If I could describe this movie in one word it would be "strange." This movie is very strange. It involves a lot of supernatural and mythical themes. It makes me think of the absurd fables that are part of ancient mythologies, such as Greek or Indian mythology. This movie feels like a strange illogical fable straight out of some ancient mythological belief system. In fact, the movie apparently does draw on some themes from Chinese mythology. It could be that my complete lack of knowledge in that area impeded my understanding of the story.
Visually, it looked pretty good. Animation quality was high. There were lots of strange creatures too which were entertaining to watch. This movie doesn't really look like anime both in terms of art style as well as the animated movement itself. The animation style feels more like western animation, despite its Chinese origin. This felt like a demented Pixar film to me. It's worth noting that I am quite sick right now and I watched this with a fever which probably amplified the delirious feeling of the movie.
The story itself was quite incoherent and often rushed. Many things were unclear in terms of plot as well as character motivations. I spent most of the movie confused about what was happening. Both the writing and execution of the plot are the weakest aspects of this movie. The exposition during the first half of the movie was also quite rushed and left me confused before the plot even really kicked in. My confusion continued to compound as things progressed.
Audio in this was really good. Audio production quality was high. The soundtrack was very good. There were some really nice Chinese vocals that played during the ending credits as well.
My overall rating: 6/10
