Qi Men Dun Jia
2020 / 84m - China
Action, Fantasy
3.5*/5.0*
Fantasy Magician poster

Watches

June 21, 2020

3.5*/5.0*

Expectations were quite low going into this one, but it was surprisingly well-made. There have been a lot of these Chinese fantasy/martial arts TV productions lately and while most are somewhat enjoyable, they rarely leave much of an impression. The short running time and slick poster design tricked me into thinking this was another one of those, but I was clearly mistaken.

This film is not to be confused with Woo-Ping Yuen's 2017 blockbuster version, which deals with pretty much the same story. While it's clear that the 2020 remake didn't have have quite the same means to its disposal, Hesheng and Qiuliang Xiang did their very best to make this just as enjoyable.

The CG is actually quite solid, the nifty creature designs and spell effects are also of great help. Actors are decent and the sets look pretty impressive. Nice action cinematography, perfect pacing and a fun story do the rest. It's not quite up there with the best Chinese martial arts/fantasy hybrids, but it was great fun nonetheless.