Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		0.0
Overall		3.0

League of Gods Blu-ray Movie Review

Extraordinary?

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman October 30, 2017

League of Gods perhaps unavoidably reminded me of an interlocked if still somewhat unrelated assortment of films I’ve had to review lately, The Monkey King: Havoc in Heaven's Palace, The Monkey King 2 and Journey to the West: The Demons Strike Back. Both The Monkey King and Journey to the West films share a common source, something I detailed in both the The Monkey King: Havoc in Heaven's Palace Blu-ray review and the Journey to the West: The Demons Strike Back Blu-ray review, while also simultaneously detailing the somewhat circuitous route I’ve taken through both “franchises”. The common source material of course links these two series (there’s another Journey to the West outing that preceded the one I personally reviewed, Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons), but another way in which they’re similar is their emphases on visual phantasmagoria, an approach that only partially distracts from what are often confusing and underdeveloped storylines. While League of Gods shares a certain mythic grandeur with the four aforementioned films (at last count) based on Wu Cheng'en iconic 16th century novel Journey to the West, in this case this particular film’s source material is in fact another 16th century opus, known alternately as Feng shen Yanyi and Feng shen Bang, and like Journey to the West: Havoc in Heaven’s Palace details an epochal showdown between the cosmic forces of good and evil. League of Gods also features a somewhat naive man on a quest of sorts surrounded by some shape shifting characters, an element which puts it firmly in line with both of the Journey to the West films and both of The Monkey King films as well. Capping off this list of shared traits is the fact that League of Gods definitely trades on a glut of visual wonderment to help offset some potentially head scratching material in terms of plot and character, especially for Western types who may not be that familiar with the underlying mythology.

One place where the films based on Journey to the West arguably have a little bit more focus is with regard to their putative main character, which (depending on the film) can be either The Monkey King or the monk who kinda sorta befriends him. League of Gods introduces a huge glut of characters in its opening, but it actually takes a while for things to settle down enough to realize that a so-called celestial being known as Leizhenzi (Jacky Heung) is going to be the viewer’s “guide” through a somewhat fantastic landscape littered with equally fantastic characters. Unfortunately, by the time that Leizhenzi more or less assumes “center stage” so much other material has been presented that even the seeming “quest” aspect of this particular story may feel like it’s buried beneath a ton of more or less tangential information.

The quest in this instance is for an artifact known as the Sword of Light, but the film is so stuffed to the gills with competing sidebars and (especially) tangential characters that it really hardly matters what the purported trajectory of the story is. Leizhenzi is a member of the Wing tribe, though his attempts to fly might be better described as falling without style. That’s just one of many little character beats that are sprinkled rather liberally throughout this enterprise. Other elements in this crowded outing include the magical Jiang Ziya (Jet Li), who pulls a Merlin or Benjamin Button and becomes progressively younger as the story continues, as well as a nefarious (literal) dragon lady named Daji (Fan Bingbing), whose machinations provide a number of obstacles for the heroes. Those heroes also include Ji Fa (Andy On), evidently a real life historical figure thrust into this fantastic universe, as well as a couple of CGI characters, including a mischievous baby and (just for good measure) a sentient one eyed plant.

The storyline in League of Gods is frayed, or at least multitasking, to the point that it’s virtually nonsensical at times, but as I mentioned in some of the reviews of The Monkey King and Journey to the West films, much as in those efforts, that potentially undermining aspect tends to matter less than it might simply because this vignette driven enterprise is so full of visual wonderment. This is another CGI laden offering that is intentionally “cartoon” like a lot of time, in both characterization and actual presentational style, a style which often plays like a live action Chuck Jones outing.

League of Gods Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

League of Gods is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Sony Pictures Home Entertainment with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.38:1. This feature shares one other similarity with those other films mentioned above, namely that it was released in 3D in its native country but has only been given a 2D Blu-ray release on this side of the pond. (Unlike The Monkey King and Journey to the West films, there does not appear to be any 3D Blu-ray releases from other countries — both of those other franchises had nice 3D Blu-ray releases originating from Hong Kong). The glut of CGI and green screen work in this film tends to give a lot of the imagery a certain softness, and in fact some of the CGI, especially wide establishing shots, don't offer a ton of detail. Some of the other work, including elements like the non-human (or at least only intermittently human) characters accompanying Leizhenzi, looking considerably sharper and better detailed. A lot of the film basks in a kind of effulgent (heavenly?) glow, another element that can at least temporarily tamp down fine detail levels. When the extremely active camera settles down for a while and when actual human performers are in the frame, detail levels are typically excellent. The palette is rather nicely nuanced, though it does tend to feature a lot of whites, beiges and light yellows, saving more vivid hues for selected sequences. That said, as can be seen in several of the screenshots accompanying this review, a number of scenes are graded toward the blue end of things, again resulting in a slight but noticeable diminution in fine detail levels.

League of Gods Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

League of Gods features DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mixes in the original Mandarin as well as an English dub. The English tracks sounds just slightly elevated in terms of amplitude, something that arguably adds a bit of sonic force to the many effects laden sequences. That said, this is an extremely small difference, and the Mandarin track at least does a slightly better job of matching lip movements to the sounds emanating from them (it looks to me like some of the actors were probably not speaking Mandarin and were post looped). The film has a carnival like sound design, and surround activity is quite robust throughout this often manically paced offering. Dialogue, effects and score are all presented with excellent clarity, smart prioritization and wide dynamic range.

League of Gods Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

There are no supplements of any kind on the Blu-ray disc. The package also includes a DVD copy of the film.

League of Gods Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

As I've "confessed" in many a previous review, I tend to be a pushover for effects laden films, even when they're lacking certain foundational aspects like, you know, plot and character. League of Gods does kinda sorta make sense, but it's awfully chaotic most of the time, and my own personal lack of understanding of some of the mythologies being depicted probably only added to my general befuddlement at times. But there's such a free for all in terms of the visual presentation going on that I was generally very entertained, and the film has an inherently silly, winking at itself, sensibility that helps it to overcome some of its more hyperbolic tendencies. If you don't mind not understanding what's going on while a series of near hallucinatory images floats by, League of Gods may be up your alley. Technical merits are strong, and with caveats noted, League of Gods comes Recommended.