Director: Yu Yang
Writer: Yu Yang
Stars: Yanting Lü, Mo Han, Hao Chen
Synopsis: After a catastrophic event leaves their bodies destroyed, Ne Zha and Ao Bing are granted a fragile second chance at life. As tensions rise between the dragon clans and celestial forces, the two must undergo a series of perilous trials that will test their bond, challenge their identities, and decide the fate of both mortals and immortals.
Following the mega success of the first film, Ne Zha 2 finally dropped in theaters earlier this year and has since become the highest-grossing film of the year at 2.2 billion, smashing all kinds of records and becoming the most successful animated film of all time. To take such a mantle from films such as Inside Out 2 and Frozen 2 is a massive feat in itself, but while watching Ne Zha 2, it’s clear to see why it was able to take off like no other film has this year, as it’s a stone-cold stunner on basically every front. Not only does this sequel greatly improve from the more cutesy and crude elements of the original, but it also elevates everything that worked so well about it to the next level. From swift and elegantly choreographed hand-to-hand fight scenes to full-out war sequences on the scale of The Lord of the Rings, it’s utterly unbelievable to witness the majestic prowess mixed with the rich Chinese mythology and lore on display. While the sequel has a fair share of hiccups in minor tone clashes and confusion within large amounts of exposition and story, Ne Zha 2 is an animated spectacle like no other and is the best of its medium this year.
Ne Zha 2 continues the story right after the first film, following the demon child Ne Zha (born of the demon orb), son of Lady Yin and Li Jing, and Ao Bing (born of the spirit pearl), son of the Dragon King. After Ne Zha and Ao Bing became allies and broke the curse set upon Ne Zha, the two lost their bodies in the heat of battle and must now work with master Tayai to find a life-saving elixir to form a new body for Ao Bing. To save the lives of both Celestial and Dragon clans and themselves, the two must undergo four trials to become worthy of being immortal. Despite the admittedly heavy amounts of lore and story components put upon the viewer, writer and director Yu Yang does such a great job at not only conveying the simple aspects to understand, but also immerses you into the rich world of this film so well that it ends up a natural progression from the first film. A large reason why this works is because the core of this story remains intact: Ne Zha’s found brotherly bond with Ao Bing and his own care for his parents, Lady Yin and Li Jing, parents who still cared for him even when he was cursed as a demon. The development between the original and sequel truly led to some heavy emotional moments that are earned in every sense of the word, giving the film’s final stretch an extra dose of emotional punch.
Tonally, the film still maintains a balance between its goofy and juvenile cartoony jokes and more serious, thematically bold elements. In the first film, these elements meshed together a lot less well than they do in the sequel, which manages to set aside fart jokes and let more moments of characters talking through something sit, giving it so much more nuance to its mystical elements. The jokes are still largely hit or miss, but a lot more of them hit on this go around.
The animation of Ne Zha 2 is on a level most would think is unreal in the medium. It truly is an epic spectacle in every sense of the word, where every finite detail of battles, new worlds, and character design is meticulously developed and honed on an unbelievably beautiful level. The scale of every sequence is always something to behold, as the film always showcases a new and exciting marvel of animation with virtually every fleeting moment that never gets tiring to watch on a massive screen. The fight scenes, whether through exhilarating hand-to-hand Kung Fu or wide in scope war sequences, are truly relentless, but never tiring. The storyboarding and camera work on display are unique and thrilling, managing to raise the movie’s scale to another level with every passing moment, and as the quality between fights rises, so do the stakes of what our leads are fighting for.
Ne Zha 2 is not only leaps and bounds above the quality of its predecessor, it’s also the best animated film of the year. Soaking itself within the beautiful chaos of its mythology, its lore, while also crafting animation at breathtaking scale and levels, this sequel truly is a spectacle like no other you’ll see this year, and it’s a stunning achievement for the medium of animated films.
