I can see the quotes now, “The Chinese Lord Of The Rings” they’ll call it, and whilst that isn’t a wild and inaccurate statement (and genuinely meant as a compliment), it does undermine the cultural significance of Creation of the Gods’ story and how only now is it possible to do the story justice, if not always to the high standard as the aforementioned comparison.
Investiture Of The Gods (封神演義 or Fengsheng Yabang) is a 16th century novel that is the cornerstone of the “shenmo” (Gods and Monsters) category of Chinese literature. Written by Xu Zhonglin (a prominent fantasy author of the time) and Lu Xixing during the Ming dynasty (1368 – 1644 CE), it tells the story of the decline of the Shang dynasty (1600 – 1046 BCE) and the rise of the Zhou dynasty (1046 – 256 BCE). It is told through a series of accounts from human, immortal and mythological figures from China’s wealth of history and legends.
This isn’t the first time this story has been adapted for the screen, with the most recent being the 2019 TV show Investiture Of The Gods for Hunan Television. Unlike this film, the TV show focused more on the romance between Erling Shen and Daiji, a love story akin to Romeo and Juliet, but on a far grander scale. However, with the 2023 version, under the title of Creation of the Gods, and under the watchful eye of director Wuershan (Mojin: The Last Legend, Painted Skin: The Resurrection) there’s no time for such folly, because action and spectacle are the order of the day, and holy smokes, does it deliver.
In collusion with a fox demon that has possessed the dying body of the daughter of his enemy, King Zhou orchestrates the assassination on the emperor and his heir to seize control of the land. The gods, watching from above, displeased with these actions send three envoys to quell the violence and chaos that the new king has unleashed, all the while, the sons of the regional dukes, who had been placed in the service to the king, sense a darker shift that brings into question the intentions of their new leader.
It’s at this stage that either people will be onboard or they won’t. This is high fantasy with a cast of characters so large that many will be struggling to remember who is who and how they relate to which part of the story. Many of the players are introduced with an onscreen subtitle (many of which were not translated in the digital copy provided for this review), something quite common in Chinese cinema as they tend to relate to historical or well known figures from folklore, but as an outsider looking in, even as someone that has been invested in this world for the best part of 35 years, this was still a struggle, especially for the 2hr 28min runtime.
Outside of this, the time absolutely flew by. Not an ounce of fat can be found anywhere, which is quite an achievement for such a large scale film. From the opening siege (which really sets the tone perfectly) to our place holding final battle (this is part of a trilogy, with part II out later in 2024 and part III in 2025), it flies between stories but never forgets to place its seeds for payoff later. And whilst this is the first part in a planned trilogy, it does tie things up quite nicely and leaves a clear direction as to where the story goes from here.
Whilst this is by far and away China’s most ambitious (and thus most expensive) film project to date, some of VFX work is not up to the standard set by many a Hollywood production, but it’s not far off, and that is a huge step up in quality when compared to many such films that have come out of China in recent years (yes, I’m talking about you, Land Shark). This isn’t quite the shot across Hollywood’s bows just yet, but if this is a sign of things to come, then we are in for some very special treats.
Despite its huge cast of characters and convoluted story, Creation Of The Gods I: Kingdom Of Storms is a sweeping epic filled with sumptuous visuals and quality action and I for one cannot wait for the rest of this story to be told.
Creation of the Gods I: Kingdom of Storms is out now on Digital, Blu-Ray & DVD via Trinity Cine Asia
