The Sorcerer and the White Snake (2013)
Average Rating: 5.3/10
Reviews Counted: 15
Fresh: 4 | Rotten: 11
No consensus yet.
Average Rating: N/A
Critic Reviews: 4
Fresh: 1 | Rotten: 3
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Average Rating: 3.3/5
User Ratings: 5,201
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Movie Info
Action director Ching Siu-Tung helms this fantasy film based on an old Chinese legend about an herbalist who falls in love with a thousand-year-old White Snake disguised as a woman. Jet Li stars as a sorcerer who discovers her true identity and battles to save the man's soul. (c) Magnolia
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Cast
-
Jet Li
Abott Fahai -
Eva Huang
White Snake -
Raymond Lam Fung
Xu Xian -
Charlene Choi
Green Snake -
Vivian Hsu
Ice Harpy
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All Critics (15) | Top Critics (4) | Fresh (4) | Rotten (11)
These showdowns feature spectacular, Lord of the Rings-style CGI settings, but not much in the way of thrills or terror.
Top CriticThe clunky action mostly revolves around uninspired wire-fu choreography: Monks fly around while flailing their arms as hordes of CGI creatures gather around and then do nothing.
A silly, derivative supernatural-action extravaganza that would have been better at a fraction of its f/x budget.
Fantastic visuals and non-stop action make for a spectacular, romantic Chinese CGI feast.
The Sorcerer and the White Snake is unfortunately just another average Jet Li film to throw into the pile. Its bloated and overloaded use of mediocre special effects practically shackles the film to its humdrum atmosphere.
A masterpiece of imagination. Offers wall-to-wall goofy fun for fans of martial arts flicks, fantasies, or just good old-fashioned cinematic nuttiness.
This hyperactive assault on the senses from Hong Kong is noteworthy only for its dazzling array of computer-generated special effects.
We've seen this movie before, in better clothes and with a much higher IQ.
The film looks so glossy, plasticized, and unreal that all you end up thinking about is special effects.
An amusing Chinese martial arts reminder that not all cheese comes from Switzerland, or Wisconsin.
It's a sometimes charming film from the veteran action filmmaker, but remains a curiosity, lacking comic sharpness and romantic intensity.
There's hardly any love affair left really because the CGI has taken over with a vengeance. I got a bit bored by this, because it's just special effects, just CGI all the way through and the story is just shunted aside.
The director has pulled out all stops to impress, perhaps a bit too excessively, so that the fragile emotions of this love affair are undermined.
Though The Sorcerer and the White Snake is excessive and at times jumbled, younger viewers will surely respond to the colourful characters and settings, and the bold vision on display is charming... for the most part.
With the mushometer maxed out, and a score that starts on overdrive and heads for overbearing, this ridiculously melodramatic tale of forbidden love tries to bury its narrative flaws with a colourful coating of CGI - but ends up a shiny glutinous mess.
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Latest News on The Sorcerer and the White Snake
February 7, 2013:
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Foreign Titles
- The Sorcerer and the White Snake (Baish Echuanshuo) (DE)
- The Emperor and the White Snake (UK)
A battle between Fahai and Neng Ren against the bat-demon on Mid-Autumn night is an excellent case-in-point- ditto for the extended climax between Fahai and the White Snake set in the middle of the ocean. Admittedly however, none of the action sequences are particularly memorable - mostly because Jet Li only gets to spar against either a green screen or against 'green' martial arts actors like Eva Huang and Charlene Choi.
But in spite of these shortcomings, this remains a richly entertaining brew of fantasy, romance and CGI - the supernatural world is vividly realised, the romance is surprisingly affecting and the CGI is also commendable by the standards of Chinese cinema.