Creation of the Gods I: Kingdom of Storms


Creation of the Gods I: Kingdom of Storms


Creation of the Gods I: Kingdom of Storms (Chinese: 封神第一部：朝歌风云; lit. 'Investiture of the Gods Part One: Zhaoge Turmoil') is a 2023 Chinese epic fantasy film directed by Wuershan. It is the first film in the Creation of the Gods trilogy, adapted from the 16th-century fantasy novel Investiture of the Gods written by the Ming dynasty author Xu Zhonglin. The film was released in China on July 20, 2023.

The first film mainly narrates the fantastic and fictitious version of the political fallout following the ascension of the last king of Shang dynasty. The two sequel films of the trilogy are due to be released in 2024 and 2025, with the second film focusing on Xiqi's defense against Shang's attack, while the third film features Xiqi's counterattack, eventual victory and establishment of the Zhou dynasty.

Plot

Lord Su Hu of Jizhou rebels against the Shang dynasty. The Shang army, led by Prince Yin Shou, defeats the rebels. Shou and his hostage-sons break through rebel defenses and kill Su. Su Daji, the daughter of Su Hu, commits suicide but then emerges alive and is captured, with the Shang army returning home.

King Di Yi is killed during the victory feast by a suddenly deranged Crown Prince Qi - Shou's brother; Qi is accidentally killed by Ji Fa, a hostage-son from the western state of Xiqi. Shou becomes king. Divination during the coronation finds the dynasty to be cursed by the patri-regicide. Shou promises his own ritual suicide to placate the Heavens and lift the curse.

Meanwhile, the Immortals of Kunlun consider giving Shao the Investiture Scroll, which can restore order and save the world from the curse. Jiang Ziya, a monk and a disciple of Yuanshi Tianzun, volunteers to deliver the scroll but realizes that Shao, a tyrant, should not have such power. Ziya leaves with the scroll and is joined by nephew-disciples Nezha and Yang Jian. They are pursued by Shen Gongbao, an alchemist and Ziya's rival, and Crown Prince Yin Jiao and Ji Fa. They encounter Ji Chang, Ji Fa's father and the Duke of the West, who is travelling to the capital Zhaoge to greet the new king. Chang finds an infant demon, whom he names Lei Zhenzi, and sends Zhenzi to Kunlun on Ziya's advice.

Chang and the other three dukes (of the East, North and South) meet secretly; they are skeptical of the legitimacy of Shou's ascension. The meeting is discovered by royal guards. Shou orders the dukes to be executed for high treason by their hostage-sons. Chong Yingbiao, son of the Duke of the North, complies without hesitation. E Shun, son of the Duke of the South, instead attacks Shou, who kills them both. The Duke of the East kills himself on the sword of Jiang Wenhuan, his son. Ji Fa argues that Chang would suffer greater humiliation by making a public confession of faking divination than by being executed; Chang is sent to the dungeon. Shao kills Bo Yikao, Chang's eldest son. Chang confesses to treason to save Ji Fa, and is publicly paraded and humiliated.

Meanwhile, Jiao finds and pursues a man-eating fox spirit in the palace, discovering it to be possessing the body of Su Daji. Shou accuses Jiao of attempted patricide to project Daji, now the favored consort. Queen Jiang is killed trying to kill Daji. Jiao is injured attempting to kill the spirit and escapes the palace with Ji Fa's help. Jiao, Ziya and High Priest Bi Gan, Shou's uncle, agree to expose the spirit Shou. Bi Gan sacrifices his magical heart to evict the fox spirit from Daji's body, but Shou already knew that the spirit was a demon. The spirit was imprisoned by Tang of Shang but it was released by Shou during the battle of Jizhou. The spirit persuaded Shou to become the Overlord of All, and possessed Qi to assassinate Di Yi. Jiao is arrested and sentenced to death. Ji Fi seemingly obeys Shou's order to execute Chang.

Ji Fa and the hostage-sons from Xiqi rebel during Jiao's execution. Ji Fa faked Chang's death , who was taken out of the city by Lei Zhenzi. Chong Yingbiao decapitates Jiao, whose head and body are retrieved by Nezha and Yang Jian. Ji Fa fights and seriously wounds Shou before fleeing the city with Ziya. Ziya and the scroll are pursued by two Taotie statues possessed by Shen Gongbao. Ji Fa exchanges clothing with Ziya, draws the statues away and defeats them, and then rides away to freedom. Gongbao sends a swarm of crows against Ziya.

In a few mid-credit scenes, the fox spirit - still possessing Daji's body - resuscitates Shou; Ziya fishes alone on Wei River and notices Gongbao's crows; Wen Zhong, Grand Preceptor of the Shang dynasty who has been away at war for ten years, returns to the capital along with his generals including the Four Demonic Giants.

Cast

  • Yu Shi as Ji Fa — the second son of Ji Chang and the future leader of the Xizhou, who served as a hostage-son and royal guard of Yin Shou, also the narrator of the story
  • Fei Xiang as King Yin Shou — the second prince and later King of the Shang dynasty
  • Li Xuejian as Duke Ji Chang — the lord of Xiqi and Duke of the West, and father of Ji Fa
  • Huang Bo as Jiang Ziya — a Kunlun monk who is entrusted the Investiture Scroll, later becomes the chief strategist of Xiqi
  • Narana Erdyneeva as Consort Su Daji — the concubine of Yin Shou, whose body is possessed by a nine-tailed fox
  • Chen Muchi as Prince Yin Jiao — Yin Shou's only son and crown prince of Shang dynasty
  • Xia Yu as Shen Gongbao — a rival monk to Jiang Ziya who came to serve King Shou as a magical strategist
  • Yuan Quan as Queen Jiang — Yin Shou's wife and queen consort, and Yin Jiao's mother
  • Wang Luoyong as Bi Gan — Yin Shou's uncle and the High Priest of Shang dynasty
  • Yang Le as Bo Yikao — the eldest son and heir of Ji Chang, and brother to Ji Fa
  • Cisha as Yang Jian — a nephew-disciple to Jiang Ziya, who specializes in water magics
  • Wu Yafan as Nezha — a nephew-disciple to Jiang Ziya, who specializes in fire magics
  • Hou Wenyuan as Chong Yingbiao — the hostage-son of the Duke of the North, and fellow royal guard and bitter rival to Ji Fa
  • Huang Xiyan as Jiang Wenhuan — the hostage-son of the Duke of the East, a fellow royal guard to Ji Fa
  • Li Yunrui as E Shun — the hostage-son of the Duke of the South, a fellow royal guard to Ji Fa
  • Xu Huanshan as King Yi — Yin Shou's estranged royal father
  • Gao Shuguang as Yin Qi — Yin Shou's estranged elder brother and the previous crown prince of Shang dynasty

Production

Casting

The cast of “Creation of the Gods I: Kingdom of Storms” was selected from more than 1,400 people from 15,000 global auditions, and then interviewed by the director Wuershan himself, and finally selected more than 20 young actors to enter the performance camp for six months of training.

The training camp is based on the “Theory of Liuyi (Six Skills)” of "manners, music, shooting, rein, books and mathematics", offering courses such as acting, martial arts, equestrian, shooting, drum music, Chinese cultural history, body shaping, film viewing and analysis, and so on. And they were supplied by scientific nutrition, the training camp effectively builds actors' strong bodies and muscle lines in line with ancient warriors' bodies.

Yu Shi, who plays Ji Fa, was not a trained actor, and participated in the training and shooting of the “Creation of the Gods I: Kingdom of Storms” is the beginning for Yu Shi as an actor. In the cast, he received comprehensive training in performance, equestrian, movement, etiquette, drum music, cultural history, etc. The shots of Ji Fa riding a horse and turning around and shooting, and riding his horses across the fire wall were all acted by him without substitute.

Wuershan said, “All the difficult equestrian moves are done by the actors themselves. They started training from scratch for 6 months. It is amazing to be able to complete such a complicated performance."

Filming

Principal photography for the film started on September 9, 2018. The three films of the trilogy were filmed back-to-back.The filming location was set in Qingdao, Shandong, primarily in the studios of the Oriental Movie Metropolis. In February 2019, the first part of the trilogy has completed filming and preliminary editing.

Music

Release

Creation of the Gods I: Kingdom of Storms was released on 20 July 2023 in China.

It was released in the United States on 22 September 2023.

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Reception

Critical response

The film received 8.0 out of 10 points on the Chinese review website Douban.com.

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 60% of 10 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 6.2/10.

Box office

On the opening weekend, its box office was ranked as No.1 in the Chinese market. By the 6th day, its gross reached $70 million.

Awards and nominations

Notes

References

External links

  • Creation of the Gods I: Kingdom of Storms at IMDb
  • Creation of the Gods I: Kingdom of Storms at Douban (in Chinese)

Text submitted to CC-BY-SA license. Source: Creation of the Gods I: Kingdom of Storms by Wikipedia (Historical)



 


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