“Creation of the Gods II: Demon Force” Theatrical Poster
Director: Wu Ershan
Cast: Kris Phillips, Narana Eryeneeva, Wu Hsing-Go, Yu Shi, Luke Chen, Yafan Wu, Ci Sha
Running Time: 144 min.
By Paul Bramhall
I ended my review for Creation of the Gods: Kingdom of Storms by expressing how I “hope we’ll be paying another visit to the Creation of the Gods sooner rather than later”, and sure enough less than 18 months on the sequel (and middle part of an intended trilogy) is here in the form of Creation of the Gods II: Demon Force. Part of the reason why the first part was so enjoyable was down to how relentlessly epic it felt, the result of which saw it become a massive blockbuster success in its native China, safely securing the sequels arrival (a fate that wasn’t so kind to the previous adaptation of the source material with 2016’s League of the Gods, which stalled due to a tax scandal that rocked the Chinese film industry at the time).
Director Wu Ershan has gone all in on the intended trilogy (although he did direct the Chinese comic adaptation The Traveller in between, which disappeared from Chinese screens almost as soon as it arrived), having spent 8 years prior preparing to the first instalments release, and the sequel continues to confirm that it was time well spent. Clocking in at a sprawling 2 hours 25 minutes, unlike so many other productions in recent years, Ershan ensures that CotGII:DF (as I’ll refer to it from here on in) fully earns its runtime, cramming in so much spectacle that it almost feels like a crime to not watch it on a cinema screen (and preferably a really big one). Interestingly it feels like longer has passed since the first instalment, likely more a result of most modern franchises having an omni-present feel to them (Marvel I’m looking at you) than anything else, however anyone who was hoping for a recap of Kingdom of Storms will be out of luck.
Ershan steers away from traditional recap altogether, instead throwing the audience straight back into the thick of things, either trusting everyone’s remembered the events of the first, or that they’ll catch up as the plot progresses. In fairness it’s a gamble that pays off, and I doubt there’ll be many who watch the sequel who won’t fall into one of the two categories. Picking up straight where the first one left off, the king and his fox demon lover (played by a returning Kris Phillips and Narana Eryeneeva) are still after the divine scroll that has the power to turn mortals in Gods, and are willing to kill anyone who dares to defy them. In the first instalment that included his own son, and now he plans to raze the hometown of his adopted son Yu Shi, who gradually became the de facto main character in Kingdom of Storms.
There are complications though, first off his go-to general, played by Wu Hsing-Go (God of Gamblers Returns, The Accidental Spy), wishes to retire, which sees his second in command step up to accept the mission. The decision results in the singularly named actress Nashi not only being given a much more substantial role than she had in Kingdom of Storms, but essentially she becomes a co-star alongside Yu Shi, and proceeds to steal every scene she’s in. Likewise for newcomer Luke Chen who played the son that Phillips murders. Placed in front of the Gods they realise that despite being dead, his lifeforce remains strong, a result of the rage he experienced at the injustice of his death. Choosing to bring him back in the hope he could be the one to stop the Great Curse, Chen returns more powerful than any of them anticipated, becoming a gigantic blue God with 3 heads (and torsos!) made up of pure life force.
Compared to the first instalment that spent most of its first hour cramming in a novel’s worth (quite literally) of world building, the sequel feels like a more straight forward affair and is all the better for it. There’s still a need to have the name of every character that appears onscreen appear via text, but it never confuses from the main plot, which sees Yu Shi discover his fighting spirit to protect his hometown of Xiqi from the enemy. It’s just as well since there’s a lot of them, from 4 giants, each armed with their own unique weapon (including an energy absorbing umbrella, a fireball throwing lute, and a sword that turns into a dragon), to evil sorcerers that use the moonlight to cast a paralysis spell on whoever stumbles into it.
In many ways it feels like the Creation of the Gods movies have come at just the right time. The 3D fad of the early-mid 2010’s now feels like it belongs in the past, while many of the big budget fantasy flicks coming out of China in the latter 2010’s felt a little too eager to shoehorn in President Xi’s direction to make “patriotism the main theme of literary and artistic creation” (who can forget the flag waving scenes of the Red Guard during Ershan’s 2015 action adventure Mojin: The Lost Legend?). Now in the 2020’s the Chinese film industry has matured enough to deliver a suitably bombastic retelling of the 16th century novel Investiture of the Gods, with the stellar effects work creating an almost non-stop parade of mythical beasts and battle scenes, the sheer scale of which make CotGII:DF a joy to watch.
Thankfully Ershan doesn’t rely entirely on spectacle to sell the sequel. With so many characters whose intentions and ambitions are as clear cut as it gets (revenge for a family members death, saving the world from the Great Curse, seeking immortality etc.), Nashi’s newly promoted general provides the most compelling character for the audience to invest in. Her father fell in battle to those fighting against Phillips beguiled king, unaware that he’s under the influence of a fox demon, and still believing him to be a righteous monarch. Swearing revenge against Shi and his comrades, when they finally cross paths she begins to feel conflicted over which path to take, with the narrative leaving the audience in the dark as too her true intentions as much as the characters she interacts with. The result leads to some of the sequels most satisfyingly duplicitous moments, allowing for some surprising plot twists along the way.
The nature of the story the sequel tells means we get to spend less time with Phillips and Eryeneeva this time around, with their roles mainly limited to Phillips recovering from the injuries sustained in the first instalment, however with Nashi’s more substantial role it feels like a welcome trade off. The fact that it’s such an unexpected one (other than her role in the Creation of the Gods franchise she only had supporting turns in Ershan’s previously mentioned The Traveller and 2019’s S.W.A.T.) feels like the icing on the cake. Xia Yu’s (Wind Blast, Birth of the Dragon) evil sorcerer (who serves the yet to be seen big bad) also has a more substantial role this time around, with his spell to create an army of undead soldiers being a horrific highlight (even though, mild spoiler, we don’t actually get to see them in action in this instalment).
Culminating in an imaginative all-out battle that sees returning characters Na Cha and warrior god Yang Jian (again played by newcomers Yafan Wu and Ci Sha respectively) take centre stage, CotGII:DF gets the balance right of knowing it needs to go out with a bang, while also leaving enough appetite for the 3rd instalment. Much like the Kingdom of Storms (and, well, every Marvel movie ever made this century), the sequel crams its 15 minutes worth of end credits with a number of post-credit scenes to offer up glimpses of what awaits, ensuring there’s still plenty to come back for in the third round, which as of the time of writing will be called Creation Under Heaven.
A true cinematic spectacle, Creation of the Gods: Demon Force is one of the purest examples of big blockbuster entertainment we’ve seen in a long time, crafted with a level of care that feels like it’s been missing from similar recent Hollywood efforts. Considering how these big budget fantasies from China were approached with such trepidation just 10 years ago, Ershan and his team have set the bar high for any future efforts. Thankfully we still have another instalment to go to close out the trilogy, so here’s hoping it nails the landing. If Demon Force is anything to go by, it certainly looks like it will.
Paul Bramhall’s Rating: 8/10
