By Matthew Moorcroft

Strong Recommendation

• Directed by Jiaozi
• Starring Lu Yanting, Han Mo, Zhang Jiaming, Yang Wei
• Not Rated

If you haven’t heard of Ne Zha, you will probably hear about it very soon. Over in it’s native China, Ne Zha, and more specifically it’s sequel, has become something of a pop culture phenomenon, breaking records of all kinds and becoming the first film to make over a billion dollars in a single market (and still going!). The Chinese film market has been something of the golden goose for not just Hollywood but studios in general, and while this has somewhat lessened over the years post-COVID there is still the sentiment that if you make it in China, you’ve made it everywhere.

I’ll be frank, my knowledge of Chinese mythology is mostly Journey to the West and the occasional wuxia film that is based on it. As such, judging Ne Zha 2 on whether or not it’s accurate to the original source (which is very likely isn’t) is pointless. It also probably means, as a white westerner, I’m coming at this through the lens of a complete outsider – a world that is literally and figuratively foreign to my own, viewing it through a lens that unfournately will likely never quite grasp cultural complexities that can only really be understood by those from said culture.

So I mean it when I say that Ne Zha 2, from it’s childlike glee in the first half to it’s epic, grand scale in the second that resembles the old tales of gods and demons duking it out, is one of the most visually stunning pieces of animation ever released in a cinema. Almost immediately, it’s eye-popping visuals bleed over the screen with a fury, never letting up for it’s 144 minute runtime, and only gets more and more impressive as time goes on. The sheer scale of the picture has to be seen to be believed; Lord of the Rings somehow feels small compared to some of the moments in this. And when you think it’s somehow getting as big as it can get, it gets even bigger, thanks to a climax so audacious and huge that it threatens to overtake the entire movie screen.

Spectacle really is the name of the game for Ne Zha 2, which you can feel shedding off some of the more rougher edges of it’s original film as it goes. Some of the shades are still there – those who aren’t huge on the gross out humor of the first film will probably cringe at some of the jokes in the first half of this – but it reaches it’s second half, all that jank has been shed and you can almost see the sigh of relief on screen as Ne Zha 2 becomes basically a near flawless version of itself in real time. Said spectacle ranges from the intimate 1-on-1 fight scene that has choreography rivaling the best of live action fare, to fantasy moments so creative that it’s difficult to put into words.

I know I keep harping on the visual design here but it’s really the standout thing here. Ne Zha 2 does a lot right beyond that, for sure; it’s a story about parents and children coming to terms with the inevitability of one of them having to part ways at some point, as well as rebelling against the hands that the world has seemingly dealt for you. But the way a story is told is arguably just as important as the story itself, and if anything Ne Zha 2 makes a grand case for the idea of visual storytelling over anything else. The big emotions work cause everything else around it is just as big. The small emotions work cause the little moments are treated with the same care.

It’s going to be interesting to see whether or not Ne Zha 2 ends up blowing up in North America like it did in it’s native country. There is a world where it does, and personally I hope I live in it cause it absolutely deserves to. It’s not just a great sequel that successfully continues (and actively improves on) it predecessor, but it’s just a great animated film, a great action film, a fantastic fantasy film, and a stellar spectacle film all in one. Basically a must watch for anybody who wants an excuse to go to the cinema – a perfect big screen outing, warts and all.