Movie Review: Wuershan's director seems to mean his film to be a Hollywood blockbuster popcorn show and visually 'Mojin' is up to that level. But that's all you'll get. No less nothing more.

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Mojin: The Lost Legend is an odd movie. There's a lot going on in front of the screen, but we're not quite sure what's really going on besides what the screenmaker is showing in front of the screen. Personally, I feel like watching his Transformers Michael Bay, but in Mandarin and without a robot, of course.

Wuershan's director seems to mean his film to be a Hollywood blockbuster popcorn show and Mojin's visuals are up to that level. But that's all you'll get. No less nothing more. We are presented with broken glass or explosion that seems to come out of the screen because this is what the audience expected as they watched the 3D version. There is a beautiful scenic backdrop from cinematographer Jake Pollock or a stunning CGI visualization to emphasize that the movie is also released in the IMAX version (in Indonesia aired only in the regular 2D format).

Taken from the popular novel Ghost Blows Out the Light by Tianxi Bachang, this is the second adaptation of the novel series. Even so, this is not a sequel because the previous film was made by different filmmakers with different players and stories.

So what's this movie about? Since 1000 years ago, Mojin is an "official" tomb pirate commissioned by the government to take gold from the tomb of the nobility. Why? In those days, China was in a war situation where the economy was so bad, while looting the tomb was a disgraceful act, so why not assign a "secret agent"? When Mojin is on duty, they light a candle in the grave. If extinguished means they are not allowed to pounce the tomb. This is a code of ethics whose reasons and implications are not explained from the manuscript also written by Bachang.

The motives of the characters are biased. We know the main character is not because of their impressive personality, but because of the characterization taken from the Cliche Guides Action Film All Time. There are 3 central characters: a handsome man who has qualifications as the main character, a woman who becomes a love-interest (and a film sweetener), and of course there is one comic relief that likes to throw on excessive comic jokes. There are two here. It is unfortunate when these famous names are wasted away.

His handsome man is Hu Baby (Chen Kun) who has quit as Mojin and now lives in New York as a homeless man with his friend, the comic relief, Wang Kaixuan (Huang Bo). When escaping from the pursuit of immigration officers, they happened to be saved by love interest Hu, Shirley Yang (Shu Qi). What a coincidence.

All three are forced to return to their old jobs when they get an offer from a mysterious mining company to plunder the grave of the daughter of Khitan in the interior of Mongolia. Here we meet with the second comic relief, Grill (Xia Yu), the agent of the Mojin. This expedition was not only for the sake of financial gain, but had a more personal reason for Wang and Yu. Twenty years earlier, during the Cultural Revolution, both of them lost their friend, Ding Sitian (Angelababy) after being trapped in the former headquarters of the Japanese army.

Once Mojin is accompanied by representatives of the mining company - including the president (Liu Xiao Qing, minor role) - entering the tomb, we are presented with a Tomb Raider or The Mummy adventure, where giant statues, zombies, mythical creatures, labyrinths and traps lethal is a common thing. At the peak moment involving many CGIs and practical effects, also revealed the real motive of this quest, both for the Mojin and for its antagonists.

What is the relationship between tomb excavation adventures and the Cultural Revolution? The last point seems quite important, considering the portion of its flashback is quite significant. But I am not so sure of the answer other than Sitian which is used as a red thread. Wuershan could have made two different films from the concept, and I think both will be interesting in their respective contexts.

Wuershan seems more focused on the production system that must be admittedly quite impressive. Set the practical settings wrapped with computer effects appear convincing. Set location is made in detail. We know they went into the ancient tombs because the property did look worn and full of dust (I wonder how much dust is used here). One of those marvelous moments is a giant crossing of pillars linked by wooden bridges, while under it there is a steady stream of rivers. The unusual color palette gives the feel of anesthetize. Scenes featuring a flashback sequence fusion with the real world show the superior visual concepts of the director.

Of course incomplete if the Mandarin movie does not contain action scenes. Several times the Mojin defy gravity to beat the zombies. I do not know if the choreography is good or not, because the scene-cut is so fast that the scene is hard to understand (I told you before that it reminded me of Transformers).

For info, in his hometown, the box office acquisition of this movie in the first week is the third highest of all time after Monster Hunt and Lost in Hong Kong. Indirectly, this proves that he is in great demand by many audiences, except me. Maybe this movie is not for me. Maybe I just can not find a way to enjoy it.