First of all, let's get the main issue everyone talks about out of the way. Yes, there's a lot of CGI, but I feel they did pretty well with it. I don't think they could achieve the epic level they were aiming for without it, and I personally liked all the eye candy.This movie felt like an Asian Lord of the Rings on steroids, massive steroids, almost to the point where they should be illegal steroids. Where Lord of the Rings was a bit too slow for my taste, this story moved way too fast.Characters were dished out left and right so fast and with so little explanation that you're left wondering where they came from and what their reason really is for being there at all. Imagine the Avengers without the previous movies of each hero to help you learn about and understand them. In fact I'd love to see solo movies for some of the characters here like Jiang, Ne Zha, Erlang Shen...There's so much content that they have to work with here, but it was all thrust into one large movie that was frankly just too much, especially for us Westerners that don't have much knowledge of the backgrounds to these stories.Anyway, don't expect a deep story with deep characters. Just take it for what it is - a gorgeous, epic fantasy action adventure - and you'll enjoy it.

I Honestly don't know what is up with the low ratings for this movie. It does what it was set out to do. Lots of CGI. Was it bad CGI? No it wasn't it was really good. The action is brilliant and the acting is good too. Sit back, relax and enjoy the movie.

This is absolutely by far, one of the worst Chinese mythology adaptation I've ever seen in my 28 years as a Chinese. The biggest flaw is how the characters had almost no resemblance to their original selves, they were "westernized" for the sake of appealing to the western audience. The story was all over the place, pointless and the screen play was obviously rushed - where it felt like the director had a checklist of what to do and just went with it. They took the essential core of Chinese mythology and just littered it with as much explosions as possible. I mean, space ships... really? As for any saving grace, I'd give the movie some props for having a very decent audio mastering prowess. The LFE was taut, it wasn't overbearing and it has a sense of weight whenever the scene asks for it. There's also some good usage of surround effects, voices pan with very nice and wide separation that makes it a little eerie to listen to at times.China's visual department has definitely came a long way. They're still a few steps behind Hollywood as a whole, but they're definitely closer than ever. Good effort by the VFX team, unfortunately the decision in making the whole movie look like the Avengers was a big turn off.This is a mediocre movie at best and most of the time, it's just simply bad. It deserves a 3 simply because of its audio presentation and a nod to the VFX team. Other than that, this movie belongs in the litter box of garbage movies.

LEAGUE OF GODS is another CGI monstrosity aimed at the Chinese market, although Hong Kong producers are criminally responsible for this one. First, the good stuff: it's big budget, based on a classic 16th century novel, and features an all-star cast of cameoing stars. Sadly, the whole thing turns out to be an overblown CGI mess of the kind I've never witnessed before, and that makes it very, very bad indeed.This film offers near constant CGI in a way that would make George Lucas proud. It has more CGI than in STAR WARS: THE PHANTOM MENACE which is saying something. Every scene features CGI in some regard: CGI monsters, CGI snakes, CGI magical blasts, CGI flying, CGI backgrounds, even CGI characters. The direction is a dizzying blend of quick cuts and endless CGI transitions, no surprise given that the director is an effects man best known for his assistant direction on Jackie's WHO AM I?. As for the actors, they don't even get a look in. I'm a martial arts fan, but the wirework-assisted action is in very short supply.Tony Leung is an evil king in thrall to an evil sorceress played by Fan Bingbing. There are so many CGI snakes and effects in their scenes that it's difficult to make them out. A bloated and weary Jet Li, suffering from real-life health problems, offers little more than an extended cameo in his role of a crusading priest (basically the same as his one in EMPEROR AND THE WHITE SNAKE). Louis Koo shows up as a bad guy riding a giant panther while Angelababy simpers and looks vacant (no difficulty for her).The film's bald-headed hero, played by Jacky Heung, has a single expression on his wooden face throughout. The CGI action scenes are endless and wearisome after about five minutes. The plot seems to be a blend of LORD OF THE RINGS, THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON, and STAR WARS with no sense or wit about it. The hero is accompanied by a creepy CGI baby and an annoying CGI plant in some scenes. A giant CGI centipede attacks at one point. Later, Louis Koo turns into a fantasy version of the Hulk. It's incredibly poor, laughably so in fact, and a complete waste of time, effort, and money.