For a year that has proven to be a bit soft at the checkout, the greatest story (and simply largest filmperiod) is the monstrous power of ”Ne zha 2“A Chinese CGI -animated feature that during its theater edition in January, Completely annihilated Like “Fantastic Four”, “Superman” and even “A Minecraft movie” to become the highest global earnings film this year. The competition is also not narrow: with $ 2.2 billion gross so far, It has an absurd $ 1.2 billion lead over “Lilo & Stitch” And is the fifth highest earning movie ever, no qualifications are needed.
“Ne Zha 2” is not the first Chinese film that challenges Hollywood productions in terms of success, where the country has established itself as a very important market for global productions. But its pure impact still severely exceeds any other Chinese movie ever made. By comparison, the second highest Chinese film from all time is 2021’s “The Battle at Lake Changjin”, which “Only” collected a low $ 913 million. Even more impressive is “Ne Zha 2” managed to make all the money with hardly any help from North American markets: the film received a limited eight-week US edition of CMC Pictures in February, in Box Office Mojo – About $ 20 million succeeded.
This is where the A24 comes in. With American audiences that were still largely ignorant of what exactly “ne zha” is, the indie distributor acquired the rights to the film and gave it a glossy English DUB for a second introduction to the market, complete with an IMAX roll to better appreciate the film’s fantastic detailed backdrops and fight scenes.
What no-like viewers will find in the theater is a movie that is not really something that the animated films that Hollywood produces: glossy and operational on its scale, “ne zha 2” has a mammoth 150-minute driving time that is longer than expected for the average children’s attention tension (or the average attention area for a tiktok- But in its emotional point of view and its line of joy, “ne zha 2” is also quite obviously a movie for children. The closest comparison with husband is not Pixar’s “Elio” or Disney’s “Zootopia”, but The World of Battle Shonen Anime as “Dragon Ball Z” or “Naruto”, long shows characterized by excitable teenage boys who engage in nonstop, over-the-top-top
Like many products from this genre, “ne zha 2” can sometimes turn to the assessment, its barrier of sets mixed into an amorphic lump. But at the same time, you cannot help but admire the large scale from Canvas director Yang Yu (alternatively credited as Jiaozi) uses to paint, and the often jaw that loses artistry and detail in the animation speaks for itself.
As the title clarifies, “Ne Zha 2” is a sequel, and anyone who has not taken the time to study on the original 2019 “ne zha” will inevitably be a little confused by this one, starting with a very brief summary of the first film, but still throws the audience directly into this fantasy version of China with some context or effort to act. For American audiences, this will inevitably be burkas, given how much characters and storys take inspiration from the 16th century novel “Investiture of the Gods” and various mythological and popular figures from Chinese history. After an opening that begins immediately after the first film introduced the title Ne Zha and his best friend Ao Bing as spirits whose bodies need to be reborn, followed by a massive war sequence between characters just introduced, you would not be forgiven to get a headache to try to keep even steps.
As the film slows down, the uninformed can be easier easier into the film. The first film covered the story of how ne zha-an foul-mouth, raccoon, rebellious youth who was born to demon hunters as the dreaded reincarnation of a demon orb-fade friend with the calm, properly manned ao bing. In “Ne Zha 2”, champion Taiyi Zhenren recreates his bodies, just because Ao Bing would lose his body in an attack from the dragons – led by the main shelter, the sniffing but sympathetic Shen Gongbao – who wrongly attacks his hometown under the throne that he is dead. With Ao Bing’s spirit now in Ne Zha’s body, the two handles a ceasefire with dragons to venture to the country in the heavenly Chan sect and perform three tasks that give them immortality and restore Ao Bing’s body.
That journey to and through the divine world is long, and a plot synopsis in a review cannot really capture all the characters and move parts to this story. There is only too much of it. At 2 hours and 24 minutes, the film drops in stimulation, with an extended first act to get to the real meat of things that can use a serious editing, jokes that take a second too long and fight scenes that sometimes lose the emotional efforts of history. The large amount of toilet humor – there is a lot of mucus, snot and jokes about people drinking piss filled in a movie – often shows more annoying than fun.
Fortunately, things click into place when Ne Zha begins its trials, and the tension between using Ao Bing’s greater power to win and remaining faith in his own maladapted himself begins to carry him. It is also the point where the often Bratty, the terrifying character clicks into place, and his simple desire to be accepted and prove that his value appears as the real emotional heart in history. The other characters show up as complex figures rather than warehouse types, as Chan Sect has obvious secrets and prejudices against demons while Shen Gongbao’s hidden soft side emerges.
Most importantly, the trials give “ne zha 2” a frame to show off some of the most impressive and lively 3D animations that have seen on film in a good time. The product from about 138 Chinese companies and about 4,000 individual animators, “Ne Zha 2” looks alive and alive in each frame, and beats an unusual balance between anime -inspired exaggeration and realism that works shockingly well in practice. The environments – from the white jade the walls of the Chan Sect Palace to the dusty city of Talking Bandit -Mol, which ne zha begins his trials in the rushing waterfall where he is fighting against a form -changing water demon – is surprisingly decorated and detailed, while the characters who live in them are creative and varied, from the cartons, from the cartons of people. who live in them are creatively imagined and varied, from cardboard -like old men to dressy with the fact that they are shone as they are really live as they are really alive.
Then there is the action that melts the influence of anime, wuxia and good old -fashioned “looney melody” talk case to create some jaw -out sets such as sick and sag in new directions; You never know how a brawl will solve or what a character will do next, and that unpredictability enables real excitement. The highlight, an operational conflict that manages to fight with emotions with spectacle in a way that the rest of the film sometimes struggles with, is a special performance. In a fantastic shot, two hordes of warriors on rival sides of a conflict are seen at a distance, like two waves that crash in each other. And yet the details, attention and artwork are shown for each pixel in the frame very obviously. In many respects, it is felt to look at “Ne Zha 2” related to watching the “Avatar” films, as the film gives a visual experience that is the absolute top of what its medium can.
It also benefits from a solid dubbing effort that satisfactorily has a mostly Asian role and an absence of Stunty A-list sheep. The only exception is Michelle Yeoh, who is suitably warm and heartbreaking as the title character’s mother Lady Yin. The rest of the role is mostly unknown or professional voice actors, including Crystal Lee and Aleks Le, a winning double act like Ne Zha and Ao Bing. Sometimes the dialogue does not really match the character’s mouth tabs, but it is a minor distraction in a mostly seamless experience.
All dubbing inevitably invites a debate about whether it is necessary or whether English speaking should learn to appreciate subtitles, but “ne zha 2” has a good case for why it is necessary. When a movie is as filled with details and action as this one, better to make sure the audience has their eyes on the entire screen rather than just a small third of it.
Rating: B.
A24‘S “Ne Zha 2” is currently playing in theaters.
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