A 144-minute barrage of mythological adventure, high on emotions with eye-popping animation.
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Ne Zha 2 is the long awaited sequel to the 2019 film, Ne Zha, a Chinese animated fantasy adventure film, written and directed by Jiaozi, taking references from Xu Zhonglin’s classic 16th century novel Investiture of the Gods.
Ne Zha 2 is a 144-minute barrage of mythological adventure, high on emotions with eye-popping animation, on feuding dragons, gods, humans, ocean-dwelling monsters, and the charming chemistry of the pint-sized chipped-tooth demi-demon Ne Zha and the princely Ao Bing as they continue to navigate their complex relationship of enemy to foe.
The film offers a quick recap of events from its predecessor. The mystical artifact known as the Chaos Peral split into two parts, incarnated as powerful entities – Deman Orb Ne Zha (Joseph) and Spirit Pearl dragon warrior Ao Bing (Mo Han), but both died at the end of the 2019 film, or at least their bodies did.
This sequel opens to lighter funny moments in the film, with the endlessly bumbling warrior-priest Taiyi (Jiaming Zhang) aided by nonchalant villagers with less-than-desired hygiene standards, making fragile new bodies out of the Sacred Lotus for Ne Zha and Ao Bing, which will need to be tempered before it can withstand the immense powers they both wield.
Unfortunately, Taiyi’s former brother-in-arms, Shen Gongbao (wei Yang) mount an attack on Ne Zha’s hometown, Chentang at the behest of Ao Guang (Li Nan), thepowerful Dragon King of the Eastern Sea, believing his son, Ao Bing is dead. Releasing sea monsters imprisoned under his palace including the other three Dragon Kings of the Four Seas to wreak havoc and punish the people of Chentang. Ao Bing rushes to defend the people but his yet-unkindled body soon perishes from over exertion. As Ao Bing’s body disintegrates, Taiyi resorts to having both Ne Zha and Ao Bing share Ne Zha’s body for seven days.
A temporary truce for ceasefire is agreed upon but Ne Zha must go to to Xu Lu Palace to complete Immortal Wuliang’s (Deshun Wang) arduous ascension-to-xian trials to win a magic potion which will restore the Sacred Lotus and make a new bodyfor Ao Bing. Only then will Ao Guang withdraw his troops from Chentang Pass.
Ne Zha’s human parents, Lady Yin (Qi Lü) and Li Jing (Hao Chen), try to keep the peace while their boy flies off to Yu Xu Palace where he can complete the trials, become an immortal and be granted the portion to restore the Sacred Lotus.
The shared corpus leads to some hilarious sequences as Ne Zha and Ao Bing struggle to wrestle control of the body at first. They learn to switch, and when Ao Bing takes over, Ne Zha’s form changes, his body and facial expression soften and exhibits controlled movements. At the trials, candidates must complete missionsor trials supervised by the seemingly benevolent Chan Sect immortals and their demon-hunting forces of Yu Xu Place. Ne Zha will consume a sleeping potion to hide his demonic nature, allowing Ao Bing to fully control his body and complete the 3 trials.
Of course, things do not always go as planned, and when Ne Zha unavoidably gains control of the body, he causes havoc and slapstick moments at Yu Xu Palace, such as mistaking the drinking water collection room for a luxurious bathroom, causing sophisticated elites delicately sipping urine-infused water.
Fortunately, they won the first two trials, against a rodent bandit clan and a master who trains demons to prepare for the xian trials, respectively. A tinge of Disney humour is found in Ne Zha’s third trial where the villain is a memorable creature Lady Shi Ji, a cross between Snow White’s evil queen asking a mirror who is the fairest, and Medusa as she becomes a stone monster when she fights Ne Zha.
Once Ne Zha’s trials are completed, there are still more battles and complications than merely restoring his and Ao Bing’s souls to separate bodies. Together, they must battle to uncover a dark conspiracy that pits the belligerent and inconstant dragon kings (and queen) against the benevolent-seeming Chan Sect immortals.
In the last 30 minutes of the film, Director Jiaozi bombards the audience with spectacular world-ending battle scenes that is reminscent of moments seen in Game of Thrones and Lord of the Rings. The final stand for justice is built around shows of immense power betweenthe dragons and their powerful overlords and their armies, is a visual spectacle. Breathtaking imagery of a beautify mountain top tree in autumn when thousands of white-clad martial-arts warriors, cloaked in glowing golden bubbles of energy, pile atop each other on a vastly branching giant magical staff, much like the giant bean stalk in Jack and the Beanstalk. Long and flowing energy-breathing dragons zip around blasting all resistance, as two avatars of godly power band together into an irresistible force. It’s undeniably spectacularly breathtaking. The thrilling battle and dazzling landscapes on a big screen almost overwhelm the audience and keep us rooted on our seats.
In his journey, Ne Zha has grown from a gap-toothed wildly immature kid who wants to play shuttlecock with his parents, to a boy who embraces his destiny after suffering heart break, and defeat. It is a poignant moment in the film when he weeps uncontrollably, unable to fathom his loss. This reviewer could not help but tear up with emotion. While good ultimately triumphs over evil, there is always a price to be paid.
While the animation on human, animal and dragon forms may not quite achieve Pixar-level elegance, it more than holds its own. The rendering of battles is as good as DreamWorks Animation’s Kung Fu Panda series with martial-arts sparring, blasts of fire, ice, and lightning, with magic powers and shapeshifting and a glowing army. It is a fantasy epic brought to life in vivid colour and with all the visual creativity.
Ne Zha 2 is great family entertainment with a modern twist and a plot that commentates on exploitation and the nuances of good and evil. It centres on characters’ emotional bonds with their friends and family, unconditional love, the fear of hurting or disappointing loved ones — or losing them altogether. Grief, anger, hope, and need all play significant parts in the story, and drive tremendous battles between tremendous powers.
P/S: Be sure to look out for mid-credit scenes setting up further adventures of Ne Zha.
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