Personally... I've enjoyed the movie. Also, if this a crap movie?! Obviously most people don't know what an actual crap movie is. Truth to be told, there are so many bad, and I literally mean bad movies out there. This is nothing compared to a bad movie.

After seeing the low IMDb rating and reading the bad reviews, I was expecting this movie to be another CGI mess like "10000 Years Later" (How that movie managed to have a higher score than this one will be always a mystery for me) with bad animation and a muddled plot...But it actually turned to be a pretty decent fantasy flick.The CGI for this movie was quite well made. Some scenes were very impressive and in certain aspects, more pleasant to look than many animated movies from the big studios (And by "big studios", I mean specifically Illumination Entertainment) Of course, there were a couple of moments when the movie looked a bit like cut-scenes from a video game, but the overall result was nice.The plot on the other hand, while being a bit clichéd, managed to be reasonably entertaining to watch, at least until the last minutes, where things start to get confusing and the dynamics between the characters become unnecessarily complicated. Even worse, there is no resolution to the main conflict, but since this apparently was inspired by a series of novels, I guess that all the loose ends from the plot will be eventually tied up by any future sequel. (At least, that's it what I hope.)This movie was okay. It was much better than "10000 Years Later" in every aspect, and honestly I don't know why it gets so much undeserved hate here on IMDb.

All I have to say is, people are too harsh on the CGI and even the story. The only part in the story that I have complaints for is the part where the rampant soul beasts storm into Reyes and they all happen to be lizards or scorpions. First-off, they apparently came from under the sea, so that didn't make much sense. I never read the book, but something just doesn't align about that. Other than that, it was a pretty good fantasy movie that left me curious about the original book and wanting to watch part 2 when it comes out. What's up with the priests? Is Yin Chen's lord dead or alive? What happens to Lotus now? I want more! Lastly, I was actually happy that they decided to do this movie pure CGI and with actors, it made the story more immersive and the setting more fantasy. There's some faces I know already, but with the CGI, I was able to forget who is the actor and tap into the character better. With Chinese films of this genre that has no background in any historical or real-life setting, I think I prefer it being this way for lots of reasons. I think it was a good choice and the result was good.

I kept checking IMDb for reviews for this but lo and behold, none. So that makes mine the first review. Which also makes me the first sucker to review this on IMDb, despite advance negative press for this film. Firstly I'd like to let you know that I didn't spend good money on this film but my god what a turdcrap it was. Where to begin? As can be seen from the trailers, it's overpaid and underwhelming Chinese super-stars dressed up from head to toe in CGI. I wasn't sure whether I was watching the next Final Fantasy installment, or why i was watching Final Fantasy on the big screen in 3D.The 3D ( surprise surprise) added nothing to the lack of story, and because the effects were so cheaply done ( see my final fantasy metaphor), And the acting? What from these lame-o characterless, dull, Chinese stars who are too busy looking expressionless, and assuming Japanese manga-style poses? Let's just say that the CGI made it even worse ( if that's even possible ) I have absolutely no idea, how this film got made, but from one Chinese movie fan, to another, please, don't waste your time.