[Review] Ne Zha 2 (8.5/10)

 

Title - Ne Zha 2
Production - Coco Cartoon, Horgos Coloroom Pictures
Starring - Joseph, Zhang Jiaming, Han Mo, Chen Hao, Lu Qi, Yang Wei, Lu Yanting, He Yu Xiang, Ren Jun Peng, Li Nan, Nan Yu, Han Yuze, Yang Wei, Xingliner
Writer - Yang Yu
Director - Yang Yu
Release - 29 January 2025

I am super impressed with how much of an improvement this sequel has over it's predecessor. This is what the CGI in China can do in five years!

Or, the creators saw how well received the first one was and just up the ante on this second one. The visuals of the fight sequences got a whole lot better, they really took it up a notch. There was so much detail now that they can do what the Hollywood experts can, too. To say that they have surpassed the West would require more viewings and studies, but not impossible.

The story also got a whole lot bigger with more places these characters had to visit. Hence, more work in creating locales. 

I don't appreciate toilet humour and the Chinese certainly don't shy away from it. I could have done without that whole sequence just for a laugh. 

The flaws in their storytelling in a scale as big as this, easily (and, once again) became the multiple second-tier characters got lost in the mix; expecially during big battle sequences. Half the time I was left wondering where half of the characters were as we went a whole, long sequence without knowing where other important characters were.

But I have to say, it still came down to the heart of the main characters in the end (just like the first one). The mother-son relationship became the core of where they pull our heartstrings. Again, I could have done without too many of these flashback sequences just to tug at those tears. They certainly were milking that scene shamelessly. 

The Chinese still have a ways off to learn about minimalizing and "less is more", but for this movie to become a Top 5 earners worldwide in the history of cinema; well done.