68. The Yin-Yang Master: Dream of Eternity; movie review
THE YIN-YANG MASTER - DREAM OF ETERNITY
Cert 15
133 mins
BBFC advice: Contains suicide, violence
It's 21 years since Ang Lee's Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon introduced us to Chinese legends and human combatants who could fly through the air.
During the past two decades, the wow factor has worn off and it takes something special to turn heads towards historical fantasies from the Far East.
I am pleased to report that The Yin-Yang Master: Dreams of Eternity has such a lure.
Controversial director Guo Jingming is behind this Netflix movie which sees Mark Chao as a young priest/wizard who is aghast when a giant serpent delivers a mortal blow to his master.
The latter's last wish is that his mentee goes to the capital city with a double mission to kill a more powerful serpent and to save his long-lost love.
When he arrives there he finds that he has to join three others in the quest.
To be honest, I might have got that bit a tad muddled because the subtitles were coming at such a pace, they weren't easy to follow in the early stages.
Fortunately, my eyes and brain acclimatised and the film really took hold.
Jingming's movie is a combination of ancient Chinese politics, rituals, magic and the battle of good (the priests) versus evil in the varied shape of fantasy demons.
The evilest demon is the serpent which would threaten the empire if it were not held in check by the empress.
The story is secondary to the spectacular look of The Yin-Yang Master: Dream of Eternity.
The costumes, backdrop and demons themselves are something to behold and, while we all know that there must be multi-layered strands of CGI, it is seamless.
Most of all, The Yin- Yang Master: Dream of Eternity is exciting - as old-fashioned family films used to be.
Reasons to watch: Exciting Chinese fantasy
Reasons to avoid: Might be too far-fetched for some
Laughs: None
Jumps: None
Vomit: None
Nudity: None
Overall rating: 7.5/10
Did you know? The Yin-Yang Master: Dream Of Eternity was adapted from Onmyōji a Japanese novel series written by Baku Yumemakura.
The final word. Guo Jingming: “The strong [Asian] aesthetics of the film might be appealing for international audiences. In the meantime, the story is universal and accessible to anyone.” Variety
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