I'm approaching this without knowing anything about the novel or the drama version.

Jade Dynasty is an ambitious work, in the sense that it's trying to pack so much story into such a short time frame. Oftentimes, the plot was almost too fast-paced for me. The story was progressing, but I felt like I understood little about the world and the intricacies of the character's relationships-- their past, their motivations-- so it was much harder to connect with them on an emotional level.

After reading reviews on this site, I was prepared for the worst when it came to the ending. However, to me, the ending is not bad-- fitting for the story, albeit not super exciting or satisfying. As a viewer, you're left with a lot of questions about the world and characters that are never really explained (again, probably because there was no time).

As other users have mentioned, I also found the movie a little too CGI-heavy. Some of the fight scenes were gorgeous though, especially the ones based on martial arts! The clothing choices (compared to other xianxia dramas) also really caught my eye-- I really liked the more ragtag look to them (it really fits the tone of the movie).

Despite the shortcomings of the story, the one thing I loved about this movie was the actors! Xiao Zhan really captured the essence of Zhang Xiao Fan: a clumsy, scatterbrained but genuine boy. Li Qin and Tang Yixin were standouts as well, super stunning!

If you're after this movie because you like the actors, I'd definitely recommend it! But if you're in it because you want a good story, I'd probably pass on this one. :)