In a year of both surprises and disappointments, Ne Zha has become a welcome experiment in animation, though I am shocked by how much money it earned in China alone. Due to my watching of many Asian-inspired movies, IMDB continuously put this movie in my reccomendations, and I am so glad it did!
I will get the negatives out of the way first. The lip sync for the english dub is pretty off, especially for the demon goblin by the sea. The ending, regarding the lightning, while quite the spectacle, was a bit nonsensical in a multitude of ways. And weirdly enough, I wish the father had more emotion in the animation itself. He is so stoic that when he is being heartbreaking in the voice performance, his facial expressions don't capture the sorrow in his voice. The biggest problem I have, similar to the Monkey King movie a few years back, is the humor. The humor is so childish and based around the gross-out style that it felt off, especially during the climax when the survival of the main characters depended on a fart (no I am not joking). It just felt so juvenile, and distracted from the story.
The action is fluid and pretty easy to follow, and the magic is very mystical. The final battle and every scene with the dragons were highlights for me, emphasizing the epic scale of everything. The animation is also pretty gorgeous, and while I am not a fan of the character designs (except for Ao Bing and the General), I can at least admit there is a better variation of designs in this than even Frozen II. The motivations of every character are well set-up. Ne Zha's mother wants to spend time with him, keep him safe, and make sure that she can promote goodwill on behalf of her son, for her son. The General is busy, but cares about his son from afar. Ne Zha has been called a demon his whole life, and has been sheltered to the point where he feels imprisoned. Ao Bing wants to save his people, but knows little of the consequences that come with defying them. I can forgive any "dumb" mistakes made by Ne Zha and Ao Bing because technically they are still 3 year olds. I also really enjoy the scene where the two of them play the game by the beach in the sunset. The ending is sad, but still epic. And the after-credits scenes hint that there will be a sequel to this.
I reccomend this movie to anyone with children, or fans of Chinese legends and movies. You will laugh and cry (though I didn't), and the message of not letting a definite fate define how others see you is touching and well-handled. They don't technically cop-out on the two protagonists still being alive, which is appreciated (again, even Frozen II didn't manage that). I hope more Chinese animations like this are made. I am excited for their next movie, Jiang Ziya, or"The Legend of Deification".
I will get the negatives out of the way first. The lip sync for the english dub is pretty off, especially for the demon goblin by the sea. The ending, regarding the lightning, while quite the spectacle, was a bit nonsensical in a multitude of ways. And weirdly enough, I wish the father had more emotion in the animation itself. He is so stoic that when he is being heartbreaking in the voice performance, his facial expressions don't capture the sorrow in his voice. The biggest problem I have, similar to the Monkey King movie a few years back, is the humor. The humor is so childish and based around the gross-out style that it felt off, especially during the climax when the survival of the main characters depended on a fart (no I am not joking). It just felt so juvenile, and distracted from the story.
The action is fluid and pretty easy to follow, and the magic is very mystical. The final battle and every scene with the dragons were highlights for me, emphasizing the epic scale of everything. The animation is also pretty gorgeous, and while I am not a fan of the character designs (except for Ao Bing and the General), I can at least admit there is a better variation of designs in this than even Frozen II. The motivations of every character are well set-up. Ne Zha's mother wants to spend time with him, keep him safe, and make sure that she can promote goodwill on behalf of her son, for her son. The General is busy, but cares about his son from afar. Ne Zha has been called a demon his whole life, and has been sheltered to the point where he feels imprisoned. Ao Bing wants to save his people, but knows little of the consequences that come with defying them. I can forgive any "dumb" mistakes made by Ne Zha and Ao Bing because technically they are still 3 year olds. I also really enjoy the scene where the two of them play the game by the beach in the sunset. The ending is sad, but still epic. And the after-credits scenes hint that there will be a sequel to this.
I reccomend this movie to anyone with children, or fans of Chinese legends and movies. You will laugh and cry (though I didn't), and the message of not letting a definite fate define how others see you is touching and well-handled. They don't technically cop-out on the two protagonists still being alive, which is appreciated (again, even Frozen II didn't manage that). I hope more Chinese animations like this are made. I am excited for their next movie, Jiang Ziya, or"The Legend of Deification".