MYTHICITY: *fair*
FRYEAN MYTHOS: *drama*
CAMPBELLIAN FUNCTION: *metaphysical, sociological* Of the various posters I saw for the first part of this lavish Chinese fantasy-trilogy, I like the one above, since it shows the poster fairly bursting with an avalanche of characters-- which probably represents about a fifth of all the named personages in this extravaganza. I don't know a lot about Chinese culture, but I have over the years noticed, through reading two or three of their older novels and seeing a lot of cinematic works, that the Chinese people always think more characters are better than less.
CREATION adapts a voluminous 16th-century Chinese novel which focuses on the interaction of gods and demons with mortals during the Shang Dynasty, one of China's earliest periods. Wiki's translation of the novel's title as "Investiture of the Gods" may be more accurate than the word "creation" in the streaming title. The gods already exist in this world, though the subtitling of CREATION calls them "Immortals of Kunlun." But even the entities of Heaven apparently need some sort of process of renewal, and that's what makes all the entangling conflicts of the story significant in a cosmic sense. One such earthbound conflict, in which a vassal ruler rebels against the Shang Emperor, becomes the hub around which all the cosmic events revolve.
Although the forces of Shang, led by the Emperor's son Yin Shou (Fei Xiang), conquer those of the vassal, the outbreak of human violence releases an evil fox-spirit from confinement. At the same moment of the spirit's escape, the princess of the rebel lord takes her life to avoid capture by the enemy. The fox possesses the dead woman and allows Shang's forces to take her prisoner. If I understood the sometimes confusing continuity, she stage-manages the murder of the Emperor so that Yin Shou will take his place. In due time she becomes the new Emperor's concubine and begins bending Yin Shou to evil ways-- though I for one was never sure how much of Yin's evil was of his own will.
At this same time, the Immortals of Kunlun fear that because of some vague archaic "Curse," the stability of the universe will be imperiled unless the Emperor of China performs a ceremony of investiture for the gods. To this end, the Immortals must send one of their number down to Earth with a special scroll used for this installation ceremony. The price of descending to Earth is that the chosen Immortal reverts to mortality and loses his fantastic powers. Two or three of the gods volunteer for the mission, but "The Supreme One" chooses an Immortal who hasn't been meditating in Kunlun that long: Jiang Ziya (Huang Bo). Down to Earth goes Jiang with the scroll. Yet he's not totally on his own, for two other Immortals follow to grant him assistance with their super-powers-- so Jiang's not precisely on his own in the mortal world. After some minor adventures Jiang and his comrades get an audience with Yin Shou, and Jiang explains how the scroll stabilizes reality by interacting with human souls. However, an evil sorcerer-tempter named Gongbao persuade Yin to use the scroll for his own advancement. Jiang takes back his offer to give Yin the scroll and flees the forces of the enraged emperor.
While I'm not about to try accounting for all the side-characters in CREATION, the person who's been merely a viewpoint character up to this point, a young lord named Ji Fa, becomes more intimately entangled in Jiang's resolve to keep the scroll from Yin's hands. Initially, Ji is loyal to his king, but over time he's convinced that Yin has become a tyrant. This would have been a good central conflict for at least this first installment of the film-series to pursue. Unfortunately, the "embarrassment of character-riches" causes CREATION to divert to many other characters under Yin's sway-- Ji's father, Yin's queen, etc etc. I confess I didn't even try to follow them all, but I assume they all contribute something to what seems to be the dominant theme: the chaos that results from the abuse of the powers of Heaven and Earth.
I think CREATION is a serious attempt to plumb the meaning of China's archaic mythology, but since I've not read the source novel, I don't know how successful PART 1 is in its mission of adaptation. I recognize a lot of familiar tropes here, but I can't say I feel like it all comes together, though seeing the other two parts-- one of which has not debuted yet-- could make a difference. My biggest complaint is that I don't know whether any single character is the main one, or if CREATION is built around an ensemble that might at the very least include Yin Shou, Ji Fa and Jiang Ziya. Ji Fa kills Yin at the conclusion, but the Fox revives the evil ruler, so he may or may not function as part of a centric ensemble. Time, and the availability of streaming purchases, may tell.
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