Movielogr
L.O.R.D: Legend of Ravaging Dynasties (2016)
Directed by Jingming Guo
Twitter Facebook Google+Overview
Based on the novel of the same name, the film depicts the endless battles of four kingdoms as they fight for power and domination of the one ultimate realm.Based on his 2 beloved fantasy novels with 6 million copies sold, L.O.R.D is acclaimed writer and director Guo Jingming’s follow up to his Tiny Times films. The action-adventure odyssey is set in a world of warring Sorcerers, Lords and Beasts. The first CGI Film to come from China
Length 113 minutes
Actors
Yang Mi | Fan Bingbing | Lin Yun | Kris Wu | Amber Kuo | Aarif Lee | William Chan Wai-Ting | Cheney Chen | Kevin Yan
Viewing History (seen 1 time)
| Date Viewed | Device | Format | Source | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 05/20/2021 | TV | DVD | Library | 5 stars |
| (Average) 5 stars |
Viewing Notes
What a strange movie… supposedly China’s first all CGI film (not sure I believe that) but more like watching someone play a JRPG on the PS4. So overly complex with lore and details and backstory that it all comes out like silly gibberish. There is an exposition drop in the middle of the movie where I started laughing the more they continued trying to explain things. It really is like a JRPG with all the character levels, spirit powers and blood weapon, etc. I decided early that I would just treat this like I was watching someone play a video game. That worked until more of the complexity kept building until I was just lost as to who is doing what and why. Guessing the book this was adapted from does a better job laying all of this out b/c this movie is so confusing.
That really knocks this down in my rating. Also annoying is that the DVD I got from the InterLoan is the LionsGate release and only features the English dub. Why even bother releasing this w/o the original Mandarin language?? Especially dumb when you see the credits all have the original Chinese cast listed. The English dubbing on these Asian characters gave it even more of a video game feel.
For the positives, the motion capture is very good. The character portrayed by Fan Bingbing really looks like her. Not sure about the other characters but they nailed her look and expressions perfectly. The world building and rendering look amazing, like the very best of PS4 games. Same with the creatures and some of the action sequences. However, all the scenes of people walking on the streets and whatnot look just like every video game and it’s so weird yet amusing. Minor pet peeve: seeing blood splashed on the “lens” of the camera “shooting” the action. It’s all CGI so what the fuck. Why even do that???
To add to the video game effect: all the crazy camera angles and shots that clearly could never happen in a live action movie. Overall a very strange project that apparently has a sequel that was released last year. If a better version of this existed on Blu w/the original Mandarin and English subtitles I’d probably watch it again b/c it is very pretty but I’d probably read up on the story or maybe even read the book before that.
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