Review: Ne Zha II

The Chinese animated feature Ne Zha II is enjoying amazing success.

It became the highest grossing animated film worldwide, surpassing Inside-Out 2.  It was the first non-Hollywood production to join the billion-dollar club. It was in fact, the seventh film in history (and the first animated film ever) to gross over $2 billion worldwide in just 33 days.  The English dubbed version is about to be released by A24.

The question is whether Ne Zha II will continue to have the kind of blockbuster mega-success here in the United States that it has enjoyed elsewhere.

For starters, Ne Zha II is essentially a superhero story.  Ne Zha is a traditional mythical character in Chinese folklore, largely unknown here in America where superhero movies have saturated theaters for decades.  In recent years, there has been speculation about whether the superhero genre is beginning to run its course, though the recent success of Superman and The Fantastic Four might suggest otherwise.

The other consideration is the cultural factor.  Different cultures have different folklore and myths rooted in their diverse histories.  There are peculiarities that set them apart. 

Granted, there are universal values that form a common thread, such as fighting for the greater good and ridding the world of evil.  In the case of Na Zha, it’s a battle to rid the world of demons.

The backstory is complicated.  For the sake of the uninitiated, Na Zha II opens with a recap to bring new audiences up to speed by summarizing the story told in the original film.  It’s a lot of information, mired in myth, magic and fantasy.  It amounts to an alternate reality with its own set of rules, spelled out in ever-increasing complexity as the story unfolds.

There are multiple characters and backstories and complex relationships.  The movie begins with two main characters being reconstituted and brought back to physical life after catastrophic events that happened at the end of the first installment.

Before long, they embark on an epic journey to save mankind, a familiar theme in movies like this.  There are other very familiar story elements that follow, including visual references to movies and TV shows like The Lord of the Rings, Game of Thrones and Star Wars. 

Characters bear a strong resemblance to iconic characters in movies like Ice Age, Lion King and Snow White (the latter being the most blatant with a witch staring into a mirror asking, “Who is the fairest of them all?”)

Ne Zha himself is only a couple of clicks away from Sonic the Hedgehog, with his diminutive stature, oversized eyes and hyper-energized behavior.  He’s on the border of qualifying for anger management counseling, not that he doesn’t have good reason to be pissed off (no spoilers here).

Speaking of that, the movie features a fair number of jokes involving peeing, puking, and flatulence from a farting, flying pig.  Ne Zha II isn’t all heroics and seriousness.

As one might expect in a Chinese epic, there are plenty of nicely staged martial arts sequences and sweeping battle scenes.  And there are dragons.  Plenty of dragons, that are, for the record, beautifully rendered.

Visually, Ne Zha II is a masterpiece featuring stunning, breathtaking digital animation.  The sound effects are also Oscar-worthy.  Technically, it is an exceptional piece of moviemaking craftsmanship.

The problem here is the convoluted script, that snowballs into increasing complexity and confusion.  The movie is less of a story than a 2-hour 24-minute showcase of effects.

Ne Zha II is not a stand-alone film.  It requires the viewing of the original film or some background reading and research in order to understand what’s going on. 

What it is, is a dubbed Chinese animated epic bursting with imagination and dazzling images.  And that may be enough to bring American audiences aboard for this colorful, fantasy/adventure that is, in the end, an epic triumph of style over content.