Double World

2020 ‘征途’ Directed by Teddy Chan

Keen to bring honor to his clan, young villager Dong Yilong embarks on a perilous journey to compete in a tournament that selects warriors for battle.

Henry Lau Peter Ho Lin Chenhan Jiang Luxia Him Law Hu Ming Tiger Xu Mark Cheng Shi Shi Zhang Ningjiang Wang Yanlong Du Xiaofan

Alternative Title

Zhengtu

adventure fantasy action

110 mins More details at IMDb TMDb Report this film

Popular reviews

Review by Tino Hahn ★★★★ 4

Wer auch nur einen Hauch von Liebe für spektakuläre Fantasy-Action im Allgemeinen oder Wuxia im Speziellen in seinem ausgemergelten Körper verspürt, der sollte jetzt mal lieber sofort aufhören, diese Review zu lesen und stattdessen sofort Double World auf Netflix starten.
Und Hollywood kann sich noch wärmer anziehen, wenn selbst prädestinierte China-Blockbuster mit einem potenziellen Einspielergebnis von über 300 Millionen Dollar alleine in China auf den Streaming-Plattformen landen.
Review by The Mercurean ★★★

Director Teddy Chan, known for his action-packed films starring Donnie Yen like Bodyguards and Assassins (2009) and Kung Fu Jungle (2014), forgoes the martial arts legend for a cast lead by pop musician and dancer Henry Lau in the wuxia fantasy adventure Double World (2020), an adaption of the popular Chinese MMORPG Zhengtu (2007).
A standout performance by Chenhan Lin as a cutesy great sword-swinging warrior, reminiscent of the titular heroes of Capcom’s Monster Hunter (2004) video game series, paired with solid performances by Henry Lau and Peter Ho helps stabilize the first two-thirds of a fantasy adventure film troubled by a bloated world-building plot and an excessive misuse of CGI. Unfortunately, a curve ball in the final third tosses the film’s most lovable aspects and a lot of the meaningful developments that were keeping Double World (2020) above water, leading to a deeply unsatisfying ending.
Review by Geoffrey Broomer ★★½

Went in completely blind to find a CGI world that, much like the last Detective Dee or The Great Wall, reimagines an ancient China as the Lord of the Rings. It's inventive, but I breathed a sigh of relief upon discovering its based on an MMORPG. Video game adaptations are a mixed bag on a good day, and I’m talking about classic games I would actually play – so Double World would be a very hard sell for me in the first place.
Not armed with those preconceptions, however, Double World was rather enjoyable. The fantasy monsters were creative, colours rich, characters likeable, action solid and banter playful. Ugly elements continue to work their way into the plot – a…
Review by Justin Decloux ★½ 2

Hmmm. A Mainland Chinese Blockbuster about a martial arts tournament directed by seasoned Hong Kong director Teddy Chan... and it's choreographed by veteran Stephen Tung... maybe it'll be good?
(CGI dog appears)
(CGI scorpion shows up)
(the realization that there will be no full martial arts action scenes in this hits me)
(CGI dragon appears)
(two women are fridged to motivate the heroes journey)
(CGI fire climax)
Goddammit. I fall for it every time.
Review by Trevor Wang ★★★½

In ancient China, different clans were called upon for a nationwide fighting tournament to decide the best warrior, and numerous brave fighters embark on a perilous journey full of monsters, traps and conspiracies.
It is always entertaining to watch skillful martial arts fighting scenes with various weapons and choreography! Evil plots and giant monsters always make things more interesting!
Review by MichaelEternity ★★★

Another blockbuster-sized import from China (to be found streaming on Netflix, a reliable distributor of Eastern hemisphere mega hits) that would have gotten a lot of press if it were an American production: I surely would've seen it in theaters, there'd be a wave of reviews opening weekend but it probably wouldn't have done as well as the studio hoped because fantasy is still a hard sell yada yada. It's about an unlikely trio of heroes on a quest in medieval times (in an alternate universe) and there's a fighting tournament, plus monsters like a giant boar, giant scorpions, and a cave dragon. Bravery, solidarity and set pieces are the main courses. This is based on a video game, but…
Review by Luke Netov ★★★★

While not the most attention-grabbing title for a film, I'd be damned If I didn't say that this was fun to watch. While plot elements and the characters are the typical generic types you would find in any action/adventure film, and this type of story has been done before, I could forgive the movie for that because of how enjoyable the whole thing was. The action was solid and while it is a little heavy on the CGI, I was amazed by the amount of practicality there was to this as well. So yeah if you're looking for a fun movie to watch for around two hours, and one that is not boring, then this would be a good one to put on. This was recently put on Netflix so that would be the place to find it.
Review by Matt Reifschneider ★★★★

Double World might be based on a Chinese game that I've never heard of, but dammit if I didn't have a blast watching this modern fantasy wuxia film. It has all the merits of a blockbuster, from silly humor to too many subplots, giant CGI monsters to ensemble casts, but there is a lot of heart and chemistry in its leads and enough fun action sequences that it works. It's not artsy stuff, but in terms of bombastic entertainment, Double World delivers.
Review by Alexis ★★½

It was the tax exemption as a reward for saving the king's life and kingdom for me
Review by HAL_over_9000 ★★½

Ein Mix aus peinlichen Dialogen, mittelmäßigem CGI und schlechtem Worldbuilding zeichnen den chinesischen Fantasy-Blockbuster "Double World" aus, der ein wirklich wenig originelles Genre-Mischmasch darstellt; zwar mit charmanten Darstellern bestückt, die aber wiederum nur Arcs durchlaufen dürfen, die wir einerseits natürlich alle schon kennen, und andererseits wirklich nur die Sprache Pathos sprechen können. Wäre zwar nicht schlimm, wenn wenigstens die Action, die Schauwerte oder das World Building überzeugen würden.
Die Action ist aber nicht wirklich gut und eher so auf Marvel-Level. Konzeptionell sind die Setpieces zwar alle recht fein, aber wirklich funktionieren tut nur das mit dem sog. "Bestienkönig" (dessen Gesicht sichtlich von Smaug inspiriert ist), wo der Film dann auch seine restriktive Abgedrehtheit mal in den Spaß einlöst, den der…
Review by Christian Finck ★★★½

Alberne Fantasy-Filme gibt es seit Jahren quasi im wöchentlichen Veröffentlichungsrhythmus. Diese haben in der Regel nichts mit der Qualität großer chinesischer Filme wie A Chinese Ghost Story am Hut.
Auch Teddy Chans (Kung Fu Jungle, The Accidental Spy) 征途 macht zunächst keinen anderen Eindruck. Alles ist albern, überdramatisch und seltsam. Dazu gesellen sich billigste Effekte z.B. bei Blut, Feuer, Rauch oder Tieren.
Doch mein Eindruck sollte sich ändern. Mit der Zeit wird das Abenteuer ernsthafter und düsterer. Teilweise sogar recht blutig. Die Figuren bekommen mehr Tiefe und Charme. Dazu gibt es abwechslungsreiche, manchmal sogar spektakuläre Settings. Die Effektqualität bleibt schwankend. Manches sieht echt schick aus, manches katastrophal (z.B. der Kampf gegen die drachenartige Riesenschlange). Zum Glück gab es auch relativ…
Review by Timmy ★½ 2

Surprise, surprise. The only two visible female characters are plot devices to advanced the male characters’ storyline. Pfft. Shame on me for hoping this would be different.

Recent reviews

Review by SUJIN_ ★½

거대한 판타지 규모 속에서 클리셰 덩어리로 이뤄진 서사와 낭비되는 조연들.
Review by MegaMono ★★½

Videogame Cut Scene: The Movie.
Review by rosbo ★★★½

You know aside from the over the top CGI the actual story of the movie was pretty good and it had some really likeable characters. There was good character growth and when the movie let the actors act in real sets the movie wasn’t half bad
Review by Gabriel R. ★★½

Teddy Chen, who made successfull martial arts films with Donnie Yen and Jackie Chan, makes a film that is extremelly generic in it's story and too long for it's own good. But that captures the formula of success of some japanese shounen animations with western audiences in ways that Hollywood never could. Good action scenes and visuals.
Review by Scott da Antártica

This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.

Aff os melhores personagens morrem 😰
Review by rustywashcloth ★★★½

Disturbing satisfying gruesome cute overall a good B movie. A little gruesome for my taste but the effects are bad so I guess it takes off the edge.
Very classic mean deaths that make you cry a little.
Review by Letmeliv ★★

so it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be, but we didn’t even get to see Jeng Luxia do anything except be sad and bald. what’s the point of paying a martial arts master to be in your martial arts film and then just giving her two scraps of fight scene? what’s not clicking??
Review by KateBM52 ★★★★

Yes this is a cheesy fantasy movie but it's a pretty fucking good cheesy fantasy movie. This film has a surprising amount of heart put into it that I have to admire. Hopefully with it streaming on Netflix is gets more attention from Western audiences
Review by Oliver Quinn

My dad likes really dumb movies but I love him for it
Review by Kay ★★½

This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.

Honestly, I might have rated this a three if it weren’t for the abhorrent treatment of women in the movie. The whole female slaves fighting to death, yeah, who decided that should be a thing? The Zixuan Clan deserved better, they honestly seemed more interesting and would’ve been cooler to see as the protagonists of the story. The only redeemable thing the movie did was have Bi Nu free the female slaves, but even there they squashed that opportunity, because she let the slaver undeservedly live. I guess it didn’t mean shit in the end since she fucking dies.
And then we have the worst offender for female deaths, Jinggang’s. The manner in which she was killed was extremely gruesome,…
Review by Mystic River ★½

This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.

The CGI was so amateur like you wouldn't expect this from Teddy Chan. I lost interest when the warrior girl gets killed. Also why so much on the face teeth grinding violence?
Review by MichaelEternity ★★★

Another blockbuster-sized import from China (to be found streaming on Netflix, a reliable distributor of Eastern hemisphere mega hits) that would have gotten a lot of press if it were an American production: I surely would've seen it in theaters, there'd be a wave of reviews opening weekend but it probably wouldn't have done as well as the studio hoped because fantasy is still a hard sell yada yada. It's about an unlikely trio of heroes on a quest in medieval times (in an alternate universe) and there's a fighting tournament, plus monsters like a giant boar, giant scorpions, and a cave dragon. Bravery, solidarity and set pieces are the main courses. This is based on a video game, but…