasy type of story telling has been done so many times in China. None of these characters should have been super hard for any of them to play. The most challenge they probably had was acting in line with the special effects that are added later. Everything about this film is very typically Chinese( not that that's a bad thing.). Even a comedy aspect was added by certain characters which I did enjoy. My mind couldn't help thinking, "very typical Chinese way to go about progressing this film."
The biggest win for League of Gods is the visuals. Every special effect was stunning to watch and maybe two steps down from a production Hollywood would have done. Think Chinese version of Lord of The Rings. Only replace the ring with a sword then you're all set! The world created in this film comes off as such a big place. Watching the plot unfold makes you believe that a real journey is happening before your eyes. Some transitions from one scene to the next bothered me a little. It was those transitions that showed a full shot of the character's face as the scene behind him or her fades into another scene. It makes the character's face look like an overlay sticker before their face also fades away. Like those ones you use in cellphone picture editing apps.
League of Gods got a passing grade from me but improvements could have been done to create an overall solid film. I know that a lot of other people said that this film was awful. My opinion is based solely on what I saw. This film was a little improvement from all the other flops that have been coming out in Hong Kong. It wasn't the best by a long shot but I'm interested enough to watch part 2.
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