Waste of a good concept

This movie suffers from the typical modern Chinese movie affliction : it lets the CGI take centre stage and ultimately the story suffers for it.

While the CGI is good, it has no story to tell. It is just eye candy and nothing more. What is more disheartening is that this movie had a great story concept. It would have been better to let the story lead and decide where and when CGI is needed to enhance the tale. As it is, the movie felt like a collection of scenes that showcases CGI magic that does little to better the story.

Without revealing too much detail and risking a spoiler, this movie is a re-imagining of the classic Chinese ghost story of Nie Xiaoqian and Ning Chaichen. However, I felt that it spent too much time with Po Songling (Jackie Chan) rather than to develop the relationship between Xiaoqian and Chaichen. The first third of the movie can be shortened as it spent too much time introducing Po Songling and Yan Fei; who is totally unnecessary as a character here.

Time would have been better spent to tell us more about the backstory of Xiaoqian and Chaichen which was reduced to an animated flashback segment lasting about 3 minutes.

The acting in the movie was so-so. Jackie Chan didn't look like he was giving his best. The rest of the cast were decent but the lead roles deserved so much more. Sad to say more time were dedicated to bringing in CGI characters like the pig demon and the thousand-hand demon than to develop the chemistry and/or conflict between Xiaoqian and Chaichen.

One can't help but to wonder how much better this movie could have been if enough care was given to tell a story rather than to showcase some CGI imagery.

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