Bai she chuan shuo
Tags: paranormal, revenge, fantasy, romantic

Plot synopsis:
The film starts with Abbott Fahai and his assistant Neng Ren heading towards a blizzard through a magical door. An ice harpy appears at the top of the mountains and turns the impetuous Neng Ren into an ice statue. She then reveals her past and reasons to kill all men. Unable to persuade the ice harpy to turn over a new leaf, Fahai is forced to fight her. The battle ends with Fahai capturing the ice harpy using a demon trapper, which releases Neng Ren from ice. Neng Ren is then tasked to confine the ice harpy at Lei Feng Pagoda, and the master and assistant head back to the door which disappears after closing behind them. At the Pagoda, Neng Ren transfers the ice harpy from the demon trapper into the magic circle, which holds other trapped demons in it.
On the other side of the mountain, two female snake demons (Qingqing and Susu) are playing around, enjoying their time when they spot a physician, Xu Xian, picking herbs at the foot of the mountain with his friends. Qingqing, being a playful snake, scares him, causing him to fall into the lake below. Susu, being gentler, assumes human form and kisses Xu Xian which allows Vital Essence to flow from her into his body thus saving him. Soon, Xu Xian wakes up and tells his friends about being kissed by a beautiful girl, which only makes them laugh.
After finding a victim of a bat demon, Fahai and Neng Ren leave the temple immediately to subdue the bat demon to avoid more casualties. Xu Xian comes across them and offers a boat ride to the city. Susu starts thinking about the day she kissed Xu Xian and decides to head to the city to find him. Meanwhile, while Qingqing is exploring the city, she came across Neng Ren and decided to help him subdue the bat demon by revealing its location. Neng Ren defeats the bat demon's cohorts, but is unable to subdue the bat demon king who bites him. Though he is subsequently saved by Fahai, Neng Ren starts turning into a bat demon himself the next day and decides to run away.
In the meanwhile, after a series of pranks, Xu Xian recognizes Susu and they spend the night together, which is rather unfortunate for Xu Xian because he does not know that he was making love to a snake in a human form.
Neng Ren is found by Qinqing and the two befriend each other. They realize that Neng Ren, despite becoming a bat demon, still has all his human taste for human food, and most of his human qualities. Meanwhile, Xu Xian and Susu wed. Shortly after Fahai saw that Xu Xian's medicines has mysterious substance after that, he gives Xu Xian a dagger that can kill demons. Susu is then chased by Fahai, who tells her to leave Xu Xian and sparing her. Which She doesn't, which causes Fahai and his disciples to invade her and Xu Xian's cottage. Susu fights the battle in her snake form, but is stabbed by Xu Xian unaware of her true identity. Susu escapes but is gravely injured. Xu Xian, after realizing what he has done, decides to get the spirit root to heal her.
Helped by Susu's friend, a mouse, Xu Xian manages to retrieve a root kept inside the Lei Feng Pagoda that could save Susu, but is possessed by demons as a result of this. Fahai and the other monks capture Xu Xian and prepare to cast spells to banish the demons from his body. Susu recovers and she goes to find Xu Xian along with Qinqing. They are confronted by Fahai, who tries to explain to them that the spell should not be broken before it is complete. Susu however does not believe him and accuses him of trying to separate them so the two sisters start battling Fahai. After countless wounds Fahai lies back exhausted. As he looks around he sees Neng Ren helping to save his former colleagues, the monks of the temple who were trying to complete the spell to release Xu Xian from the demons. He looks up at the sky and questions whether he was right to have been a demon hunter all his life.
Susu releases Xu Xian from the spell after which Xu Xian does not have any memory of Susu. Susu blames this on Fahai, after which they have one last battle. Fahai manages to trap Susu in the temple of Lei Feng Pagoda. At this point, Susu repents and asks to see Xu Xian just one last time, as she could accepted any punishments as long as she could see him for the last time. Simultaneously, Fahai gets the answer to his question and understands what he must do. Filled with the divine spirit, he lifts up the pagoda to allow Susu's last wish to come true.
After a brief reunion with Xu Xian, she tells him of her story of having meditated for a thousand years before she met him. She tells him that it was all worth less than a moment with him, that even he doesn't remember her, her memory of love with him is enough, and that even if she has to die or live with pain, she won't regret how much she has to suffer to see him one last time. She kisses him, causing him to remember everything. As the pair go to kiss one last time Susu is sucked back into the temple, leaving Xu Xian chasing her as both cry and reach out for each other.
Qingqing, watching all this from a distance with Neng Ren, tells him that she doesn't want to love anyone as her sister loved Xu Xian, and leaves saying that he will never be a true bat demon anyway.
After this, we see Xu Xian picking herbs around the temple and inside Susu has returned to her true form as a white snake trapped inside the temple. Fahai is seen walking the mountainside when suddenly Neng Ren (now a complete bat demon) appears alongside him. Throwing him an apple to eat Fahai tells him that his new look suits him, and they continue on the journey together again.

Review: A thousand year old white snake spirit and a young simple herbalist falls in love.
While I see the flaws that some reviewers point out, the CGI and fantasy settings were so beautiful and Jet Li's fight sequences so breathtakingly spectacular, that I loved this movie!!
The Sorcerer and The White Snake is a rare gem, it is a love story told through art.
Tony Ching Siu-Tung directs this update of a film that chronicles the romance of a White Snake spirit and a mortal man, which of course is forbidden by lore, and a monk who goes between them.
Tony is no stranger to martial arts fantasy films with a few already under his belt, such as notable flicks like Swordsman III and the Chinese Ghost Story series, which coincidentally also got remade by Wilson Yip recently, so we're in good hands for what would be a broad based special effects extravaganza that unfortunately had its hokey moments.Those familiar with the White Snake fable will find some broad elements that resemble that tale being told here, such as Madam White Snake Su Su (Eva Huang) who with her sister Qing Qing the Green Snake (Charlene Choi) chanced upon the poor though honest herb collector and aspiring healer/physician wannabe Xu Xian (Raymond Lam).
The opening scene of the film sets the expectation of what this duo is capable of, with Fa Hai naturally being the more experienced and highly skilled catcher, versus his more bumbling protégé in here for tragic comedy, in a big bang special effects extravaganza as they go up against Vivian Hsu's cameo appearance as a demon decked in flowing red robes.
Soon enough Neng Ren will form yet a smaller romantic subplot with Qing Qing, while Fa Hai could be looked on as the true nemesis in the film for his adamant stubbornness in wanting to break up Xu Xian and Su Su, and destroy the latter for yet another feather in the cap for a job well done.Curiously, this version of the Madam White Snake story seemed to want to adapt the Disney formula, where you'd have smaller animal sidekicks that talk pop up now and then to try and lighten the mood, or play pivotal roles for the protagonists.
And true to Disney's formula as well is the general lack of blood in its action, which reportedly had Jet Li do more kung fu poses than he would have imagined necessary, but the romantic core of the film definitely took a backseat when the filmmakers decided to focus on martial arts and special effects to wow an audience.Which isn't a bad thing when you extrapolate its message to talk about how an older generation dead set and stubborn in their ways sometimes fail to allow what they're prejudiced about to continue with their knowledge.
It isn't enough to not meddle in other's affairs, but it's necessary to eradicate something from even existing, which is exactly what Fa Hai did during his initial big fight with Su Su that ended with a warning that if he should see her again the gloves would be off, and the next thing you know he's assembled his disciples to go snake hunting in an ambush of her home.On the effects front, it's time to sit up and take notice what the Asian effects company are finally able to pull off since the days of terrible rendering seen in True Legend.
While certain shots were unfortunate rip-offs from films such as 2012 with its massive floodwaters overwhelming huge mountains, there were others that more than made up for its lack of originality, and the bamboo forest, which all self respecting martial arts film must feature, had an interesting spin thanks to effects bringing to life something I've yet to see involving fox spirits and bamboo shoot hideouts and seduction.And if copying is a form of flattery, then whatever Zack Snyder did in 300 with its stylistic fights, have been done to death in other films and this one as well, with its slow motion, spin around being prominently over used, that I would have given up an arm for a straight fight between the exponents, which couldn't be possible since Jet Li's the only bona fide martial artist, with the rest being posers with heavy reliance on wire work.
Even the climatic battle between Fa Hai and two snakes looked very much like D-War's and Endhiran's, with effects making the sparring session look very much epic.I would have liked a stronger story that provided more focus between Madam White Snake and Xu Xian, but that is something to be found in predecessor films.
Award-winning movie superstar Jet Li plays the role of a stern but compassionate master monk battling to save humans from being devoured by demons.
The master monk tries to protect a naive TCM physician (played by Hong Kong's hunky star Raymond Lam) from a thousand-year-old White Snake (Eva Huang) who had transformed herself into a beautiful woman, and mayhem ensues.Speaking of which, the CGI and other special effects utilized in the movie are simply gorgeous.
And, we have not even included the stellar cast of actors and actresses, ranging from Eva Huang (Stephen Chow's Kungfu Hustle), Wen Zhang (Stephen Chow's record-breaking box office hit Journey to the West - Conquering the Demons), Charlene Choi (Hong Kong's highly popular pop duo Twins) to Vivian Hsu (Taiwan's well-known singer, model and actress).For fans of The Forbidden Kingdom (Jackie Chan and Jet Li), Reign of Assassins (directed by John Woo, title song by BBC World Music award winner Sa Ding Ding, and starring Michelle Yeoh) and Storm Warriors (directed by Pang Brothers and starring Aaron Kwok and Ekin Cheng), you shall be delighted by this fantastic fantasy movie...pardon the pun.See the extended trailer (over 6 mins) on Youtube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yKNxI0IqAfM.
This is another adaptation of the White Snake myth of forbidden love between humans and demons but the good news is that it is hyped up with so much CGI wizardry that it looks almost like an "Avatar" clone, complete with copious amounts of 'wire-fu'.
However, the bad news is that director Tony Chin sees it fit to keep the film's IQ at kiddie level with talking mice and clownish rabbits.What's more is that Jet Li, obviously the star attraction here, is caught in a difficult position, having to mouth silly lines and perform unintentionally funny stunts instead of actual kungfu.Like in A Chinese Ghost Story, we have a tale of young herbalist Xu Xian (Raymond Lam) and a thousand-year-old snake demon (played by Eva Huang Shengyi).
After that, she continues to pursue him, against the advice of her close friend Green Snake (Charlene Choi) - until he agrees to marry her.The match is against the law of nature and sorcerer Fa Hai (Jet Li) of Jinshang temple has sworn to trap and slay all such demons before they wreak havoc on the villagers.
Trouble is, the kind-hearted Xu Xian has befriended the sorcerer monk and slaying the White Snake would hurt her innocent hubby.The spectacular opening sequences of a battle between Fa Hai and the Ice Witch (Vivian Hsu) gives us a taste of what is to come.
The animation is a bit tacky though, considering how far CGI has gone today.Still, the make-or-break factor in any romance flick is the performance of its leads and here Eva Huang and Raymond Lam are not just a good-looking couple but they managed to look like young lovers.
To bash a movie because the CGI is a little choppy and Jet Li fights magically instead of kicking behinds seems the height of triviality.The Legend of the White Snake starts a long time ago, way before there was a written version.
The film, though, presents it as a total love story where the White Snake and her sister are benevolent demons who visit the human world and eventually fall for two guys.
The natural order, represented by the Buddhist monk Fahai, a non compromising demon hunter, doesn't allow this type of union and eventually it all escalates into a bad CGI extravaganza.I thought the morality of the story was a little bit confusing, but complex, worthy of a script.
Popularizes a Chinese legend that I knew nothing about, shows people that a film can have a complex story that is not just black and white, stars really cute Chinese ladies and in end was quite entertaining for me.
I did find the ending a bit overuse of CGI to a point where I almost lost what was actually happening, but the love story portrayed by Raymond and Shengyi swiftly pulled me back to their reality and it was simply spectacular.
Put aside the CGI stuff, put aside a "regular" storyline, put aside all you want but let me put this one thing right on: Hardly any other movie moved me and moved me to tears like this one did.While I clearly felt the relations to the chinese ghost story movies I had no idea about how romantic and deeply moving this is going to be.
Although so many eastern movies feature intense emotional attention this one goes ahead on step for me: Emotional scenes come off real, with a real meaning, going deep down, not many words needed.I do not remember seeing any other the other character besides Jet Li in other movies so I have no relation to them, having an easy time saying the played their roles very well I never had a moment of disbelieve.
similar to the unforgettable Chinese ghost love story but they have improve since then 20 so years after this is the new generation of CGI effects ...I love the part the snake pointed out some spirits are not all bad and human can be worse...
Run Forrest Run!This movie has the most ridiculous storyline and monkeys can act better than all the cast of this movie.This movie just isn't worse than the Tree of Life.Jet Li plays a really minor role and is just there to attract poor innocents looking for a Jet Li action movie.The story can be abstractly described as: "Almost naked goddess suddenly without no reason whatsoever falls in love with retarded looking mortal."That's how retarded the plot is.So, if I didn't make it clear thus far: RUN AWAY.
This movie is based on a classic Chinese folk tale "Madame White Snake".
In the very first fight scene between White Snake (Shengyi Huang) and Abott Fahai (Jet Li) he issues an ultimatum to leave but gives Xu Xian (Raymond Lam) a dagger knowing it could kill Xu Xian's wife.
But it turns out to be more of a love story between a demon snake woman that can transform herself into human form falling for a male human herbalist.
Overall this is a movie with a dull story with romance that is far from being original with CGI spell fighting that isn't all that entertaining to watch.
Sadly, Li isn't enough to save what soon becomes a mire of inanity and endless fantasy drivel about a romance between a snake demon woman and the human who has the misfortune to fall in love with her.
The tone is vapid and silly throughout, and the film is clearly aimed at child viewers with its extremely poor CGI effects and silly fight sequences.The thing that surprises me most about this movie is how poorly judged it is when it comes to sympathising with the characters.
She's just a brat, and it's a shame that her character never receives the ass-whupping that she so clearly deserves.As for Jet, well, he's gone on record to complain about this movie; in the first place, he was told he wouldn't have much fighting to do (pretty much all his scenes involve fighting), and secondly, he found the action scenes hard to film because he had to go easy on his opponents while they beat the hell out of him.
Put simply, although the Jet Li character is set up as the protagonist during the early stages of the film, the scenes with the two snakes also set them up as heroic, caring, wonderful creatures.
But then when the monk continually goes out of his way to make life difficult for the White Snake simply because she is a different kind of living thing to him, it is just too much.Jet Li will be happy to know that until he publicly states that he is sorry for this film or that he regrets having played this character, I will never watch another film with him in it again.
A true monk and Master never isolate true lovers or hearts !I am strongly disagree with a story and imagined character of the Master Jet li in the Movie.Even all the Budhas(Sidhartha Gautama, Bodhi Dharama etc.) were non-violent by nature and never broke anyone's heart.How can a Budhist Master could isolate lovers, break hearts and be violent on a lover(white snake) who is just fighting for her love ?
meh even Old 2003 Special effect was a lot better and look more realist this is clearly "Hey man wanna see some glowing ball on top of a still picture" The Chemistry between the two leading actor/actress was lacking compare to the original White snake story.
Buddhist Monk and Abbot Fahai (Jet Li) and his disciple Neng Ren (Zhang Wen) are demon hunters, among other things; White Snake (Shengyi Huang) and Green Snake (Charlene Choi) are sister demons, one a bit of a romantic and the other rather mischievous.
Is it any wonder, after such a kiss, that White Snake and Xu Xian fall in love?
But nothing good can come of the relationship between a human and a demon, and Abbot Fahai is determined to separate the couple, even at the cost of wreaking havoc in the temple and the world....Jet Li is as likable and harmonious as ever in this role, one where he is able to employ his considerable martial arts skills while maintaining the quietude and serenity of a monk; Zhang Wen's disciple provides some excellent comic relief as he "grows" from hapless monk to, well, demon; and the two sister snakes are suitably sinuous and lovely.
We're pretty sure many of you will agree that seeing Jet Li's name on the poster of this action fantasy epic is enough to convince you to catch this movie- after all, besides Donnie Yen, we can't think of a bigger martial arts actor in Asia today.
What's more, ever since announcing that 'Fearless' would be his last 'wushu' movie back in 2006, Jet Li hasn't been as prolific as before- his previous leading role was in the tearjerker 'Ocean Heaven'- so this latest represents a return of sorts to the kind of movie that we love to see him in.The tale here is a familiar Chinese fable about the forbidden romance between a simple kind-hearted man and a snake demon who takes the form of a beautiful woman (previous screen incarnations include the Shaw Bros' 'Madam White Snake' and Tsui Hark's 'Green Snake').
And like action maestro and sometimes-director Tony Ching Siu-Tong's directorial debut 'A Chinese Ghost Story', it is set amidst a fantasy world where both humans and demons roam, with the latter taking on human form to deceive the former.
An action-packed opening sequence where Jet Li's sorcerer-monk Fahai- together with his protégé Neng Ren (Wen Zhang)- defeats the dangerously alluring Ice Witch (Vivian Hsu) establishes the malevolent nature of the demons, as well as Fahai's mission to vanquish those who threaten the lives of humans.
It also serves as fair warning that this latest adaptation of the 'White Snake' legend is not simply an '80s-throwback (a la Wilson Yip's remake of 'A Chinese Ghost Story' earlier this year), but rather a 21st- century treatment using the latest advances in CGI to create some lavish backdrops for the multiple elaborate action sequences.
Still, the strength in Tony Ching's film lies not in its showcase of modern-day CG techniques, but rather in its old-fashioned love story between 'White Snake' Bai Suzhen (Eva Huang) and young herbalist Xu Xian (Raymond Lam).
And of course, given the rarity of watching Jet Li in action on the big screen these days, 'The Sorcerer and the White Snake' deserves to be seen by his fans- even if it may not be his best work..
This was a good action packed film with stunning special effects and CGI.
The film featured a love struck demon snake who falls in love with a mortal man.
Then comes a series of beautiful faces showing scenes of our white snake character.
In whole, the movie has it all: funny lines, corny moments, tear- jerking love story, fanciful scenery, break-the-ground tear-the-sky fighting scenes, and last but not least, beautifully sexy young ladies.
A demon white snake (Shengyi Huang) becomes smitten by a herbalist (Raymond Lam) and uses her life force to help him and the humans.
The Sorcerer (Jet Li)does not condone the presence of the white snake demon, even though she helps humans.
It is clearly marketed as a Jet Li film but even though he plays a major character, Abbot Fahai, he isn't the most important character these are Xu Xian and Susu, played by Raymond Lam and Shengyi Huang respectively.
The animal effects are good but unfortunately the CGI used in most of the action scenes is a bit too obvious.
Overall, The Sorcerer and the White Snake was an enjoyable movie due its "forbidden love" theme.
Unfortunately, the movie follows the pattern of most forbidden love stories by ending in a way that is bittersweet at best.
Perhaps the action lovers will watch this movie solely because Jet Li is in it.
The movie does its best to cater to the romantics and those seeking a little more than just a love story.
CGI version of the legend of the white snake.
This movie is based on an old Chinese legend about a white snake that turned into a woman and falling in love with a man.There are other versions of this story made into movies.