Creation of the Gods I: Kingdom of Storms Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.5
Audio		5.0
Extras		2.5
Overall		3.0

Creation of the Gods I: Kingdom of Storms Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman May 20, 2024

If there's a bit of good news to be had with regard to the labyrinthine Creation of the Gods I: Kingdom of Storms, it may be that there is hopefully still enough time to check out the 16th century tome upon which it's based (if there's an English translation, anyway) before the second and third films in this already announced trilogy hit the big screens and then (one assumes) Blu-ray. Some sort of "guidebook" would be helpful in understanding this enterprise, one way or the other, as so often seems to be the case with Chinese productions based on some ancient lore, where we boneheaded Westerners may be left wondering what exactly is going on and who exactly are all these people (and/or divinities and/or demons). This film is especially dense in that regard, and despite on screen identifiers that literally continue until almost the ending seconds of a two and half hour running time, my hunch is many viewers will react in much the same way I did, which is with a general sense of confoundment. That said, the film is a virtual whirlwind of visual splendor and some fun (if occasionally pretty hokey looking) CGI, and so those just wanting to exult in a little eye candy may have more than enough to keep them occupied, even if the plot mechanics are largely incomprehensible.

Kind of hilariously for a film whose titles seems to suggest gods needed creating (who created that Creator?), the first part of this story at least is pretty much focused on good old humans, though Divine (and/or Demonic) Intervention ultimately does play into a scenario that offers a quasi-historical setting in the second millennium BC during the reign of the Shang Dynasty. As is amply documented from the get go, though, the Shang Dynasty's hold on power, or at least the hold on power by Shang's Prince (and later King) Yin Shou (Fei Xiang) is precarious at best. Even in a spectacularly staged and at times rather gruesome opening fifteen minutes or so, Creation of the Gods I: Kingdom of Storms demonstrates considerable visual allure as Yin Shou attacks a kind of ice fortress. But also already there are manifest narrative gaps, including a rather glaring one involving why exactly Yin Shou has so-called "hostage sons" (evidently sons biologically belonging to some of Yin Shou's adversaries).

The whole "hostage son" situation actually turns out to be important, as the story's intermittent narrator Ji Fa (Yu Shi) is just such a young man. But even this character's connection to the story is almost tangential as a seemingly heavenly monk named Jiang Ziya (Huang Bo) agrees to reincarnate as a human and use a magical scroll to restore order. Yeah, right, like that's going to happen. Warring human and divine/demonic factions fill this incredibly stuffed to the veritable gills story that is absolutely gobsmacking visually (and aurally) more often than not, but which may simply be too reliant on its native country's knowledge of the folklore and/or myths being represented to ever communicate basic storylines effectively to "outsiders". In that regard, the film starts with several text cards in what I'm assuming is Mandarin, with no subtitles. Since the credits are presented later, I'm klnd of curious if any salient information might have been imparted there that some translator felt was unnecessary.

Creation of the Gods I: Kingdom of Storms Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Creation of the Gods I: Kingdom of Storms is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Well Go USA with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1. The IMDb lists Red cameras capturing at source resolutions of 8K which then perhaps makes the 2K DI also listed a bit of a surprise. One way or the other, aside from some occasionally cartoonish looking CGI, this is a spectacularly beautiful transfer that offers generally superb detail levels on almost all of the practical sets, costumes and props, as well as, you know, actual human faces, and which also offers an often gorgeous rendering of a really distinctively variant palette. The story exploits all sorts of grading and lighting choices, and everything from some ice cold blue battle scenes to invitingly summery yellows resonate beautifully throughout. The incessant on screen identifiers can be annoying after awhile, but all of that onscreen data is sharp and clear as well.

Creation of the Gods I: Kingdom of Storms Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Creation of the Gods I: Kingdom of Storms features bombastic DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 tracks in either Mandarin or English. I wasn't particularly fond of the English voice actors and have no problem with subtitles, so opted for the Mandarin track for the most part, but that said, didn't notice any major differences in mix and amplitude between the two languages. The track is a whirlwind of surround activity, with some really thunderous LFE in some of the battle scenes, and some really fun panning effects in several FX sequences. There's no denying this is a very active, almost noisy at times, track and can actually be a little overwhelming after a while. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout. I will say this is one film that could have benefitted immensely from a Dolby Atmos track. Optional English, Mandarin and French subtitles are available.

Creation of the Gods I: Kingdom of Storms Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Behind the Scenes

  The Makeup (HD; 7:24)

  
  

  Art Design (HD; 6:37)

  
  

  Special Effects (HD; 11:39)

  
  

  Onset Lighting (HD; 5:10)

• Trailer (HD; 2:28)

Note: As tends to be the case with Well Go USA Blu-ray releases, the disc has been authored so that supplements follow one another automatically (so that clicking on The Makeup in the Behind the Scenes Menu is essentially a Play All button. The disc is also authored to automatically move on to trailers for other Well Go USA releases after the Trailer for this film plays. Those trailers for other Well Go USA releases also play automatically at disc boot up.

Additionally packaging features a slipcover.

Creation of the Gods I: Kingdom of Storms Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

If you're better schooled in Chinese mythology than I am, and in fact if you've read Investiture of the Gods, you may well not have the difficulties I did trying to see the forest through the trees of the literally scores of characters introduced in this story. One way or the other, this is an absolutely gargantuan production with some amazing visuals, and may be interesting to some for those reasons alone. Technical merits are solid and this is an unusual release from Well Go USA that actually has some relatively lengthy supplements, for anyone who may be considering making a purchase.