Xiao men shen (2016) Reviews

• A review of the English-dubbed version

  Rectangular_businessman2017-12-11

  I wish I had the chance of seeing "Little Door Gods" before making this review. Unfortunately, I only had the chance of watching "The Guardian Brothers", the English dubbed version that was released in the United States, so I won't able to make a proper comparison between them. With that being said, it still seems pretty obvious something went lost on translation. Without being terrible as the 4Kids anime dubs (or the atrocious Saban adaptation of the 3 Digimon films) "The Guardian Brothers" has its share of problems. The first of all (and the most notorious) it's the excessive (and many times inadequate) use of songs, which in many occasions completely kill the mood of several scenes. Most of them feel randomly chosen and honestly, they were a poor attempt to add humor to a story which already had plenty of that. The second problem is the intrusive narration, which at moments reminded me of "The Tale of Despereaux", pointing out the obvious in a couple of scenes. Ironically enough, certain parts of the movie felt a bit confusing or not properly explained, yet the narration was completely absent during those moments. On the other side, the voice acting was a mixed bag: Most of the voices did an adequate job for each character, even if the script wasn't exactly stellar. Dub problems aside, "The Guardian Brothers" was still a watchable family flick, with a neat animation style and some charming moments, but I wish the story fully explored the potential of its premise, and this dub could have a done a better job adapting the original version of this film for English speaking audiences.

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• Fresh, heart-warming, different and beautifully animated

  wainerrf2018-01-20

  An animated gem which is a pleasure to watch. Expect great visuals, a cool story and family-friendly fun with lots of soul. Looking forward to the next installment by the creators. I highly recommend this movie!

• Horrible English Voice Acting

  keakaraage2018-11-22

  I tried watching this on Netflix today and the English voice acting was absolute garbage. I had to give up watching it after only 5 minutes. I don't understand how they could release like this. The little girl sounds like she is 20. If only they had the Chinese version but they don't so I guess I wont be seeing this movie.

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• I can't believe they've done this.

  Cheshire652018-10-07

  I'm hoping the Chinese version of this movie was better because the dubbed in english version was just awful. Maybe it was the voice acting, perhaps it was the script, or even the not so funny "jokes" and unnecessary music choices... it was just a bad experience for me. To paint more of a clear picture, this movie basically had my hopes up on a 60 story building, then threw them off with a 50 pound rock tied to them so they can just fall even faster.

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• A wonderful animated movie...

  paul_haakonsen2018-06-17

  Prior to sitting down to watch "The Guardian Brothers" (aka "Xiao men shen") I had not heard anything about it. Actually, I didn't even know it existed. I read the synopsis and decided to watch it. Plus, it was set in an Asian setting, which also appeals to me. This animated movie had a very nice story to tell, and it is very enjoyable even if you are not overly familiar with Chinese mythology. You quickly and easily immerse yourself into the storyline and the world in which the story takes place. The art style used in this animated movie was quite good, as it was definitely unique and lovely at the same time. It was just a shame that it was an English dubbed version that I saw, although they had some pretty good voice actors on the cast list for the English dub. "The Guardian Brothers" is definitely worth taking the time to sit down and watch, whether it is by yourself or with your family and kids.

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