As with any film that's the first in a trilogy, this spends just a little too long setting out who's who but once it does, this develops into an enjoyable fantasy adventure film that brings a wonderfully vibrant myriad of Chinese mythological and human characters to life. Ancient rivalries and battles between humanity, the deities and some marvellously created mystical beasts - especially the dragons - form the basis of the story set some three millennia ago. Personally, I tended to the side of the immortals - and there's even the slightest hint of a bromance for one of them - as the "Demon Fox", and the manipulative "King Zhou" use mankind's greed, avarice, loyalty and decency to ensure they retain their place at the top of the mountain. The visual effects are usually top drawer and the action scenes avoid the often lazily constructed, repetitive, style of combat scenes. Now the acting isn't the best - indeed there is plenty of woodenness for us to inspect here, and I also found it a bit over-scored, but the richness of the mythology could, a bit like "Lord of the Rings", perhaps, provide for more characterful adventures and personality development in the next film. For a part one, though, it's a long, but increasingly quite compelling watch if you like the genre and appreciate the wealth of stories before us. Get comfy though - we're in for a long ride!
