Review by Roh
Creation of the Gods I: Kingdom of Storms (2023)

Please note: this is a review of the elements of the movie, and my overall impression, and not a synopsis or retelling of events.

Creation of the Gods I: Kingdom of Storms is intended to be the first in a trilogy of films that will tell the story from Investiture of the Gods. I went into this movie knowing essentially nothing about the novel directly, and I have only seen minimal related characters or stories in other works. With many movies, there is a case to be made for that lack of prior knowledge being advantageous, offering the viewer a chance to experience the story as a fresh start and be guided by the movie, rather than having expectations for what you want from it. I don’t think that’s the case here, and the main reason I say that is because there’s so much exposition that needs to happen to guide the story, and educate the viewer, that it slows down the pacing at times when it would otherwise flow much smoother. As such, it leaves the viewer with a combined feeling of absorbing too much information, or too many characters (especially too many characters!), and that the story is disjointed.

That being said, there’s a lot to like about this film. It opens strong, and moves quickly to set the stage, introducing some of the primary characters, including Prince Yin Shou, second son of the King of Shang Dynasty, who immediately draws your attention on-screen. One of the better characters in the movie, there are subtleties to his portrayal and to the character arch and development. In comparison, the other main characters around him, who should have that same level of depth, appear shallow, and a couple of them have far more screen time than their impact on the story would call for. That doesn’t mean they’re bad, they’re simply overshadowed. However, there are fun side characters providing both comic relief and action, the eldest of which acts as an entertaining contrast to the dominating Yin Shou.

The action sequences, the sets/locations/costuming, and the use of CGI are what many viewers will see as the primary draws of the film, and with good reason. While the story may overwhelm inexperienced viewers, or seem like it’s dragging for others, the costumes and sets are beautifully done and certainly help to keep one focused on the scene. A considerable amount of time is spent in various states of fighting or chase scenes, as well, which are almost always well choreographed and presented. Much of that is due to CGI, of course, and while the predominance of effects are great, those with a more discerning eye for special effects discrepancies may occasionally notice places where the CGI suffers. I’m being incredibly picky in my evaluation of that, and my criticism shouldn’t detract from the fact that there was clearly a lot of effort put into CGI, with the result being highly enjoyable.

I’m usually cognizant of the music, especially epic-style films like this one. The score is a bit sparse for such a lengthy story, which left me feeling that something was missing in scenes at times, but, when it was present, it balanced well from a thematic perspective.

Overall, Creation of the Gods I: Kingdom of Storms is an engaging story; albeit one that may be better if you do go into with a bit more knowledge than I had. It’s filled with all the elements one would expect from an epic fantasy story, most of which are done very well. More importantly, though, if viewed in the context of acting as a setup piece for the remaining two films in the planned trilogy, it is easier to overlook any story or pacing issues, dependent upon how the story continues in the later parts of the trilogy, of course.

Rating: 7 out of 10 (Worth watching; could be repeat watch for some)

WATCH THE MOVIE

♦ Creation of the Gods I (eng sub) [STREAM]

♦ Creation of the Gods OST [DOWNLOAD]