Looking at the poster, the first thing is that actors of Fan Bingbing’s or Yang Mi’s level are gone, and halfway through I suddenly remembered Ariff Rahman’s Neon, which is a bit of a shame. Doesn’t really affect me though. When it first started, I felt Wang Duo’s Qira face looked a bit round and lacked some of the character’s vibe, but later with some different angles it looked much better. The ones who acted best turned out to be Jackson Yee and Karry Wang — pretty fitting for the characters.
There are still quite a few issues.
Watching the whole film, the biggest gripe is: even though everyone’s a mage, the fighting still relies almost entirely on physical combat. It’s not until Xiuchuan Dizang and the Apostles show up later that it finally feels like a proper Soul Arts battle, which is really satisfying. I’m guessing large‑scale magic battles are too demanding on imagination and budget, so this is kind of a helpless compromise.
Also, the whole European medieval style made me feel a bit uncomfortable. I’d prefer something more “Chinese‑Western fusion”.
There are some logical problems too. Some emotional shifts are a bit abrupt and weaken the sense of immersion. One example: a few people are “wanted,” yet they can still meet up at Tian Shuyouhua’s residence — that would feel unbelievable even in real life, let alone in a Soul Power world where gods are duking it out. It’s hard to believe the Silver Priests wouldn’t have at least that level of intelligence gathering. Another example: when everyone is discussing whether Qi Ling can go with Yin Chen, the initially serious atmosphere makes sense — after all, going there is basically a one‑way trip. But once they get Lianquan and Yin Chen’s approval, Qi Ling’s reaction is like a kid whose parents just agreed to let him go to an amusement park — suddenly playful, and the whole mood shift feels kind of bizarre. Also, in terms of the way the “trial stages” are set up, only Yin Chen and Qi Ling’s talents can give Yin Chen a sliver of hope in the final stage. If Qi Ling isn’t allowed to go, then Yin Chen really is giving himself no way out at all.
Another thing is that the facial expressions really are a bit weak and drag down the viewing experience, but I was mentally prepared for that, so I gritted my teeth and got through it. When the actors don’t need to emote, and the camera goes right up to their faces, the improved image quality — seeing Fan’s stubble, for example — is actually quite satisfying.
There’s another point: to accommodate the audience, some plot points are “annotated” via flashbacks, but this doesn’t feel good to watch. For example, they explain that only when a Duke dies can the disciple‑master pair power up, and for Qi Ling that means his hair will turn white. Only after that do we see Qi Ling’s hair change. This bit of information could have been conveyed directly through the main plot; it really isn’t hard for the audience to understand.
To its credit, some of the small tweaks from the original novel are reasonable.
For instance, in the original, the way the Apostles’ ambiguous feelings toward the Dukes are written can make people feel uncomfortable. In this movie, what’s emphasized is a sense of “guardianship,” which works much better for me.
Less talking, more fighting scenes — I think that’s the right direction. I don’t really like watching them do heavy drama scenes anyway, haha.
It’s really tough being someone who’s in it for the feelings. I basically got through the whole viewing experience just by clinging to the hope of seeing Gilgamesh, and when Gilgamesh’s Four‑Symbol Limit finally showed up, I honestly wanted to jump out of my seat. But judging from how things look, it’s probably going to be pretty hard for Director Guo to get funding for the next one. Give him a chance to make another sequel; I still want to see Gilgamesh.
Speaking of Gilgamesh, I already had this feeling when reading the novel: the power levels of the characters keep “inflating.” At the tavern early on, some Soul Arts users are almost invincible in front of ordinary people. Then once the Duke–disciple pairs show up, ordinary Soul Arts users basically become muggles. After that, it keeps inflating bit by bit: first each Duke is almost invincible, then characters from Wind Source appear and are even stronger. It’s as if that’s the only way to keep readers hooked. I don’t know how the novel or the films will handle this later on — after Gilgamesh has already reached the point of destroying heaven and earth, how do you even move the plot forward? I’ll just put a question mark here for now.