"Painted Skin: The Resurrection," China's latest big-budget action movie, kicked off the Shanghai International Film Festival over the weekend.

　　A sequel to 2008's "Painted Skin," the film reunites most of the original's cast, including Zhou Xun, Zhao Wei and Chen Kun. Notably absent this time around is kung-fu star Donnie Yen.

　　"Painted Skin: The Resurrection," whose budget is reportedly as high as 150 million yuan ($23.5 million), also features a new director, Wuershan, who replaces the original film's Gordon Chan. Singularly named and hailing from Inner Mongolia, Wuershan is known for his commercial work and made his feature-film debut in 2010 with "The Butcher, the Chef and the Swordsman," a martial-arts black comedy about a large blade traversing ownership among three men.

　　Set in ancient China, "Painted Skin: The Resurrection" is about a demon (Ms. Zhou) who consumes the hearts of men to remain young and beautiful, and the pursuit of true love that will transform her into a human. Critics praised the sequel's cinematography and costumes but knocked what they described as the movie's "paper-thin characters and incoherent story."

　　The Hollywood Reporter said 'many scenes fail discouragingly to live up to the director's "lyrical ambitions, when not downright ridiculous." But trade publication Film Business Asia described it as a "very entertaining, slightly over-long costume fantasy whose performances and sheer technique carry a script that often punches above its weight."

　　"Painted Skin: The Resurrection" opens across China on June 28 and in early July in other parts of Asia.

    在上周末开幕的上海国际电影节上，中国一部大制作动作片《画皮2》作为开幕影片拉开了本届电影节的序幕。

　　该片是2008年上映的《画皮》的续篇，保留了部中的大部分主要演员，比如周迅、赵薇和陈坤，但部中的主要演员功夫明星甄子丹没有出演《画皮2》。

　　据报道，《画皮2》的制作成本高达1.5亿元（合2,350万美元），而且该片也换了一位新的导演乌尔善，而不是部的导演是陈嘉上。乌尔善来自内蒙古，以广告作品闻名。2010年他推出了电影处女作《刀见笑》。这部黑白功夫喜剧片讲述的是一把大刀在三个人之间易主的故事。

　　《画皮2》讲述的是在中国古代，周迅饰演的靠吃人心来保持年轻美貌的女妖以及对真爱的追求可以将妖变成人的故事。影评人士对该片的摄影和服装大为赞扬，但对缺乏深度的人物和支离破碎的故事情节提出了批评。

　　《好莱坞报道》(Hollywood Reporter)说，很多情节没有达到导演如诗般的预期高度，甚至非常荒谬，令人失望。但电影业出版物《亚洲电影资讯》(Film Business Asia)称其是一部娱乐性很强、服装美轮美奂的奇幻片，只是长度略显过长，全靠演员的演技和电影制作技术来支撑存在不足的剧本。

　　《画皮2》将于6月28日在中国大陆上映，7月上旬在亚洲其他国家和地区上映。