The followup to the 2008 hit, Painted Skin: The Resurrection went on to become the all-time Mainland box office champ. This is one of those rare sequels that manages to be better than the original, as rising young director Wuershan drops most of the martial arts and horror elements from the first film, instead concentrating of the fantasy elements, which makes this a stronger picture overall. Is this the greatest movie ever? Certainly not. But it is a fun one to check out, especially if you're into the genre.

Painted Skin: The Resurrection reunites most of the cast from the original film, albeit with some of them in different roles. Zhou Xun plays Xiao Wei, a demon who wants to become a human. To do so, she must find someone who is willing to give her their heart. Xiao finds a likely candidate in Jing (Vicky Zhao), a princess who wants to marry one of her guards, Huo Xin (Chen Kun), but feels like she cannot do so because of large scars on her face.

Like most movies of this type, there are several other plotlines going, including a demon hunter who isn't very good at his job developing feelings for one of his targets, and a pending invasion from a barbarian horde. To Wuershan's credit, even though the film runs at over two hours, it never really feels too bloated. Sure, there are some moments and shots here and there that feel like they could have been trimmed or excised, but this doesn't end up feeling like overwrought cinematic wankery at all.

It should also be noted that it was nice that Painted Skin: The Resurrection was a recent big budget Hong Kong/Mainland effort that didn't feel like it was totally pandering to the Mainland audience, and, perhaps more importantly, the government, by loading itself with pro-Chinese propaganda. Though not quite as successful cinematically as the classic wuxia films from the 1980's and 1990's, this is a nice callback to that era.

RATING: 7