A Writer's Odyssey

A Writer's Odyssey is a 2021 Chinese action-adventure fantasy film directed and written by Lu Yang and produced by Ning Hao. The film was released February 12, 2021, on the Lunar New Year. The film is based on Shuang Xuetao's novel of the same name, and its sequel Godslayer.

Plot
The film follows Guan Ning as he searches for his daughter, believing her to be kidnapped by human traffickers. Soon, a powerful corporation contacts him and offers to find his daughter if he assassinates Lu Kongwen, a young novelist. The plot of his novel involves a young hero attempting to overthrow Redmane, their tyrannical ruler. Somehow, the novel appears to be impacting life in the real world, and the CEO, who suspects it as his bane, wants Lu dead.

Cast

 * Lei Jiayin as Guan Ning
 * Yang Mi as Tu Ling
 * Dong Zijian as Kongwen Lu, the novelist
 * Yu Hewei as Li Mu
 * Guo Jingfei as Black Armor

Special appearance

 * Tong Liya as Pan Ruo
 * Dong Jie as Guan Ning's wife

Production
Post-production lasted over two years.

Reception
On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 92% based of 12 reviews, with an average rating of 7.2/10.

Harris Dang of The AU Review gave the film 3.5/5 stars and wrote: "Overall, A Writer's Odyssey is an entertaining thrill ride that provides enough wild action, energy, creativity, and visual splendor to satisfy audiences." Richard Kuipers of Variety said "Odyssey is packed with stunning sights including a 50-ft., four-armed CGI villain but is let down by a script that fails to fashion promising story elements into a consistently compelling whole."

Narayan Liu of CBR.com gave the film a positive review, praising its visuals, while noting the weak characterization. Lim Yian Lu of Yahoo! Singapore gave the film a positive review, describing it as a "a great action film to watch."

Tay Yek Keak of Today Online gave the film a more negative review, describing it as "basically a viewer's ordeal."