The equally imaginatively told and ambitiously implemented story of “A Writer’s Odyssey – Guardians of Time” should be for fans of broad fantasy concepts, as well as fans of smart, intricate thrillers. Tonight, the Chinese blockbuster (which grossed $160 million in its production country alone) celebrates its local free TV premiere.
“A Writer’s Odyssey – Guardians of Time” airs today, November 5, 2023 at 11 p.m. on RTL 2. There will be a repeat that same evening at 3:45 PM. Alternatively, the FSK-16 title is available as Blu-ray, DVD or paid video on demand – for example on Amazon:
In the leading roles you see some actors who should look very familiar to fans of recent Chinese productions. We are talking about Jiayin Lei from the science fiction megahit ‘The Wandering Earth’, which can be experienced here via Netflix, Mi Yang from the thriller ‘Reset’ produced by Jackie Chan, and Zijian Dong from ‘Ashes is Pure White’.
“A Writer’s Odyssey” on RTL 2: that’s the story
Since his daughter (Shengdi Wang) was kidnapped six years ago, Guan (Lei) has been a broken man. One day, however, he is approached by Ling Tu (Yang), the right-hand man of the wealthy and mysterious technology magnate Mu Li (Hewei Yu). The woman knows everything about Guan – not only the hassle with his girl, but also that he can throw small objects such as rocks or golf balls with absolute precision and also feels no physical pain.
Tu claims to Guan that he knows where his daughter is. However, she only wants to reveal this to him if he kills a writer, the fantasy author Kongwen Lu (Dong). The victim is the author of the popular online sequel novel ‘Godslayer’, the plot of which appears to have a direct impact on Tus Boss. Every time Lu hurts the villain of his story, Li feels it firsthand. Guan is supposed to kill the author before he can kill the character in the novel with his keyboard…
A very ambitious project
A story this complex and visually impressively executed should have actually merited at least two to three films or a multi-part miniseries on one of the major streaming services. Parallel to the turbulent history of our time, the film also presents the fantastic new plot, enriched with epic battle scenes and wondrous creatures, using lush visuals.
“A Writer’s Odyssey – Guardians of Time” was conceived and then filmed by a proven team – led by director Yang Lu. As with his previous successful titles ‘Brotherhood Of Blades 1 + 2’, the man from Beijing once again shared the script work with co-writer Shu Chen. Another of Lu’s regular collaborators was responsible for the imaginative shots that rivaled even major Hollywood projects: lead cinematographer Qiming Han.
Due to the wealth of story material, the complexity of the characters and the enormous speed with which the parallel storylines are told, “A Writer’s Odyssey – Guardians of Time” can occasionally seem rushed or overloaded. Nevertheless, the title should at least be worth a look for all fans of fantastic films. Tonight you have the chance to do that.
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