Colibel Terrible acting, screenplay and direction.

Softwing Most undeservingly overhyped movie of all time??

Helloturia I have absolutely never seen anything like this movie before. You have to see this movie.

Marva-nova Amazing worth wacthing. So good. Biased but well made with many good points.

paulclaassen Although Jet Li is essentially the main actor, Raymond Lam steals the show (in my opinion) as herb picker Xu Xian. The beautiful Shengyi Huang is well cast as White Snake and the chemistry between Raymond and Shengyi is wonderful. This is a love story set against a fantasy action adventure backdrop, and the genres blend beautifully. The action is just as amazing as the love story. I did find some scenes to be a bit slapstick silly, but in general this CGI-heavy film was quite fascinating. The flood scene in the final act was truly awesome. I did find the ending a bit overuse of CGI to a point where I almost lost what was actually happening, but the love story portrayed by Raymond and Shengyi swiftly pulled me back to their reality and it was simply spectacular. This is a very imaginative film.

siderite So many people reviewed this as bad and I will be damned if I understand why. The story is that of an old Chinese legend (well, a more modern interpretation), the actresses are very beautiful and the acting, for what it's worth, is not bad either. To bash a movie because the CGI is a little choppy and Jet Li fights magically instead of kicking behinds seems the height of triviality.The Legend of the White Snake starts a long time ago, way before there was a written version. The original is quite different from the modern version as well, being a horror story about a demon tricking a human to fall in love with her and her jealous demon buddies are doing everything in their power to break them up. At least this is what I got from Wikipedia. The film, though, presents it as a total love story where the White Snake and her sister are benevolent demons who visit the human world and eventually fall for two guys. The natural order, represented by the Buddhist monk Fahai, a non compromising demon hunter, doesn't allow this type of union and eventually it all escalates into a bad CGI extravaganza.I thought the morality of the story was a little bit confusing, but complex, worthy of a script. Nothing is completely black and white and in the end the message is tolerance, even if not everything turns out OK. This complexity has kept my eyes glued to the screen until the end. Yes, the CGI could have been better, but who really cares about that?Bottom line: I liked it. Popularizes a Chinese legend that I knew nothing about, shows people that a film can have a complex story that is not just black and white, stars really cute Chinese ladies and in end was quite entertaining for me. No masterpiece, but really better than average.

WatchedAllMovies This movie is based on an old Chinese legend about a white snake that turned into a woman and falling in love with a man.There are other versions of this story made into movies. The significant of this movie is the liberal use of computer graphics, making the snake-woman more visually convincing.But the movie goes overboard with the CGI. Some of the effects look obviously fake and/or choppy. Perhaps they haven't mastered the CGI software.Another thing that look out of place is the presence of a small animal sidekick. There is no such things as sidekicks in Chinese legends. It is very odd to see one in a Chinese movie. It is more like a Disney thing.Also strange to see is a western monster like the flying demon. I think I saw it in some western monster movies recently. Perhaps they bought a pre-made and pre-animated monster cheap.The story does not have enough plot to support a full length movie, so they added lots of unnecessary fights. It would be better and cheaper to add more twists.Overall it is an OK movie, from a Hong Kong movie standard. Obviously it is sub-par when compared to Hollywood production.I watched this movie using a streaming video service. There is English subtitle.

Alison Buddhist Monk and Abbot Fahai (Jet Li) and his disciple Neng Ren (Zhang Wen) are demon hunters, among other things; White Snake (Shengyi Huang) and Green Snake (Charlene Choi) are sister demons, one a bit of a romantic and the other rather mischievous. Green Snake causes young herbalist Xu Xian (Raymond Lam) to fall into a lake in the mountains, but White Snake saves him with a kiss, imparting some of her vital essence to him. Is it any wonder, after such a kiss, that White Snake and Xu Xian fall in love? But nothing good can come of the relationship between a human and a demon, and Abbot Fahai is determined to separate the couple, even at the cost of wreaking havoc in the temple and the world....Jet Li is as likable and harmonious as ever in this role, one where he is able to employ his considerable martial arts skills while maintaining the quietude and serenity of a monk; Zhang Wen's disciple provides some excellent comic relief as he "grows" from hapless monk to, well, demon; and the two sister snakes are suitably sinuous and lovely. Raymond Lam is also quite good as the ambitious herbalist who dreams of becoming a doctor and saving the lives of others; indeed, his humble nobility creates a desire in White Snake to do good herself, an emotion not necessarily common for demons. We also are treated to a number of other demons, including a pack of gorgeous white foxes, a beautiful snow goblin all dressed in red, and a rabbit devil, and there are a number of set pieces involving Abbot Fahai's fights with some of these creatures. All in all, a very entertaining spectacle and a fitting way for us to close FantAsia 2012!