NE ZHA 2 Reviewed by GREG KING
Director: Jiao Zi
Stars: voices of Michelle Yeoh, Crystal Lee, Aleks Li, Rick Zeiff, Robert Clotworthy, Jaden Waldman,
This Chinese animated fantasy film is the highest grossing animated film of all time having pulled in over $2.2 billion at the box office. It is the sequel to 2019’s Ne Zha, which was based on a Chinese mythological figure, and Investiture Of The Gods, a sixteenth century fantasy novel written by Xu Zhonglin. But it doesn’t really matter if you haven’t seen the first film as a breathlessly narrated opening brings us up to date on what happened. Ne Zha II is the sophomore feature for director, screenwriter, animator and filmmaker Jiao Zi, whose debut feature was Ne Zha. You can see where the reported $80 million budget went as the film took some five years to complete and over 130 animation companies worked on it.
Ne Zha II (also known as Nezha: The Demon Boy Churns the Sea) follows on from the first film. The film follows the adventures of the rebellious and hyperactive pint-sized hero Ne Zha (voiced by Crystal Lee), who has wild and uncontrollable powers as he does battle with dragons and demons to save the world from the powerful Shen Gongbao (Jaden Waldman) who unleashes powerful and ancient evil forces.
At the end of Ne Zha, the corporeal body of the mythical eponymous character and that of Ao Bing (Aleks Li) were destroyed after being struck by lightning. To prevent their souls from dying Master Zhenren (Rick Zeiff) used his magical scared lotus to regenerate his physical body and Ao Bing and Ne Zha share the one body for seven days. But he is still fragile. He and need to find his strength to fight and successfully complete the three trials that will make him immortal. The trials are set by the immortal Wuliang (Robert Clotworthy), the powerful mystical leader of the heavenly Chan sect, and they have the look and feel of a video game.
The CGI animation is colourful and imaginative, and director Jiao Zi creates some well-defined worlds here, including the village in Chentang Pass that is threatened with destruction, a gorgeous jade palace and a couple of epic battle sequences. The sound design is also quite superb.
But the plot is all over the shop and confusing to the uninitiated. Some knowledge of Chinese mythology and ancient traditions would help. The film explores themes of identity, power, family, grief and loss, vengeance, and intolerance. The material is also leavened with generous touches of humour, including a wonderful post end credits sequence.
Ne Zha 2 delivers planet of action and spectacle. However, with a generous running time of 144 minutes the film is too long and tonally uneven as it moves between childish antics, goofy comedy and supernatural fantasy elements. Eventually it becomes repetitive and exhausting to watch.
An English dubbed version features a vocal cast that includes Oscar winner Michelle Yeoh who provides the voice for Lady Yin, Ne Zha’s caring mother.
★★☆
