Jiang Ziya - Blu-ray Review

[Michael Scott]

Jiang Ziya


Movie:
Video:
Audio:
Extras: :
Final Score:


​

Movie
China has really been amping up its game in the animated market lately. It used to be Japan and Korea that dominated the Asian marketplace for animation, but they have been making great strides to become a world cinematic powerhouse in this department, and with films like Big Fish and Begonia and Ne Zha they are proving that they can make money hand over fist in this department (Jiang Ziya reportedly made $100 million in the first weekend, blowing the doors off of the previous two films). They still tend to lean heavily on eastern historical archetypes, so westerners can be a bit lost (a typical thing for a lot of Asian historical period piece films, even in the live action world), but my goodness, talk about a visual extravaganza. Jiang Ziya was another film shot in 3D overseas, and even though we only get a “flat” 2D presentation of the film, is such a gorgeous tapestry that I was simply marveling at the visuals for much of the movie.

If you’ve watched Ne Zha or even the live action film League of Gods then you’ll have a working knowledge of the same general “genesis” source material. Supposedly the working elements for all three movies was taken from a 16th century fable that is roughly translated to “Investitures of the Gods”. Each film takes a dramatically different approach to telling the story, with Ne Zha taking the side of a demon who’s “not all that bad”, while Jiang Ziya tells the story from the point of view of a vessel of the gods, just in a more serious way.

The film’s chaotic opening sets the stage for hero Jiang Ziya, who is a warrior for the gods as they fight against the fox demons (led by the evil Nine Tails herself). The war is brutal and violent, killing gods, demons and humans alike, until the great beloved master in charge of heaven finally is able to banish the fox demons, and Jiang Ziya is able to capture Nine tails herself. Taken up to heaven to be promoted to godhood, Jiang is given the task to execute Nine Tails and take his rightful place in the heavens. However, just as Jiang is about to strike he notices an innocent girl hidden within the soul of Nine Tails and hesitates, giving the fox demon queen enough chance to escape. Furious at his faux pas, the gods banish Jiang Ziya to Earth where he is stripped of much of his power and godhood until he has repented of his sins and denies the fact that he saw an innocent in Nine Tails (the gods claiming it was just her power of illusion, and that Jiang Ziya was taken under her spell).

As Jiang ponders what he saw some 10 years later, his weakening resolve is once again strengthened when he runs across a young girl named Jiu who looks EXACTLY like the innocent he saw up in the heavens. However, Jiu has no memory of who she is, or where she came from, but just has an overwhelming drive to go to a sacred mountain where she believes her father is. Curious to find out just who she is and how she was attached to Nine Tails, Jiang heads out on the journey with her, intent on vindicating his belief that he saw what he saw up above, AND to figure out if Nine Tails is still alive.

One thing that you WILL have to get used to is the fact that as westerners many of the nuances in the characters will not be readily explained. Side characters, demons ,and various other minor characters are taken directly out of Chinese lore and is not really explained for those of you who aren’t saturated in Chinese mythology. It’s not shocking as we do the same thing in the west, but if you’re expecting an explanation I just have one thing to say to you….”get used to it”. That being said, the film is still easily enjoyable enough and the lavish animation style is nothing short of jaw dropping. Massive action set pieces, brilliant colors, and a HUGE animated landscape make this one of the most visually stunning Asian animation films I’ve seen in years. It’s bigger and bolder than Ne Zha, and more colorful and nuanced that Big Fight and Begonia. It’s not a perfect film, but it is fun and one of the most beautifully animated pictures I’ve ever seen.




Rating:

Not Rated by the MPAA




Video:

Jiang Ziya is a GORGEOUSLY animated film, and the Blu-ray looks really impressive. Colors are rich and vibrant, the black levels are deep and inky, and the animated detail levels are very respectable. The animation style is GOOD, but it also isn’t so wildly nuanced so there’s only so much detail levels you can pull out it. The one major downside to the disc that kept it from being great, is the typical Well Go USA banding. It’s not so bad for the first half of the film, but after Jiu and Jiang get to the desert scene it starts to crop up more and more often, and very noticeable at that. Still a good transfer, just has that one obvious flaw that is pretty common for Well Go USA releases.








Audio:

Universal’s 5.1 DTS-HD MA track delivers a horror track extravaganza in spades. The mix isn’t an Atmos or DTS:X track, but it still hits hard and fast with some great openness as well as pulse pounding bass and massive sound stage. The film starts out with a bang, with screaming filling all 6 channels and the film’s crushing score pounding you into the seat. The film gets a bit quieter for a bit, but as soon as the butcher and Millie find each other the movie kicks back up into high gear. Bass is earth shaking for the party scenes and the kills, and the surrounds get more than a hefty workout with the screaming, running and general chaos of the movie .Vocals are still cleanly replicated in the center of the room as expected, and overall, this is an expertly balanced mix that really delivers the horror goods.
.






Extras:

• Trailer
• Theatrical Teaser

Final Score: ​

Jiang Ziya is a fun Chinese period piece film and one of their better animated titles. It doesn’t leave you hanging expecting more, but it does deal heavily with characters that aren’t widely known to western audiences, so some getting used to that (or reading up on Chinese mythology) is required. The Blu-ray is fantastic, with great video, great audio, but the usual anemic extras (a few trailers, that’s it). Worth it as a fun watch for sure.


Technical Specifications:

Starring:
Directed by: Teng Cheng, Li Wei
Written by:
Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1 AVC
Audio: English: DTS-HD MA 5.1, Mandarin DTS-HD MA 5.1, English, Mandarin DD 2.0
Subtitles: English, Mandarin (Simplified)
Studio: Well Go USA
Rated: NR
Runtime: 102 Minutes
Blu-ray Release Date: February 9th 2021

Recommendation: Fun Watch

 

[tripplej]

Thanks for the review. Will keep an eye out for this one.