Creation of the Gods I:
Kingdom of Storms

封神第一部    朝歌风云

China, 2023, colour, 2.35:1, 148 mins.

Director: Wuershan 乌尔善.

Rating: 7/10.

First segment of a trilogy set 3,000 years ago has strongly drawn characters and VFX that don’t overwhelm them.

STORY

Ancient China, Yellow River valley, c. 3,000 years ago. During the final years of the Yin/Shang dynasty, the king Di Yi (Xu Huanshan) demands tribute from Ji state, which refuses to pay. A punitive force is sent to Ji but no decisive result is reached after a long time. Finally, during the winter, Yin Shou (Fei Xiang), the king’s second son, takes to the field himself, leading his own special troops that include his son Yin Jiao (Chen Muchi) and Yin Jiao’s best friend, Ji Fa (Yu Shi). (Ji Fa is actually the second son of western overlord Ji Chang [Li Xuejian] and was sent to the Yin/Shang as a princely hostage eight years ago; but growing up there, and befriending Yin Jiao, he now considers Yin/Shang his home.) The ruler of Ji, Su Hu (Xu Chong), sends out his second son, Su Quanxiao (Shan Jingyao), as a hostage/negotiator. Yin Shou orders him to tell his father to come down, but the latter stays put. Su Quanxiao commits suicide in shame; Yin Shou’s troops attack but are repulsed by a wall of fire. Yin Shou orders his men to blindfold their horses to break through the fire, and his troops enter the city. A small group, including Yin Jiao and Ji Fa, pursue Su Hu and his daughter Su Daji (Naran) – whose body has actually been taken over by a vixen spirit – through the snowy mountains. They catch up with his carriage but fighting is interrupted by an avalanche, which Su Daji survives. None of the soldiers can bring themselves to kill her – until Yin Shou arrives and takes her as his concubine, obsessed by her magical charms. After licking his wounds healed, she tells the power-hungry Yin Shou that she can help him become ruler of the world. Yin Shou returns triumphantly to Zhaoge city, the Yin/Shang capital, and presents his father with Su Hu’s head and his elder brother Yin Qi (Gao Shuguang) with Su Daji wrapped in the Ji flag. At the celebration banquet Yin Qi suddenly assassinates his aged father; but when he tries to kill Yin Shou as well, he’s killed by Ji Fa, who is in a group of dancing soldiers. After his friend Yin Jiao pleads for leniency, Ji Fa is spared any punishment. However, with the future of the Yin/Shang dynasty now in the balance, the gods decide to intervene, and Yuanshi Tianzun (Chen Kun), master of the Kunlun mountains, sends his aged apprentice, the sage Jiang Ziya (Huang Bo), to sort things out, giving him the fēngshén băng 封神榜, a list that empowers him to invest people as gods. At the official coronation of Yin Shou, the weather is threatening and seen as a bad omen, until Yin Shou promises the gods to build a giant sacrificial tower. Yin Shou still keeps Su Daji as his secret mistress, much to the annoyance of his son Yin Jiao who is devoted to his mother Queen Jiang (Yuan Quan). Then Jiang Ziya appears on the scene, accompanied by the warlike boy deity Nezha (Wu Yafan) and Ji Fa’s elder brother Bo Yikao (Yang Le) whom Ji Fa hasn’t seen for eight years.

REVIEW

A few years after the CGI-drenched League of Gods 封神传奇 (2016), directed by Hong Kong’s Xu An 许安 [Koan Hui], the much-filmed classic of Chinese literature, Investiture of the Gods 封神演义, gets another star-studded blockbuster treatment with Creation of the Gods I: Kingdom of Storms 封神第一部    朝歌风云, the first chunk of a trilogy by Inner Mongolia-born writer-director Wuershan 乌尔善, 51, that he’s also co-produced through his own company Mongketengri on a reported total budget of RMB1.3 billion, some four to five times League’s reported cost. On the evidence of this first segment, it’s a far more mature and involving movie, with strongly drawn characters and VFX that are kept under control and serve the drama rather than drowning the whole enterprise. The massive undertaking is only the fifth big-screen feature by Wuershan but its ambition has been rewarded: this first segment, shot from Sep 2018 to Feb 2019, has taken some RMB1.8 billion in its first three weeks of Mainland release, making it the fifth biggest local grosser of the year so far. [Final tally was RMB2.63 billion.]

Written by Xu Zhonglin 许仲琳 in the 16th century AD, near the end of the Ming dynasty, Investiture basically tells the story of the fall of the Yin/Shang dynasty under its final king Yin Shou and the rise of the Western Zhou dynasty under its first king Ji Fa around the middle of the 11th century BC. However, given that the period was historically murky even to Xu, who was writing some two-and-a-half-thousand years later, his novel is a rich stew of history, folklore and mythology, with humans, gods and spirits all in the mix. Not surprisingly, Investiture, with its myriad of fantastic tales, is a regular hunting-ground for film, TV, radio, anime and videogames, in both Greater China and Japan: as well as League of Gods seven years ago, a 65-part Mainland TVD, Investiture of the Gods 封神演义, starring Wang Likun 王丽坤, Luo Jin 罗晋 and Taiwan actor Zou Zhaolong 邹兆龙 [Collin Chou], was broadcast in 2019 (see poster, left). Many of the novel’s characters are well-known to East Asian audiences, so the fact that the actors – as here – are often hidden under heavy makeup and period clothes hardly matters.

The script team – led by father-and-daughter combo Ran Ping 冉平 and Ran Jia’nan 冉甲男, who wrote Wuershan’s slick fantasy Painted Skin: The Resurrection 画皮II (2012), as well as the engaging The Monkey King 2 西游记之孙悟空三打白骨精 (2016), directed by Hong Kong’s Zheng Baorui 郑保瑞 [Soi Cheang] – has come up with a typical blend of myth and humanity, with the emphasis on the latter in all its foibles. Wuershan’s other films (ancient costume drama The Butcher, the Chef and the Swordsman 刀见笑, 2010; tomb-robbing adventure Mojin: The Lost Legend 寻龙诀, 2015) have always featured meaty characters, and such is the case here. Also, despite dealing with a period of Chinese history about which hard facts are in short supply, Creation has the look and feel more of a historical drama with fantastic elements than (as in League) the other way round. This alone engenders much more audience involvement.

Though the (predominately male) cast is large, with a host of well-known names (Chen Kun 陈坤, Xia Yu 夏雨, Yuan Quan 袁泉 etc.) popping up here and there as gods or humans, the writers have cut through all the undergrowth of the original 100-chapter novel and come up with a clean central storyline that has a clear direction of travel. Things kick off with a 20-minute snowy setpiece in which special troops of Yin/Shang, personally led by the king’s second son Yin Shou, come to punish a recalcitrant state that refuses to pay a tribute. After various stand-offs outside the ice-laden city walls, the Yin/Shang army triumphs and a small group, including Yin Shou’s second son and his best friend Ji Fa, pursues the state’s leader and his daughter, Su Daji, intent on exterminating the whole family. The daughter – who’s actually a vixen spirit – survives and is taken by Yin Shou as his mistress, with her whispering in his ear that she can help him become ruler of the world.

As soon as Yin Shou returns triumphant to the Yin/Shang capital Zhaoge, he puts this plan into effect, with some genuinely surprising developments during the victory celebrations. However, up on the Kunlun mountains the gods are getting nervous as Yin Shou’s all-consuming ambition runs out of control, so they send down the ancient sage Jiang Ziya to sort things out. The young Ji Fa, who is actually a neighbouring overlord’s son who’s spent eight years as a princely hostage in Zhaoge and has come to consider it his home, emerges as the main challenger to Yin Shou, whom he once looked upon as a de facto father. And it is Ji Fa who will go on to found the Western Zhou, presumbly in Creation of the Gods III.

The film works in big dramatic blocks which allow the audience to become engaged in the human drama, and Wuershan’s typical liking for big, flavoursome characters is in evidence throughout. Taiwan-born, half-American singer Fei Xiang 费翔, aka Kris Phillips, now 62, has made few big-screen appearances but did play supporting roles in both The Monkey King 2 and Painted Skin: The Resurrection. He’s genuinely imposing here as the power-hungry Yin Shou – a byword for ambition and depravity in Chinese folklore – and throws most other actors into the shade with his sheer physical presence, even taking his shirt off for some hanky-panky. Almost unrecognisable in long white hair and heavy make-up, comedian Huang Bo 黄渤 gradually makes his presence felt as the wise sage sent down to sort out the quarrelsome humans, while Siberia-born, Russian-Mongolian actress Naran 娜然, aka Narana Erdyneyeva Нарана Эрдынеева, now 26, is suitably sinuous as Yin Shou’s foxy mistress, a byword for a Chinese femme fatale. As Ji Fa, the then 23-year-old Mainland newcomer Yu Shi 于适 (Born to Fly 长空之王, 2023) has yet to prove if he’s much more than a pretty face and can rise to the role’s challenge. As his father, veteran Li Xuejian 李雪健 gives Fei a run for his money in screen presence.

On a visual level, the film is imposing when it needs to be, with some spectacular, CG-enhanced sets by veteran Hong Kong art director/stylist Ye Jintian 叶锦添 [Tim Yip] that don’t spill over into the realm of sheer fantasy; and saturated widescreen images by Mainland d.p./director Wang Yu 王昱, in what is the biggest undertaking of his already versatile career (Suzhou River 苏州河, 1999; Zhou Yu’s Train 周渔的火车, 2002; Purple Butterfly 紫蝴蝶, 2003; The Golden Era 黄金时代, 2014; The Guilty Ones 你是凶手, 2019). More’s the pity that the thunderous, thematically unmemorable score by US videogame composer Gordy Haab (Star Wars: Battlefront, 2015) lets the side down on the quality front.

This first segment of the trilogy was shot mostly at the giant China Movie Metropolis in Qingdao, Shandong province, southeast of Beijing. The Chinese title literally means “Creation of the Gods Part One: Stormy Times in Zhaoge”. Wuershan’s company Mongketengri means “Eternal Heaven” in Mongolian; its Chinese name is 长生天.

CREDITS

Presented by Beijing Jingxi Culture & Tourism (CN), Beijing Jingxi Culture (CN), Century Mongketengri Pictures (Beijing) (CN), Dongyang Mongketengri Film & TV Production (CN), Tianjin Maoyan Weiying Cultural Media (CN), Shanghai Tencent Penguin Pictures (CN), Qingdao Haifa Pictures (CN), Huaxia Film Distribution (CN).

Script: Ran Ping, Ran Jia’nan, Wuershan, Cao Sheng. Novel: Xu Zhonglin. Script advice: James Schamus, Lu Wei. Photography: Wang Yu. Editing: Zhang Jiahui [Cheung Ka-fai], Du Yuan. Music: Gordy Haab. Production design: Ye Jintian [Tim Yip]. Art direction: Qiu Sheng, Zhang Cheng. Art production supervision: Huang Baorong. Styling: Ye Jintian [Tim Yip]. Character design: Lai Xuanwu. Sound: Yang Jiang, Zhao Nan. Action: Sang Lin, Tim Wong. Visual effects: Douglas Smith. Production advice: Barrie M. Osborne. Second unit direction: Zhang Bowei.

Cast: Fei Xiang [Kris Phillips] (Yin Shou, aka King Zhou of Shang), Li Xuejian (Ji Chang, western overlord), Huang Bo (Jiang Ziya, apprentice to Yuanshi Tianzun), Yu Shi (Ji Fa, second son of Ji Chang), Chen Muchi (Yin Jiao), Naran [Narana Erdyneyeva] (Su Daji, daughter of Su Hu), Ci Sha [Muguregu Jiwucisha] (Yang Jian), Wu Yafan (Nezha), Xia Yu (Shen Gongbao, apprentice to Yuanshi Tianzun), Yuan Quan (Queen Jiang), Wang Luoyong (Bi Gan, brother of Di Yi), Hou Wenyuan (Chong Yingbiao, son of Chong Houhu), Huang Xiyan (Jiang Wenhuan), Li Yunrui (E Shun, son of E Chongyu), Yang Le (Bo Yikao, first son of Ji Chang), Chen Kun (Yuanshi Tianzun, master of the Kunlun mountains), Xu Huanshan (Di Yi, king of Shang, Yin Shou’s father), Gao Shuguang (Yin Qi, Yin Shou’s elder brother), Feng Shaofeng (Tai Yi Zhenren), Yang Lixin (Jiang Huanchu, eastern overlord), Ding Yongdai (E Chongyu, southern overlord), Gao Dongping (Chong Houhu, northern overlord), Xu Chong (Su Hu, ruler of Ji), Han Pengyi (Lei Zhenzi), Shan Jingyao (Su Quanxiao), Wu Hankun (Xin Jia), Bayalag (Lv Gongwang), Liu Le (Taidian), Xu Xiang (Huang Yuanji), Liu Han (Yao Shuliang), Xu Fei (Zhong Zhiming), Sun Rui (Jin Kui), Geng Yeting (Sun Ziyu), Qu Yuchao (Cao Zong), Jin Zhihao (Ma Zhao), Huang Tao (Peng Zushou), Fan Wendong (Wu Gaokui), Jiang Baocheng (Zheng Lun), A Ren (Su Quanzhong), Mi Tiezeng (Shang Rong), Senggerenqin (Yin Pobai/Mo Liqing), Ma Wenzhong (You Hun), Ning Wentong (Fei Zhong), Zhang Jingwei (Fei Lian), Yang Tianhao (Chi Jingzi), Li Zeyu (Guang Chengzi), Xia Chenxu (Yuding Zhenren), Song Ningfeng (Huanglong Zhenren), Yu Ying (Cihang Daoren), Wu Chao (Lingbao Dafashi), Yang Dapeng (Juliu Sun), Zhao Lei (Puxian Zhenren), Zhang Zhenxuan (Wenshu Guangfa Tianzun), Song Duyu (Qingxu Daode Zhenjun), Wen Bo (Daoxing Tianzun), Tumenbayaer (Zu Yi), Mu Xiaobo (Jiang Huan), Chun Xiao (Yunxiao), Qilemuge (Bi Xiao), Zhang Xuehan (Qiong Xiao), Qian Bo (Sanyisheng), Bayaertu (Nangongshi), Wu Xingguo (Wen Zhong), Nashi (Deng Chanyu), Liu Chao (Tai Luan), Zhang Yilong (Molihai), Sun Huangchen (Molihong), Ailijiang Ku’erban (Molishou).

Release: China, 20 Jul 2023.