Wandering Earth II

[tanithryudo]

This is actually a prequel to Wandering Earth I, so not required to watch the first movie to get it.

And...huh, it's opening in US theaters the same time as in China. (Well, actually a day later given timezones, but both on the 22nd!)

Tickets: https://wellgousa.com/films/wandering-earth-ii


I feel...a little tempted to go watch. >.>

Because: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=adcieMCh3Ho

Watch on YouTube

We have guests coming on the 22nd though. So maybe the day after or so...

EDIT: Just checked the seating availability online, and it does look like there's a lot of people actually prepaid to go see it on the first day!

Comments

[cashew]

🤣😂

I...actually know the Wandering Earth plot enough that I nope-d right out of it. I mean, watch it if you want, god knows you've sat through worse. 😁 But personally, I'm gonna have to give this one a pass. I've read too many bad sci-fi recently.

[tanithryudo]

I know the basics of what the series was about and the first movie. I know the premise is silly, but really, what apocalypse drama isn't silly? I don't think this movie genre is there for...well, believability.

In this one particular I think most people are there to see how far the chinese movie industry has come towards SFX, and for Andy Lau.

[cashew]

Eh, it's less the believability and more the politics. I don't know enough about the original novel, but the movie sounds like a cheese ball factory exploded all over it. Also the acting sounds painfully bad.

Agree w/ the last sentence. I'm pretty sure most Chinese viewers are just there for spectacle, which is fine, just not really my cup of joe, as it were. Part of the reason I couldn't stand Avatar (the movie).

[tanithryudo]

BTW, are you also familiar with the Three Body Problem series written by the same author who wrote the Wandering Earth novel?

I've also recently been looking into this series, for the same reason. XD

[cashew]

From what I understand, Three Body Problem is a Sci-Fi AU of the cultural revolution. I tried reading it but couldn't make it past the first chapter because the novel gave zero world building at the go and just kind of threw the reader into it. I'm sure it does a bit more explaining later, but I needed just a little bit more set up before getting thrown headfirst into a bunch of jargon. Am planning to try it again at a later time.

I know the novel won tons of awards, but given the media censorship, I'm very skeptical about the adaptation.

[tanithryudo]

My own knowledge of the series is just based on third hand research over the last few days or so...

The cultural revolution reference is just a backstory point (albeit a major motivational one) for one of the main characters in the first book, but from what I understand, most of the story in book 1 is in the present day (well, of when it was written, so the 2000s). Then book 2 and 3 have several timeskips of several decades to centuries at a time (skipped due to the viewpoint character going into cryogenic sleep, or traveling in a ship at relativistic speed). Then the end of the last novel skips literally to the end of the universe. XD

Generally, reviews have said the first book can be tedious, the segue from 1 to 2 is almost nonexistent, but books 2 & 3 are brain-breaking (in a positive sense).

As for the english translation, from what I understand the main changes weren't political or anything, but rather they had to tone down the... I guess unconscious misogyny in the original writing. Someone posted some comparisons here.

Anyway, there's a new 30 episode TV series being streamed in the US as well as in China. I might watch the subtitled version on Tencent's youtube channel once there a good block of episodes unlocked for free access. Depends on how the general audience reviews go (still too early to tell at the moment).