L.O.R.D. LEGEND OF RAVAGING DYNASTIES (爵迹) (2016)

Genre: CG Animation
Director: Guo Jingming
Cast: Fan Bingbing, Kris Wu, Chen Xuedong, William Chan, Amber Kuo, Yang Mi, Lin Yun, Yan Yikuan, Aarif Rahman, Roy Wang, Wang Duo
Runtime: 1 hr 56 mins
Rating: PG13 (Some Violence)
Released By: Clover Films and Cathay Keris-Films 
Official Website: 

Opening Day: 13 October 2016

Synopsis: The Odin Mainland is separated into four counties, in each lives a group of soul masters protecting their county with their soul powers. The most powerful seven of them are known as Noble Lords. The story begins in the water origin, the Aslan Empire. Qi Ling has been a bus boy in an inn since young and subconsciously tamed a legendary soul beast in a battle between soul masters. Yin Chen came on orders of the Silver Priests to take in him as his disciple. With his help, Qi Ling heads to the Grave of the Souls to seek his soul weapon… At the very same time, another conspiracy that has long been in the works within the Aslan Empire is gradually revealing itself. 

Movie Review:

Legend of Ravaging Dynasties or L.O.R.D in short is touted as China’s first CG motion capture fantasy movie directed and written by Guo Jingming of Tiny Times fame. It boasts a star-studded cast and technology seen in Avatar, The Polar Express and Beowulf  though to be frank, the entire affair is unlikely to garner much attention despite the ambitious product aiming at the YA crowd. 

In what ought to be one of the most convoluting and mashed up movies in recent times, LORD started out with a seemingly ordinary orphaned waiter, Chiling (Chen Xuedong) who is taken in by a powerful Duke, Silver (Kris Wu) as a disciple after he crossed path with a ferocious icy beast. Magical creatures, super powers of all sorts and numerous characters with mouthful names all appear in a short span of time after a drowsy narrative by Chiling. Just don’t probe further because we are as confused as you.

Guo Jingming apparently has no patience in establishing a coherent narrative for audiences who are not familiar with his writings to follow. After a brief time spent with Silver and Chiling, the appearances of Lotus (Fan Bingbing) and Youhua (Kelly Lin) brought our main protagonist to another mission and location that is to seek his soul weapon. At the same time, a war between good and evil is brewing in the city of Odin or is it just the empire of Aslan alone? The evil Dark (William) and Thalia (Amber Kuo) together with Ni Hong (Aarif Lee) and Shen Yin (Yang Mi) are planning to fight for power and domination. What else is new?   

Not content in making a straightforward fantasy battle between good and evil, Guo Jingming piles his movie with so much happenings and characters in a frail attempt to cover up the ridiculously weak story. It is obvious Guo borrows heavily from the Lord of the Rings trilogy, Harry Potter even and wu xia novels, recycling some of the themes and plotlines. In the case of the Lord of the Rings, Peter Jackson took his time to craft a moving journey of how four unlikely hobbits tried to destroy the One Ring while interspersing the story with other memorable characters like Aragon and Gandalf the wizard along the way. In a stark contrast to what Jackson did, Guo practically threw whatever he could lay his hands on expecting audiences to digest whatever he tries to put on screen.

As silly as it sounds, Guo did devote the last twenty minutes of the flick backtracking and making all the main characters explaining what actually happened prior. The exposition certainly does help to make sense to the befuddled plotting and motivation but at the same time, it also enhances some of the confusion. What’s all that fuss about Gilgamesh? So that creepy white boy is actually a high priest in disguise? By the way, what’s the difference between Lord, Duke and Disciple? So many questions and so little answers. At this point, we guess you don’t need to be a Mensa certified genius to tell you that sequels are definitely expected.

With the exception of Fan Bingbing’s Lotus, Kris Wu’s Silver, the rest of the male characters laughingly seem modelled after the likeness of Orlando Bloom’s Legolas from the hairdo to the costume. Luckily, Fan’s Lotus is alluring and looks exactly like her in life-action movies. Former EXO member, Kris Wu’s CG incarnation will also please his fanbase. The other recognizable faces, Aarif Lee looks more buffed than usual in a thankless role that doesn’t require him to utter any dialogue. The usually sweet, demure Amber Kuo plays against type and thanks to technology, appears taller than her actual self. Tiny Times’ Chen Xuedong tackles a role that occasionally requires him to provide the laughs and an almost homoerotic relation (rather than Master and disciple) with Silver.

Movements on the whole are unnatural and some of the secondary characters suffer from ‘dead eyes’ as in the case of Tom Hanks in The Polar Express. The graphics look poorly rendered especially in the darker scenes and on a harsher note, it’s no better than a videogame done in the early 2000s. Xiong Xin Xin from Once Upon A Time In China helps to choreograph the action sequences though I bet you can tell the difference between an actual stunt and an imaginary computer effect.   

Despite Guo’s best efforts to attempt something drastically different from his ultra-successful Tiny Times series, Legend of Ravaging Dynasties is an amateur piece of shoddy work that is best watched with minimal expectation. On the other hand, fans of Kris Wu and Fan Bingbing will not be disappointed seeing their CG performances. 

Movie Rating:

(Lacking a captivating story and convincing CG effects, it’s best to avoid)

Review by Linus Tee