The Huang family and Pili International Multimedia are back on the big screen, two decades since their feature debut Legend of the Sacred Stone, and if the end credits of Chris Huang’s Demigod: The Legend Begins are to be believed, they have many more chapters in-store for their hero Su Hua-Jen. Utilizing the Taiwanese technique of budaixi (operatic glove puppetry), expert cinematography to hide the puppeteers, and impressive computer augmentation for special effects, this tale of leadership strife in the Wu Lin mountains’ five kingdoms unfolds like any live-action wuxia might.

A young doctor of acupuncture becomes fatefully embroiled in a battle between two qilin Gods, his decision to interfere turning the tides of the fight and leaving him destined for more than his master could ever imagine. It’s upon returning home that we learn where Su fits into this world. An orphan raised by the Eight-Toed Qilin,...