Reviewed by: ororama Date: 07/11/2020 Members of the Winged Tribe seek the Naga Pearls in order to gain advantage that will allow them to rule over humans in Legend of the Naga Pearls, a fantasy adventure movie that focuses more on action and special effects than on telling a story. The characters occasionally slow down and talk, but soon they are running again to their next fight, which involves a lot of CGI enhanced jumping and flying. Darren Wang is intermittently amusing as Ni Kongkong, who repeatedly refers to himself as "the Saint of Thieves" to the confusion of others, who have never heard of him. The other actors generally don't develop much personality for their characters, although Crystal Zhang has an entertaining drunk scene and looks the part of the aristocrat turned constable, and Simon Yam is appropriately over the top as the villain Xuelie. The costumes are colorful, the makeup interesting, and the sets and scenery are attractive, but the plot and relationships seem underdeveloped. Legend of the Naga Pearls entertains as a fantasy quest movie that at times recalls The Lord of the Rings and Star Wars, but does not develop its plot and mythos sufficiently to make it particularly memorable.

Reviewed by: ewaffle Date: 04/03/2018 Summary: Dull CGI fest Not a bad movie with decent CGI effects, an affecting star turn by Crystal Zhang, a scenery chewing performance from veteran scene stealer Simon Yam and only a few gaping holes in the plot but...not a very good movie either. Having come to Hong Kong cinema through the old Kung Fu Theater type of hackneyed stories, wooden acting but often outlandish stunts , action choreography and bone-crunching fights with actual people doing the stunts, one learned to be forgiving of the lacunae for the sake of the very live action. There is no particular reason to see “Legend of the Nara Pearls” over any other computer enhanced action movie--it doesn’t bring anything new to the table. Photogenic young leads and Oka, a cross between a furry armadillo and an armored badger with a long tail, aren’t enough to make this a memorable experience. Reviewer Score: 5

Reviewed by: STSH Date: 09/04/2017 Summary: Entertaining silly fun Reviewer Score: 7