Review of Painted Skin: The Resurrection (2012) by Adam Malik M — 07 Jul 2012

Let me first begin by saying that you will be sorely disappointed if you were expecting a kick-ass kung fu flick, this is a mythical tale, but there will be some fighting towards the end, if you could stay awake until then.

The visuals and the set design are top-notch and quite impressive for an Asian movie, although the antagonists are so overly-done they're comical in their evilness. I swear some of their costumes and the heroine's dagger were more Japanese than Chinese, but since this is a fantasy film, I guess that can be forgiven.

The acting is well done, and the story neatly fleshed out, but it gets pretty tiresome and the pacing is overly-slow for my liking. Though I especially enjoyed the portrayal of the demoness as a being which is both good and evil at the same time.

The princess, acted by Wei Zhao, is similarly well done and convincing. Still, I felt that some scenes were overly dramatic and the SFX department is having too much fun at times. A worthwhile watch if you like Chinese fantasy/myth movies, just don't expect a lot of spinning kicks.