Film Name: 秦时明月之龙腾万里 / The Legend of Qin
It had been bottled up for at least three or four years before the first theatrical release of “The Legend of Qin” finally made its timid debut in 2014. Imagine if this film had premiered just one year after the TV anime’s 2008 debut—it would have drawn massive crowds. Yet in today’s crowded market, where 30 domestic animated films compete annually for theater screens, this work has long lost its chance to shine. Its technical edge has faded, its content offers little to commend, and even the enthusiasm of Qin fans has waned.
“The Legend of Qin” takes characters from the TV series “Qin Shi Ming Yue” and transports them to Loulan for a geographical time-jump—how bizarre, how unexpected. My impression is that if this were a fan-created work, it would be remarkable. But if it’s supposed to be “Qin Shi Ming Yue,” I feel it falls far short of the mark. It shuns the tumultuous era of the Hundred Schools of Thought and sidesteps the fiercely competitive Warring States period. Instead, it shrinks one of China’s most epic historical landscapes into a desolate, incomprehensible western wilderness, then throws in some nonsense about a Chi You’s Holy Maiden. Is this the “Qin’s Moon” Mr. Wen Shiren envisioned? Is this the “Qin’s Moon” movie fans nationwide have anticipated for years?
For some reason, Hangzhou-produced animated films have been obsessed with time travel since The Dreams of Jinsha. Magic Wonderland took us to Fairy City, and The Legend of Qin movie sent us to Loulan City. Why all the time-traveling? And why must every story end with battling a giant monster? Jinsha City did it, Fairy City did it, and Loulan even had a mechanical monster. Did we disturb some monster’s nest?
For the next installment of The Legend of Qin, I suggest having Gai Nie, Wei Zhuang, and the others time-travel to the modern era—right into our midst. Take the time-travel concept all the way. Stop this half-hearted, coy back-and-forth between ancient times. If you’re going to time-travel, bring the characters to the fans. Make them step out of the screen. This isn’t a joke—it’s how you make fans scream. Traveling to Loulan leaves audiences unsatisfied—Loulan or not, what does it matter to them? It must happen in contemporary China to be truly complete. Of course, this assumes such a leap wouldn’t undermine the film’s core themes and substance.
Regarding the plot, I’ll mainly address two issues. Other points have been discussed extensively by netizens, so I won’t repeat them here.
First, the characters are all cool enough, but they lack depth. Take Gai Nie, for instance—he’s undeniably cool. But while this kind of coolness might satisfy die-hard fans, it falls flat for casual viewers or the general audience. These audiences need to see Gai Nie’s inner transformation, his moving backstory, the multifaceted bond he shares with Wei Zhuang throughout their lives, the sacrifices behind his formidable power, even his flaws and his love life. In short, you can’t just leave them with nothing but coolness.
Another issue is that the ultimate challenge isn’t truly ultimate. The demonic Wei Zhuang should have merged with the Chi You monster to reach his peak power. Only by defeating this ultimate form could the protagonist truly graduate—otherwise, it’s just oversimplification. In the film, a subordinate merely controls the monster, and he’s even defeated later than Wei Zhuang. I call this phenomenon “plot weightlessness.”
The film’s strength lies in its animation—it boasts the most outstanding martial arts sequences in domestic animation to date. It has truly mastered the “martial” aspect of wuxia, but the “chivalrous” element still has significant room for improvement. Additionally, the depiction of the giant fish in the desert is quite imaginative.
Please specify：Anime Phone Cases » The Legend of Qin 2014 Animation Film Review: A very good fan work