![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Entry tags:
Review: Creation of the Gods I: Kingdom of Storms (封神第一部：朝歌風雲) (2023)
I had heard good things about this movie and I am so glad that they turned out to be RIGHT.
I've been making my way through the shoddy Chinese historical movies of the 2000s/early 2010s and I worried that this movie would be in the same vein. But I am so pleased that this movie was instead an action-packed and well-produced (most of the time) movie.
I would totally recommend this movie for people who are interested in Chinese epics.
Spoilers.
Story
This story began with Yin Shou going to battle. He'd taken many hostage sons who'd become loyal to him. Along the way, he and his hostage sons picked up Su Daji, the daughter of the killed lord, who was possessed by the spirit of a fox demon (who had been released due to Yin Shou's blood having activated her). Daji would be known as the instigator of all bad things in the Investiture of the Gods because, as we know, women are always blamed for shit. This is fiction though so we'll let it slide only this time.
Returning home, Yin Shou's elder brother killed his father, and then was killed himself. Yin Shou then ascended the throne. At this time, a diviner determined that his rule would bring bad things to the people. Yin Shou had agreed to kill himself to appease the gods, but this did not happen. During this time Daji became his favourite.
On the godly realm, Jiang Ziya was sent with Erlang Shen and Nezha to deliver the Investiture Scroll to the sovereign of the mortal realm. Upon doing so, however, Jiang Ziya found that Yin Shou was a cruel man, and as such, he made a judgment call not to give him the scroll.
The fathers of Yin Shou's hostage sons, the Dukes, were called to the Capital and on the way, Ji Chang found a demon baby. Nezha and Erlang Shen wanted to kill the baby, but Ji Chang insisted that a child's goodness was based on their upbringing, and that the baby could be raised to be good. Jiang Ziya agreed and asked Ji Chang to name the baby before taking the baby to his shifu to be raised in the Kunlun Mountains. Ji Chang named the baby Lei Zhenzi.
At the Capital, Yin Shou forced the sons of the dukes to kill their own fathers. Chong Yingbiao did it of his own volition. E Shun tried to attack Yin Shou and both he and his father were killed for it. Jiang Wenhuan's father killed himself to save his son. Ji Fa sidestepped the issue by insisting that his father should atone for his crimes rather than being killed.
Ji Fa's older brother Bo Yikao arrived at the Capital to save their father, offering up his own life. Yin Shou killed him and turned him into food, serving the food to Ji Chang. Ji Chang was then released and humiliated.
Yin Jiao was investigating the fox spirit Daji and tried to kill her, though many times his actions led Yin Shou to believe that his son was attempting to kill him. His mother died trying to kill Daji. I'm not sure if Daji is immortal or if she just has nine lives, but either way, she's unkillable for now.
Yin Jiao was able to expose that Daji was a fox spirit, but Yin Shou accepted this, accepting the power she gave him. Yin Jiao was arrested and to be executed.
Yin Shou commanded Ji Fa to kill Ji Chang. On the day of Yin Jiao's execution, Ji Fa pretended to present his father's severed head to get close to Yin Shou. Ji Fa had actually sent his father home, though Ji Chang was eventually picked up and brought home by a grown Lei Zhenzi.
At the execution, Chong Yingbiao executed Yin Jiao. However, Nezha would take the severed body away (presumably to revive him). Ji Fa scuffled with Yin Shou and killed him, but at the end of the movie, Yin Shou was revived by Daji. Shen Gongbao, an evil monk, pursued Jiang Ziya and his Investiture, but Ji Fa managed to divert his attention.
Ji Fa then rode home where he reunited with his father Ji Chang.
So the story was super action packed. It was definitely very fast-paced, particularly with some of the dramatic stuff (like Yin Shou's father and brother dying at the same feast), but it also slowed down where it needed to (like conversations between Ji Chang and Ji Fa). I was rapt the entire time. I know Investiture of the Gods is an epic story so there's a lot to tell and I think the movie did good in choosing what to tell at this point.
The character writing was decent too. I mean, Daji will always be blamed for the fall of the Shang Dynasty, but I appreciated that this movie interpreted it that Yin Shou had his own ambitions and that Daji was just helping him reach that out of gratitude.
I do think that the story might be confusing for people who don't have a background. I was watching with my parents so they explained a lot of what was going on. If I was watching alone, I probably wouldn't have caught a lot of references or foreshadowing.
Production
EXCELLENT production. I know that a lot of money was put into this movie and it shows. I also know that it had some financial difficulties at times and it shows XD For the most part, the production value was great. The costumes were very high quality, the sets were appropriately majestic and the CGI was able to fill in the gaps for the most part. However, there was one specific scene where the CGI was incredibly shoddy, and that was probably the part of the movie that did not have a big budget attached to it. But otherwise, I felt that CGI was appropriately used, either to expand a setting to make it look bigger, or to animate the supernatural (or powers), or to show monsters. While for the most part, I could tell that it was CGI, for now I felt like it could convince me.
The acting was pretty good, especially if a lot of the younger actors were newbies. Apparently all of these folks were put into boot camp to study skills for the role, including some literary arts but also fighting, horseriding, etc. It is impressive that some of them were first-time actors, because I couldn't tell, particularly for Yu Shi.
But of course a lot of the other seasoned veteran actors were great too, like Huang Bo and Yuan Chuan. I loved that so many actors didn't mind being in this for a short period, because a fact of the matter is that Investiture of the Gods just has so many people.
Characters
Ji Fa
Our main character, the future King Wu of Zhou. He was a hostage son held captive by Yin Shou. He was good-natured, eager to believe in the good in people.
At first, he saw Yin Shou as a hero, and believed in his ambition. However, unlike Yin Shou, Ji Fa was more kind and benevolent. He couldn't bear to kill his own father, even if he was a criminal, and used another tactic to save his life. During his conversation, Ji Chang said that if Ji Fa truly believed in all of Yin Shou's values, he would have killed his own father right then. That was when Ji Fan understood that he didn't agree with Yin Shou's cruelty.
Ji Fa was also good friends with Yin Jiao. The entire movie, he helped his friend, and supported him as he tried to get his dad out from under the spell of the fox demon, only to realize that his own father was the source of his own evil.
At the end of the movie, Ji Fa reconciled with his father, promising that he would return home, but it would be after Ji Fa attempted to save his friend Yin Jiao. Ji Fa pretended to kill his own father, bringing a fake as a severed head to present to Yin Shou. In this way, Ji Fa was able to get close to Yin Shou. They scuffled, and he did actually kill Yin Shou, though he was revived later by Daji.
Ji Fa then helped Jiang Ziya evade the evil monk Shen Gongbao. After he did, tired out of his skin, he returned home, a very moving reunion that had me nearly at tears.
Ji Fa is our narrator and a very key player in the Zhou Dynasty, so we can count on him being there for the next two movies. I thought his actor did a great job as a guy who wanted to do good in the world, and learned to find his own way and his own values.
Yin Shou
The main antagonist of this movie. He was a fearsome leader, but we soon learned that he was cruel and cared only for his own ambition. If the hostage sons weren't a clue, seeing him kill an innocent man just to see if the Investiture was real was the nail in the coffin. Jiang Ziya was already going to deliver the Investiture to him, but seeing the sovereign do such a cruel thing, he made a judgment call that this was not the right guy.
We slowly saw him do more cruel things, like making his hostage sons kill their own fathers, or letting his empress, the mother of his son, die.
Yin Jiao was convinced his dad was under the spell of a fox demon (which some interpretations do believe). However, after the reveal of Daji as a fox demon, it was revealed that Yin Shou accepted her place next to him, as she supported all of his selfish ambitions. See, it was his blood that unlocked her spirit, so she was wholeheartedly devoted to him.
Yin Shou continued his cruelty, putting his son to death after he tried to attack Daji. He was technically killed by Ji Fa, but we know we're going to see him in the next movie(s).
I liked this spin on Yin Shou as a fearsome and charismatic leader, but a cruel and ambitious one. Like I said, some interpretations prefer to push all the blame onto Daji, but I liked that this movie showed that Yin Shou wasn't just some uwu victim who'd been put under a spell, if he did not have the ambitions, he would not have been so quick to agree to Daji.
Yin Jiao
Ji Fa's friend, and Yin Shou's son. Very much caught up in the middle of the drama.
When the diviner had determined that bad things would come unto the people during Yin Shou's reign, Yin Jiao wanted to help, by taking the throne, though of course from Yin Shou's perspective, that looked very suspicious. Even Yin Jiao's mother told him that it was probably not a good move.
Then, Yin Jiao caught sight of the fox demon and then his arc became about catching Daji. Only, every time he did, she would twist the situation to make it look like Yin Jiao was attacking Yin Shou.
Yin Jiao collaborated with an Imperial uncle to reveal Daji's identity, which she did, but it was revealed that Yin Shou accepted and cherished Daji. That drove Yin Jiao nuts, and he tried to kill Daji, only for his father to order him executed.
Yin Jiao was eventually killed by Chong Yingbiao. However, the god squad wrapped him to bring him to Kunlun Mountains, so I think we can be sure to see him in the future movies.
Plus, given the emphasis put on relationships between fathers and sons, I think it would only make sense from a narrative standpoint for Yin Jiao to kill Yin Shou in the end.
Su Daji
A well-known villain in the Invesetiture of the Gods. The fall of the Shang Empire is often attributed to her causing a ruckus, on account of being a demon.
In this movie, Daji was freed when a drop of Yin Shou's blood was spilled, and it kind of unlocked a lot of demons and bad things into the world. The real Su Daji had died, and Daji the demon possessed her. The hostage sons happened upon her, but didn't want to kill a woman. Instead, Yin Shou took her back with him, and soon became his favourite. Not only was she beautiful, but she also healed his wounds.
I am surprised that Daji ate the Imperial uncle's heart so easily because it would reveal her identity, but perhaps she knew that Yin Shou knew that she was a demon and accepted it.
As mentioned, Daji was basically unkillable in this movie, though the technicalities of it were unclear. At the end, Daji revived Yin Shou who would live to see another day.
As other fans have mentioned, I appreciated how foxlike Daji was portrayed to be. Yes, she was a seductress, but I liked that this movie took the fox stuff more seriously to really add the fox demon flavour to this iteration of Daji.
Ji Chang
Ji Chang was the Western Duke, Ji Fa's father. He was first portrayed to us as a kindly intellectual, focused on growing good crops for his people. His people waved to him as he left, signifying that they respected him.
When Ji Chang was called to the Capital, he stumbled upon a demon child, and wrapped him in a blanket. Nezha and Erlang Shen wanted to kill the demon to prevent it from being a terror in the future. However, Ji Chang said that a child was innocent, and you could not tell whether it was good or bad until after it grew up. And a child, no matter their origins, could be taught to be good. Jiang Ziya agreed with this, and took the child to his shifu at Kunlun Mountains to be raised. Before taking the child away, Ji Chang gave the child the name Lei Zhenzi.
Ji Chang and the dukes met, and discussed the possibility of the rebellion. Ji Fa stumbled upon the meeting and accused the four. Ji Chang recognized Ji Fa as his son by the jade disc he wore on his belt.
At the Capital, Ji Chang and the other dukes were accused of treason. However, Ji Chang did not argue, understanding that his own arguments would not help the situation. Fortunately, Ji Fa argued for him to stay alive for the time being.
Ji Fa secretly met up with Ji Chang at the prison cell. Ji Fa pled with Ji Chang to admit his guilt. Ji Chang in turn questioned Ji Fa's values, whether he truly believed in Yin Shou. Ji Chang pointed out that if Ji Fa believed in Yin Shou wholeheartedly, he would have killed his father.
Ji Fa's elder son Bo Yikao arrived in the capital to save his father. He sacrificed himself. Yin Shou then cooked Bo Yikao into meat patties and served them to Ji Chang in prison, which obviously upset Ji Chang a lot. In the end, Ji Chang was released and forced to admit his wrongdoing.
Yin Shou later ordered Ji Fa to kill his own father. However, Ji Fa did not, and instead sent his father home. He gave him his jade disc as a promise that he would return home.
On the way back, Ji Chang's horse (Bo Yikao's horse originally) was killed, but a grown Lei Zhenzi came to take him home.
In the end, we had a tearful reunion between Ji Chang and Ji Fa.
There was a conversation between Ji Chang and Yin Shou, where Yin Shou said he admired Ji Chang for having such loyal sons (including Bo Yikao who would die for him), while his own son wanted to kill him. With Ji Chang, there was an ongoing theme of nurture and how it can shape a person to be good or evil. Ji Chang believed in the potential of baby Lei Zhenzi. I think Ji Fa was maybe a young teen when he was taken hostage by Yin Shou, so he would have had some years of nurture by his own father, and perhaps that stayed with Ji Fa despite him looking up to Yin Shou. At the same time, Yin Shou as a father couldn't see his own son's love for him and I would say that was his own fault as a father.
Jiang Ziya
Our main connection between the heavenly and mortal realms. Jiang Ziya, a human, was sent to the mortal realm to deliver the Investiture to Yin Shou. However, upon seeing that Yin Shou was not a benevolent ruler, he ran away, with the Investiture in his possession.
The Chinese people who are watching this movie will know that Ji Chang and Ji Fa are the future kings of the Zhou Dynasty, so every interaction we see between them and Jiang Ziya is meaningful. Jiang Ziya saw the just and kind natures of these men, and that would foreshadow him helping these kings in the future.
This version of Jiang Ziya, played by Huang Bo, had a bit of a comedic twist too, which was charming and enjoyable.
Nezha
The joke is that Nezha and Erlang Shen were just here as deliver people and yeah, that was kind of the case.
I'd also say that Nezha and Erlang Shen were some comedic relief as well. Seeing as how Nezha is a child, his temper would get the best of him, like when the god squad accidentally got enslaved and Nezha fought their way out.
I actually thought Nezha was well-acted! There's always a problem with casting for Nezha because traditionally this character is a child. However, finding a child actor who can carry the weight of Nezha on their shoulders. I think this actor for Nezha was able to bring the brattiness, but without it being annoying, and still maintaining a bit of godliness to him. I felt that his fighting was nice too, not too...Avater the Last Airbender-esque lol.
The animation for Nezha was sometimes a bit off, mostly just that the ribbon sometimes looked a bit fake, but honestly I cut the producers slack.
Erlang Shen
Our favourite god cop. As I mentioned his role was limited. And like with Nezha, his role was mostly there for comedy or for fighting.
Erlang Shen was portrayed as a counter to Nezha. Whereas Nezha was brash, he was calm. While Nezha was fire, he was water.
I think it might have been Erlang Shen who eventually terminated Daji, so we shall see if that's the case.
Shen Gongbao
The villain for the god subplot. He was after the Investiture, and on Yin Shou's side.
In the end, he activated two Taotie statues to chase after Jiang Ziya, only to find that he had been wrongly chasing Ji Fa this time, thus losing his mark.
Queen Jiang
She was Yin Shou's rightful wife, and the mother of Yin Jiao. I wanted to mention her because she did have a brief scene. Basically, her brother was one of the dukes who was killed for "treason." She offered to commit suicide to atone for her family. Upon seeing Daji with Yin Shou in the spring, she decided to shoot her shot and try to kill Daji, but of course was killed in return.
When Yin Jiao offered to take the throne for his father, Queen Jiang said that that was a bad move, implying that she understood the politics of it.
I think in general, Queen Jiang understood most of the situation, though I'm not sure how much of the evil she attributed to Yin Shou himself. But Queen Jiang understood that he saw his own son as a threat. Just that Queen Jiang's political ability was rather limited.
Bo Yikao
GEGE ToT Bo Yikao was Ji Chang's elder son, and Ji Fa's older brother. We first saw him when Ji Chang was surveying the fields.
Bo Yikao later came to the Capital to save Ji Chang when he was imprisoned. He played flute for Daji while she danced and then pleaded for Ji Chang's life, offering his iown.
Bo Yikao was indeed killed, and served to his father to eat, as Yin Shou's idea of a sick joke.
Bo Yikao and his brother had a good relationship. When he came, he brought gifts, but also brought the two horses that their father had gifted them. Bo Yikao told him that you just had to say "回家" ("go home"), and the horse would know the way home.
I was sad about Bo Yikao so I read up about him on Wikipedia. According to some sources, his father vomited the pieces of him that he'd eaten, and they became three rabbits that accompanies Chang'e on the moon. I don't know how Chang'e ties into the Investiture of the Gods, but I do like the idea of Ji Chang throwing up the pieces of Bo Yikao ;_; He didn't deserve that. None of them did ;_;
Chong Yingbiao
Chong Yingbiao was the only one of the duke's sons who had not hesitated in killing his father. When Ying Jiao was to be executed, Chong Yingbiao was the one who finally did it, while the other hostage sons helped Ji Fa in fighting Yin Shou.
Chong Yingbiao is going to be a miniboss in the upcoming movies, as it's implied that he agrees with Yin Shou's philosophies.
Themes
Sons and Fathers
Nature vs. nurture was a big theme. Ji Chang was a big proponent of nurture. He even believed that a demon child could be raised to understand good, that was how much he believed in the good of people. He undoubtedly instilled such values in his sons Bo Yikao and Ji Fa.
On the other hand, we can see the strained relationship between Yin Shou and Yin Jiao. Yin Shou was convinced he had an unfilial son who kept trying to kill him. But we see that Yin Jiao wanted to help him, only that Yin Shou couldn't read between the lines. And when Yin Jiao tried to kill Daji, Yin Shou took it as a slight to himself. Afterwards, Yin Shou basically rejected his ancestors, mocking them and saying that they weren't around to say anything anymore. He turned his back on his family, both his past and his present, and only cared for his own future that included no one but himself and Daji.
In the upcoming movies, we're probably going to see some more interesting father-son dynamics, particularly since Ji Chang and Ji Fa are the future kings of the Zhou Dynasty. We'll get to see how they work together to defeat the evil in the world, with love and respect.
Will of Heaven
The Will of Heaven is represented in a more literal way in the Investiture of the Gods and in this movie. If the gods approve of a ruler, then the people will thrive. If the gods don't approve, then the people will suffer.
The problem here was that Yin Shou was willing to let the people suffer for his own wants. And because of that, he was not an appropriate man to receive the Mandate of Heaven. The Investiture was going to be given to Yin Shou, but upon seeing that he was a cruel man, Jiang Ziya turned around and noped out at the last minute.
Seeing truth
I saw a Tumblr post discussing that this movie was so much about seeing the truth. We saw the truth about Daji, but Yin Jiao saw the truth about his father. Ji Fa saw through the truth that Yin Shou presented to him, and saw the truth in his heart. This was about people finding their values and deciding what side they wanted to fight on.
Overall
Oh man, what a hype movie. It wasn't perfect, but it got me so excited. The mortal parts of the movie captured the conflicts that we love to see in politics, a struggle of power but not without emotions and relationships in the mix. The supernatural and godly parts of the movie were so exciting. I love that we got a budget for fighting and CGI so that we could see the gods fight in their own right. I am so excited for the next movies.
I've been making my way through the shoddy Chinese historical movies of the 2000s/early 2010s and I worried that this movie would be in the same vein. But I am so pleased that this movie was instead an action-packed and well-produced (most of the time) movie.
I would totally recommend this movie for people who are interested in Chinese epics.
Spoilers.
Story
This story began with Yin Shou going to battle. He'd taken many hostage sons who'd become loyal to him. Along the way, he and his hostage sons picked up Su Daji, the daughter of the killed lord, who was possessed by the spirit of a fox demon (who had been released due to Yin Shou's blood having activated her). Daji would be known as the instigator of all bad things in the Investiture of the Gods because, as we know, women are always blamed for shit. This is fiction though so we'll let it slide only this time.
Returning home, Yin Shou's elder brother killed his father, and then was killed himself. Yin Shou then ascended the throne. At this time, a diviner determined that his rule would bring bad things to the people. Yin Shou had agreed to kill himself to appease the gods, but this did not happen. During this time Daji became his favourite.
On the godly realm, Jiang Ziya was sent with Erlang Shen and Nezha to deliver the Investiture Scroll to the sovereign of the mortal realm. Upon doing so, however, Jiang Ziya found that Yin Shou was a cruel man, and as such, he made a judgment call not to give him the scroll.
The fathers of Yin Shou's hostage sons, the Dukes, were called to the Capital and on the way, Ji Chang found a demon baby. Nezha and Erlang Shen wanted to kill the baby, but Ji Chang insisted that a child's goodness was based on their upbringing, and that the baby could be raised to be good. Jiang Ziya agreed and asked Ji Chang to name the baby before taking the baby to his shifu to be raised in the Kunlun Mountains. Ji Chang named the baby Lei Zhenzi.
At the Capital, Yin Shou forced the sons of the dukes to kill their own fathers. Chong Yingbiao did it of his own volition. E Shun tried to attack Yin Shou and both he and his father were killed for it. Jiang Wenhuan's father killed himself to save his son. Ji Fa sidestepped the issue by insisting that his father should atone for his crimes rather than being killed.
Ji Fa's older brother Bo Yikao arrived at the Capital to save their father, offering up his own life. Yin Shou killed him and turned him into food, serving the food to Ji Chang. Ji Chang was then released and humiliated.
Yin Jiao was investigating the fox spirit Daji and tried to kill her, though many times his actions led Yin Shou to believe that his son was attempting to kill him. His mother died trying to kill Daji. I'm not sure if Daji is immortal or if she just has nine lives, but either way, she's unkillable for now.
Yin Jiao was able to expose that Daji was a fox spirit, but Yin Shou accepted this, accepting the power she gave him. Yin Jiao was arrested and to be executed.
Yin Shou commanded Ji Fa to kill Ji Chang. On the day of Yin Jiao's execution, Ji Fa pretended to present his father's severed head to get close to Yin Shou. Ji Fa had actually sent his father home, though Ji Chang was eventually picked up and brought home by a grown Lei Zhenzi.
At the execution, Chong Yingbiao executed Yin Jiao. However, Nezha would take the severed body away (presumably to revive him). Ji Fa scuffled with Yin Shou and killed him, but at the end of the movie, Yin Shou was revived by Daji. Shen Gongbao, an evil monk, pursued Jiang Ziya and his Investiture, but Ji Fa managed to divert his attention.
Ji Fa then rode home where he reunited with his father Ji Chang.
So the story was super action packed. It was definitely very fast-paced, particularly with some of the dramatic stuff (like Yin Shou's father and brother dying at the same feast), but it also slowed down where it needed to (like conversations between Ji Chang and Ji Fa). I was rapt the entire time. I know Investiture of the Gods is an epic story so there's a lot to tell and I think the movie did good in choosing what to tell at this point.
The character writing was decent too. I mean, Daji will always be blamed for the fall of the Shang Dynasty, but I appreciated that this movie interpreted it that Yin Shou had his own ambitions and that Daji was just helping him reach that out of gratitude.
I do think that the story might be confusing for people who don't have a background. I was watching with my parents so they explained a lot of what was going on. If I was watching alone, I probably wouldn't have caught a lot of references or foreshadowing.
Production
EXCELLENT production. I know that a lot of money was put into this movie and it shows. I also know that it had some financial difficulties at times and it shows XD For the most part, the production value was great. The costumes were very high quality, the sets were appropriately majestic and the CGI was able to fill in the gaps for the most part. However, there was one specific scene where the CGI was incredibly shoddy, and that was probably the part of the movie that did not have a big budget attached to it. But otherwise, I felt that CGI was appropriately used, either to expand a setting to make it look bigger, or to animate the supernatural (or powers), or to show monsters. While for the most part, I could tell that it was CGI, for now I felt like it could convince me.
The acting was pretty good, especially if a lot of the younger actors were newbies. Apparently all of these folks were put into boot camp to study skills for the role, including some literary arts but also fighting, horseriding, etc. It is impressive that some of them were first-time actors, because I couldn't tell, particularly for Yu Shi.
But of course a lot of the other seasoned veteran actors were great too, like Huang Bo and Yuan Chuan. I loved that so many actors didn't mind being in this for a short period, because a fact of the matter is that Investiture of the Gods just has so many people.
Characters
Ji Fa
Our main character, the future King Wu of Zhou. He was a hostage son held captive by Yin Shou. He was good-natured, eager to believe in the good in people.
At first, he saw Yin Shou as a hero, and believed in his ambition. However, unlike Yin Shou, Ji Fa was more kind and benevolent. He couldn't bear to kill his own father, even if he was a criminal, and used another tactic to save his life. During his conversation, Ji Chang said that if Ji Fa truly believed in all of Yin Shou's values, he would have killed his own father right then. That was when Ji Fan understood that he didn't agree with Yin Shou's cruelty.
Ji Fa was also good friends with Yin Jiao. The entire movie, he helped his friend, and supported him as he tried to get his dad out from under the spell of the fox demon, only to realize that his own father was the source of his own evil.
At the end of the movie, Ji Fa reconciled with his father, promising that he would return home, but it would be after Ji Fa attempted to save his friend Yin Jiao. Ji Fa pretended to kill his own father, bringing a fake as a severed head to present to Yin Shou. In this way, Ji Fa was able to get close to Yin Shou. They scuffled, and he did actually kill Yin Shou, though he was revived later by Daji.
Ji Fa then helped Jiang Ziya evade the evil monk Shen Gongbao. After he did, tired out of his skin, he returned home, a very moving reunion that had me nearly at tears.
Ji Fa is our narrator and a very key player in the Zhou Dynasty, so we can count on him being there for the next two movies. I thought his actor did a great job as a guy who wanted to do good in the world, and learned to find his own way and his own values.
Yin Shou
The main antagonist of this movie. He was a fearsome leader, but we soon learned that he was cruel and cared only for his own ambition. If the hostage sons weren't a clue, seeing him kill an innocent man just to see if the Investiture was real was the nail in the coffin. Jiang Ziya was already going to deliver the Investiture to him, but seeing the sovereign do such a cruel thing, he made a judgment call that this was not the right guy.
We slowly saw him do more cruel things, like making his hostage sons kill their own fathers, or letting his empress, the mother of his son, die.
Yin Jiao was convinced his dad was under the spell of a fox demon (which some interpretations do believe). However, after the reveal of Daji as a fox demon, it was revealed that Yin Shou accepted her place next to him, as she supported all of his selfish ambitions. See, it was his blood that unlocked her spirit, so she was wholeheartedly devoted to him.
Yin Shou continued his cruelty, putting his son to death after he tried to attack Daji. He was technically killed by Ji Fa, but we know we're going to see him in the next movie(s).
I liked this spin on Yin Shou as a fearsome and charismatic leader, but a cruel and ambitious one. Like I said, some interpretations prefer to push all the blame onto Daji, but I liked that this movie showed that Yin Shou wasn't just some uwu victim who'd been put under a spell, if he did not have the ambitions, he would not have been so quick to agree to Daji.
Yin Jiao
Ji Fa's friend, and Yin Shou's son. Very much caught up in the middle of the drama.
When the diviner had determined that bad things would come unto the people during Yin Shou's reign, Yin Jiao wanted to help, by taking the throne, though of course from Yin Shou's perspective, that looked very suspicious. Even Yin Jiao's mother told him that it was probably not a good move.
Then, Yin Jiao caught sight of the fox demon and then his arc became about catching Daji. Only, every time he did, she would twist the situation to make it look like Yin Jiao was attacking Yin Shou.
Yin Jiao collaborated with an Imperial uncle to reveal Daji's identity, which she did, but it was revealed that Yin Shou accepted and cherished Daji. That drove Yin Jiao nuts, and he tried to kill Daji, only for his father to order him executed.
Yin Jiao was eventually killed by Chong Yingbiao. However, the god squad wrapped him to bring him to Kunlun Mountains, so I think we can be sure to see him in the future movies.
Plus, given the emphasis put on relationships between fathers and sons, I think it would only make sense from a narrative standpoint for Yin Jiao to kill Yin Shou in the end.
Su Daji
A well-known villain in the Invesetiture of the Gods. The fall of the Shang Empire is often attributed to her causing a ruckus, on account of being a demon.
In this movie, Daji was freed when a drop of Yin Shou's blood was spilled, and it kind of unlocked a lot of demons and bad things into the world. The real Su Daji had died, and Daji the demon possessed her. The hostage sons happened upon her, but didn't want to kill a woman. Instead, Yin Shou took her back with him, and soon became his favourite. Not only was she beautiful, but she also healed his wounds.
I am surprised that Daji ate the Imperial uncle's heart so easily because it would reveal her identity, but perhaps she knew that Yin Shou knew that she was a demon and accepted it.
As mentioned, Daji was basically unkillable in this movie, though the technicalities of it were unclear. At the end, Daji revived Yin Shou who would live to see another day.
As other fans have mentioned, I appreciated how foxlike Daji was portrayed to be. Yes, she was a seductress, but I liked that this movie took the fox stuff more seriously to really add the fox demon flavour to this iteration of Daji.
Ji Chang
Ji Chang was the Western Duke, Ji Fa's father. He was first portrayed to us as a kindly intellectual, focused on growing good crops for his people. His people waved to him as he left, signifying that they respected him.
When Ji Chang was called to the Capital, he stumbled upon a demon child, and wrapped him in a blanket. Nezha and Erlang Shen wanted to kill the demon to prevent it from being a terror in the future. However, Ji Chang said that a child was innocent, and you could not tell whether it was good or bad until after it grew up. And a child, no matter their origins, could be taught to be good. Jiang Ziya agreed with this, and took the child to his shifu at Kunlun Mountains to be raised. Before taking the child away, Ji Chang gave the child the name Lei Zhenzi.
Ji Chang and the dukes met, and discussed the possibility of the rebellion. Ji Fa stumbled upon the meeting and accused the four. Ji Chang recognized Ji Fa as his son by the jade disc he wore on his belt.
At the Capital, Ji Chang and the other dukes were accused of treason. However, Ji Chang did not argue, understanding that his own arguments would not help the situation. Fortunately, Ji Fa argued for him to stay alive for the time being.
Ji Fa secretly met up with Ji Chang at the prison cell. Ji Fa pled with Ji Chang to admit his guilt. Ji Chang in turn questioned Ji Fa's values, whether he truly believed in Yin Shou. Ji Chang pointed out that if Ji Fa believed in Yin Shou wholeheartedly, he would have killed his father.
Ji Fa's elder son Bo Yikao arrived in the capital to save his father. He sacrificed himself. Yin Shou then cooked Bo Yikao into meat patties and served them to Ji Chang in prison, which obviously upset Ji Chang a lot. In the end, Ji Chang was released and forced to admit his wrongdoing.
Yin Shou later ordered Ji Fa to kill his own father. However, Ji Fa did not, and instead sent his father home. He gave him his jade disc as a promise that he would return home.
On the way back, Ji Chang's horse (Bo Yikao's horse originally) was killed, but a grown Lei Zhenzi came to take him home.
In the end, we had a tearful reunion between Ji Chang and Ji Fa.
There was a conversation between Ji Chang and Yin Shou, where Yin Shou said he admired Ji Chang for having such loyal sons (including Bo Yikao who would die for him), while his own son wanted to kill him. With Ji Chang, there was an ongoing theme of nurture and how it can shape a person to be good or evil. Ji Chang believed in the potential of baby Lei Zhenzi. I think Ji Fa was maybe a young teen when he was taken hostage by Yin Shou, so he would have had some years of nurture by his own father, and perhaps that stayed with Ji Fa despite him looking up to Yin Shou. At the same time, Yin Shou as a father couldn't see his own son's love for him and I would say that was his own fault as a father.
Jiang Ziya
Our main connection between the heavenly and mortal realms. Jiang Ziya, a human, was sent to the mortal realm to deliver the Investiture to Yin Shou. However, upon seeing that Yin Shou was not a benevolent ruler, he ran away, with the Investiture in his possession.
The Chinese people who are watching this movie will know that Ji Chang and Ji Fa are the future kings of the Zhou Dynasty, so every interaction we see between them and Jiang Ziya is meaningful. Jiang Ziya saw the just and kind natures of these men, and that would foreshadow him helping these kings in the future.
This version of Jiang Ziya, played by Huang Bo, had a bit of a comedic twist too, which was charming and enjoyable.
Nezha
The joke is that Nezha and Erlang Shen were just here as deliver people and yeah, that was kind of the case.
I'd also say that Nezha and Erlang Shen were some comedic relief as well. Seeing as how Nezha is a child, his temper would get the best of him, like when the god squad accidentally got enslaved and Nezha fought their way out.
I actually thought Nezha was well-acted! There's always a problem with casting for Nezha because traditionally this character is a child. However, finding a child actor who can carry the weight of Nezha on their shoulders. I think this actor for Nezha was able to bring the brattiness, but without it being annoying, and still maintaining a bit of godliness to him. I felt that his fighting was nice too, not too...Avater the Last Airbender-esque lol.
The animation for Nezha was sometimes a bit off, mostly just that the ribbon sometimes looked a bit fake, but honestly I cut the producers slack.
Erlang Shen
Our favourite god cop. As I mentioned his role was limited. And like with Nezha, his role was mostly there for comedy or for fighting.
Erlang Shen was portrayed as a counter to Nezha. Whereas Nezha was brash, he was calm. While Nezha was fire, he was water.
I think it might have been Erlang Shen who eventually terminated Daji, so we shall see if that's the case.
Shen Gongbao
The villain for the god subplot. He was after the Investiture, and on Yin Shou's side.
In the end, he activated two Taotie statues to chase after Jiang Ziya, only to find that he had been wrongly chasing Ji Fa this time, thus losing his mark.
Queen Jiang
She was Yin Shou's rightful wife, and the mother of Yin Jiao. I wanted to mention her because she did have a brief scene. Basically, her brother was one of the dukes who was killed for "treason." She offered to commit suicide to atone for her family. Upon seeing Daji with Yin Shou in the spring, she decided to shoot her shot and try to kill Daji, but of course was killed in return.
When Yin Jiao offered to take the throne for his father, Queen Jiang said that that was a bad move, implying that she understood the politics of it.
I think in general, Queen Jiang understood most of the situation, though I'm not sure how much of the evil she attributed to Yin Shou himself. But Queen Jiang understood that he saw his own son as a threat. Just that Queen Jiang's political ability was rather limited.
Bo Yikao
GEGE ToT Bo Yikao was Ji Chang's elder son, and Ji Fa's older brother. We first saw him when Ji Chang was surveying the fields.
Bo Yikao later came to the Capital to save Ji Chang when he was imprisoned. He played flute for Daji while she danced and then pleaded for Ji Chang's life, offering his iown.
Bo Yikao was indeed killed, and served to his father to eat, as Yin Shou's idea of a sick joke.
Bo Yikao and his brother had a good relationship. When he came, he brought gifts, but also brought the two horses that their father had gifted them. Bo Yikao told him that you just had to say "回家" ("go home"), and the horse would know the way home.
I was sad about Bo Yikao so I read up about him on Wikipedia. According to some sources, his father vomited the pieces of him that he'd eaten, and they became three rabbits that accompanies Chang'e on the moon. I don't know how Chang'e ties into the Investiture of the Gods, but I do like the idea of Ji Chang throwing up the pieces of Bo Yikao ;_; He didn't deserve that. None of them did ;_;
Chong Yingbiao
Chong Yingbiao was the only one of the duke's sons who had not hesitated in killing his father. When Ying Jiao was to be executed, Chong Yingbiao was the one who finally did it, while the other hostage sons helped Ji Fa in fighting Yin Shou.
Chong Yingbiao is going to be a miniboss in the upcoming movies, as it's implied that he agrees with Yin Shou's philosophies.
Themes
Sons and Fathers
Nature vs. nurture was a big theme. Ji Chang was a big proponent of nurture. He even believed that a demon child could be raised to understand good, that was how much he believed in the good of people. He undoubtedly instilled such values in his sons Bo Yikao and Ji Fa.
On the other hand, we can see the strained relationship between Yin Shou and Yin Jiao. Yin Shou was convinced he had an unfilial son who kept trying to kill him. But we see that Yin Jiao wanted to help him, only that Yin Shou couldn't read between the lines. And when Yin Jiao tried to kill Daji, Yin Shou took it as a slight to himself. Afterwards, Yin Shou basically rejected his ancestors, mocking them and saying that they weren't around to say anything anymore. He turned his back on his family, both his past and his present, and only cared for his own future that included no one but himself and Daji.
In the upcoming movies, we're probably going to see some more interesting father-son dynamics, particularly since Ji Chang and Ji Fa are the future kings of the Zhou Dynasty. We'll get to see how they work together to defeat the evil in the world, with love and respect.
Will of Heaven
The Will of Heaven is represented in a more literal way in the Investiture of the Gods and in this movie. If the gods approve of a ruler, then the people will thrive. If the gods don't approve, then the people will suffer.
The problem here was that Yin Shou was willing to let the people suffer for his own wants. And because of that, he was not an appropriate man to receive the Mandate of Heaven. The Investiture was going to be given to Yin Shou, but upon seeing that he was a cruel man, Jiang Ziya turned around and noped out at the last minute.
Seeing truth
I saw a Tumblr post discussing that this movie was so much about seeing the truth. We saw the truth about Daji, but Yin Jiao saw the truth about his father. Ji Fa saw through the truth that Yin Shou presented to him, and saw the truth in his heart. This was about people finding their values and deciding what side they wanted to fight on.
Overall
Oh man, what a hype movie. It wasn't perfect, but it got me so excited. The mortal parts of the movie captured the conflicts that we love to see in politics, a struggle of power but not without emotions and relationships in the mix. The supernatural and godly parts of the movie were so exciting. I love that we got a budget for fighting and CGI so that we could see the gods fight in their own right. I am so excited for the next movies.