After watching quite a hefty serving of Korean crime series -- I think I might go back to watching Wuxia and Xianxia series now though I might want to focus first on the movie. Since today is the 24th day of the 12th lunar month -- I decided to do a bit of a Merry Mortal Khristmas Review instead. I decided to watch the movie that premiered on Netflix Philippines called The Yin-Yang Master: Dream of Eternity which has Wuxia/Xianxia regular Allen Deng (who really resembles Korean actor Park Seo Jun) and Mark Chao as Yin-Yang practitioners Bo Ya and Qing Ming respectively. There will be some spoilers but I'd try not to get too much out. Just remember don't confuse this movie with the other movie known as Yin-Yang Master which stars Chen Kun as the Hanyo known as Qing Ming.
The movie itself seems like the Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon franchise hit with Doctor Strange or other similar franchises. The portals may make you think of Kingdom Hearts and Final Fantasy. For me, it does seem to also hit with the Dragon Quest Heroes spin-off games. The two main heroes have their costumes in black and white -- both seemingly representing two dual forces in the Yin-Yang symbol. Speaking of which, Chao was also in the Taiwanese series Black and White which he really also was the more moral guy to Vic Chou's shadier, corrupt cop character. Bo Ya does seem to view the Boumas (mythological demons) as incapable of feeling any love. Qing Ming can be seen sympathizing with a hurt demon. Oh boy, vibes from Japanese mythology hits here.
The movie itself seems like the Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon franchise hit with Doctor Strange or other similar franchises. The portals may make you think of Kingdom Hearts and Final Fantasy. For me, it does seem to also hit with the Dragon Quest Heroes spin-off games. The two main heroes have their costumes in black and white -- both seemingly representing two dual forces in the Yin-Yang symbol. Speaking of which, Chao was also in the Taiwanese series Black and White which he really also was the more moral guy to Vic Chou's shadier, corrupt cop character. Bo Ya does seem to view the Boumas (mythological demons) as incapable of feeling any love. Qing Ming can be seen sympathizing with a hurt demon. Oh boy, vibes from Japanese mythology hits here.
The movie in itself features a love story gone wrong. Princess Fang Yue (Olivia Wang) holds the Evil Serpent in her body. Her lover, He Shouyue (Duo Wang) is tasked to protect her forever -- something that goes and twists him in his quest for immortality. A lot of weird events happen such as Fang Yue actually being centuries-old a la The Highlander. The Evil Serpent is prophesied to return -- something that could bring the end of the world. I'm almost reminded of one of my old shames Conan the Adventurer when the evil serpent Set, the serpent god, was released into the Earth during the finale. Egyptian mythology also has the dangerous serpent Apep. I'm amazed at how the giant serpent CGI actually looks so fearsome and the tensions brought were really high.
What's entertaining to see is how the two main characters Bo Ya and Qing Ming start to develop. Bo Ya would be willing to do anything even give his own blood to revive the Celestial Phoenix. There's also the clash of past and present. Does Bo Ya really know the princess enough? What does Qing Ming discover that happens along the way? It really does get entertaining with all the weird mix with how Doctor Strange ends up getting into the Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon franchise. Though warning is that there's some blood so the viewer's discretion is advised.
What's entertaining to see is how the two main characters Bo Ya and Qing Ming start to develop. Bo Ya would be willing to do anything even give his own blood to revive the Celestial Phoenix. There's also the clash of past and present. Does Bo Ya really know the princess enough? What does Qing Ming discover that happens along the way? It really does get entertaining with all the weird mix with how Doctor Strange ends up getting into the Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon franchise. Though warning is that there's some blood so the viewer's discretion is advised.
What would be interesting is that it's a loose adaptation of the award-winning novel Onmyoji by Baku Yumemakura. Reiko Okano would later adapt the series in the form of a Manga series. The crucial difference is that Onmyoji takes place in Japan while the film is obviously a Chinese version of it. It would be important to know how much Japanese entertainment has influenced Chinese, Taiwanese, and Korean shows. I suggest giving it a watch though I still feel it should have been a TV series instead.
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