2020 / 87m - China
Fantasy, Action
3.0*/5.0*
Shaolin Conquering Demons poster

Watches

September 05, 2022

3.0*/5.0*

The Chinese streamer films are slowly but surely getting longer, edging closer to the 90-minute mark. In a way that might give them a bit more validity, on the other hand, they are losing some of their biggest perks. What used to feel very trimmed and to the point, now gets padding that doesn't really add much to the overall quality of the film.

The stories are still as basic as ever. Through some odd coincidence, a demon is awakened that will come to threaten the whole of humanity. A monk is sent out to fix the problem, looking for an arhat who holds the key to the protection of the human race. He takes his assignment very seriously but might be forgetting about some of the other important things in life, namely the love of an old friend.

The extra comedy bits (mostly at the beginning of the film) are pretty terrible, the added drama isn't all that great either. The fantasy and action scenes on the other hand are on point. The CG too is pretty solid, especially considering the limited means these films are made with. I'm not a fan of the added runtime, but that was always going to be a matter of time. Other than that, amusing filler.