Painted Skin: The Resurrection (2012/Well Go USA Blu-ray)
Picture:
A Sound: B Extras: C Film: B+
A
millennium old fox spirit and a scarred princess fates becomes intertwined when
the ice spirit breaks free and princess saves her from a roving band of bandits
in Wuershan’s Painted Skin: The
Resurrection (2012). The fox spirit
searches for a heart which is freely given to her in order to become human,
while the princess searches a way to restore her lost beauty to win the heart
of the only man she ever loved, her body guard. The result is a story of lost hearts also made
in 3D, but not in this edition.
That
demon fox spirit seductress wishes for a way to become human, to understand
what it means to feel and love requires a human willing to give up their heart.
While a scarred princess wishes to win
the heart of the man who has always protected her, it is a love that could
never happen between a princess and her bodyguard, but if the demon fox and the
princess exchange souls/bodies both their wishes might be able to come true,
but is it worth losing their hearts?
This played
like a fine mix of martial arts, Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings; a martial
arts story set in ancient China
with mystical creatures/magic and an evil army invading the kingdom. I was very impressed with the integration of
love story, tragedy and sacrifice involving a demon who wishes to become human,
and a human who is willing to give up their heart to find love. While the story was a little thin, but it more
than made up for it in beautiful CGI and visual eye candy, again also shot in
3D and using a 4.5K Red Epic camera with a 1080p 2.35 X 1 digital High
Definition image that is stunning. The
DTS-MA (Master Audio) lossless Mandarin 5.1 mix is impressive enough to support
it, though I was not as impressive as the image, it is still really good. Extras include making of the film and
trailers, but I wish there had been more.
- Ricky Chiang
