Ne Zha 2 Review (possible spoiler alert)
Feb. 17th, 2025 06:21 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
tanithryudoFirstly, a bit outside the movie itself... I watched the 3D version. Bit of a pain wearing the 3D glasses over my normal glasses, but alas there's no IMAX showings of this movie anywhere nearby (all taken by Cap4), so I had to make due. Also, the theater was packed, which bodes pretty well for the movie remaining in theaters longer (long enough for IMAX screens to free up, is my hope). *fingers crossed*
So first things first, the animation: I have to agree with all the fans out there. The CGI was absolutely *amazing*. You can tell the level of love and detail put into the artwork. It's definitely worth watching on the biggest and best movie screen available (which again is why I am hoping for IMAX). My favorite part artistically was (1) the villain formed the tree to seal the celestial cauldron, and (2) then when the armies of 阐教 and the armies of the 深渊 clashed.
Though, I will add one caveat. I heard a lot about how hot Ao Guang (Dragon King of the North, Ao Bing's dad) was and how popular he is with the female audience. I wasn't too convinced by the short scene from the trailer, but still had hopes going into the theater. But alas, while he does count as an eyecandy character, his aesthetic just doesn't do it for me personally. I still find Ao Bing (and Ne Zha's teen form) better looking... I dunno, maybe it's the way his teeth looks when talking? Or the set of his eyes? Eh... This is pure personal taste though.
Next up, the plot: I have to admit, I had already been pretty much spoiled on the plot going in, due to reading and watching various reviews and discussions surrounding the movie, so there wasn't anything that surprised me watching it, pleasantly or otherwise. That said, I felt it was a pretty solid story (well comparable to any other blockbuster on the charts that Nezha 2 is competing against at the global box office =P).
The pacing was quick while able to maintain the entire chain of logic carrying the plot. There weren't any places where I felt like like being railroaded. One thing I also liked about this movie was that all the accidental misunderstandings were resolved quickly (or, as fast as logically feasible). While the misunderstandings that were critical to carrying the plot where the ones that were caused with intention, and even then, with varying levels of success based on the intelligence of the targets.
The only places where it sometimes felt forced was more for the sake of humor. Like the infamous skirt-ripping bit. Or the times when Nezha and Aobing where struggling to coordinate their shared body. Personally, I felt they could've dialed down some of the slapstick. But I guess that wouldn't be conducive to attracting the younger audience. Also, my fellow audience in the theater laughed aloud at a lot more of the comedy bits that I was more meh about, so this more a matter of personal taste again, I suppose.
The characters: I feel that the movie did a great job in bringing all the characters alive. I personally do not identify with, emphasize with, and even find it hard to sympathize with Nezha, but still found him engaging to watch (in an ongoing train wreck kinda way). All of the side characters, even the minor one-shot characters, all feel vibrant and memorable. The villains also have depth to them, a breath of fresh air from all the caricatures in most stories. This is a big kudos to their art design, animation, and plotting.
My favorite character in terms of art design has to be 敖闰 (the femme fatale dragon king of the west). And in terms of plotting, it's definitely 申公豹, ruthless and smart. I also liked the general design of 鹤童 and 鹿童, especially the latter looks perfectly human and makes you wonder how many others in 阐教's massive army are actually converted 妖.
Overall, I definitely give this movie a must-see 9....point 5 out of 10. There's no "bad or ugly" bits that stand out to me about it. And even the "meh" bits I have are really subjective (usually the humor parts).
I am also hyped for Ne Zha 3, whenever in the distant future it'll come out. Though, I am really wondering if they can fit the story of 封神榜 into a single movie coming up. I mean, the current one already stretches the time limit for normal "kid movies" as it is. And FSB is just such a big and long event. I am wondering if might end up having to be longer than just a trilogy (and really, does everything have to be a trilogy?).
From the end credits easter egg, we already can count on 金吒 and 木吒 to show up in the next movie. The thought also comes to me that 李靖 will also have to answer to the destruction of 陈唐关. Even though its destruction was beyond his ability to prevent, he's still got liability as a military officer. And depending on if the movie follows canon in making Shang emperor evil, or with some alternative interpretation with him being misled or bewitched, there could be different consequences. So we could theoretically end up seeing Nezha (and brothers?) breaking dad out of jail (to join the Zhou rebellion, natch). But that's if there's no twists taken to the story, so who knows?
EDIT: For self reference
幕后纪录片 | Behind the scenes documentary
So first things first, the animation: I have to agree with all the fans out there. The CGI was absolutely *amazing*. You can tell the level of love and detail put into the artwork. It's definitely worth watching on the biggest and best movie screen available (which again is why I am hoping for IMAX). My favorite part artistically was (1) the villain formed the tree to seal the celestial cauldron, and (2) then when the armies of 阐教 and the armies of the 深渊 clashed.
Though, I will add one caveat. I heard a lot about how hot Ao Guang (Dragon King of the North, Ao Bing's dad) was and how popular he is with the female audience. I wasn't too convinced by the short scene from the trailer, but still had hopes going into the theater. But alas, while he does count as an eyecandy character, his aesthetic just doesn't do it for me personally. I still find Ao Bing (and Ne Zha's teen form) better looking... I dunno, maybe it's the way his teeth looks when talking? Or the set of his eyes? Eh... This is pure personal taste though.
Next up, the plot: I have to admit, I had already been pretty much spoiled on the plot going in, due to reading and watching various reviews and discussions surrounding the movie, so there wasn't anything that surprised me watching it, pleasantly or otherwise. That said, I felt it was a pretty solid story (well comparable to any other blockbuster on the charts that Nezha 2 is competing against at the global box office =P).
The pacing was quick while able to maintain the entire chain of logic carrying the plot. There weren't any places where I felt like like being railroaded. One thing I also liked about this movie was that all the accidental misunderstandings were resolved quickly (or, as fast as logically feasible). While the misunderstandings that were critical to carrying the plot where the ones that were caused with intention, and even then, with varying levels of success based on the intelligence of the targets.
The only places where it sometimes felt forced was more for the sake of humor. Like the infamous skirt-ripping bit. Or the times when Nezha and Aobing where struggling to coordinate their shared body. Personally, I felt they could've dialed down some of the slapstick. But I guess that wouldn't be conducive to attracting the younger audience. Also, my fellow audience in the theater laughed aloud at a lot more of the comedy bits that I was more meh about, so this more a matter of personal taste again, I suppose.
The characters: I feel that the movie did a great job in bringing all the characters alive. I personally do not identify with, emphasize with, and even find it hard to sympathize with Nezha, but still found him engaging to watch (in an ongoing train wreck kinda way). All of the side characters, even the minor one-shot characters, all feel vibrant and memorable. The villains also have depth to them, a breath of fresh air from all the caricatures in most stories. This is a big kudos to their art design, animation, and plotting.
My favorite character in terms of art design has to be 敖闰 (the femme fatale dragon king of the west). And in terms of plotting, it's definitely 申公豹, ruthless and smart. I also liked the general design of 鹤童 and 鹿童, especially the latter looks perfectly human and makes you wonder how many others in 阐教's massive army are actually converted 妖.
Overall, I definitely give this movie a must-see 9....point 5 out of 10. There's no "bad or ugly" bits that stand out to me about it. And even the "meh" bits I have are really subjective (usually the humor parts).
I am also hyped for Ne Zha 3, whenever in the distant future it'll come out. Though, I am really wondering if they can fit the story of 封神榜 into a single movie coming up. I mean, the current one already stretches the time limit for normal "kid movies" as it is. And FSB is just such a big and long event. I am wondering if might end up having to be longer than just a trilogy (and really, does everything have to be a trilogy?).
From the end credits easter egg, we already can count on 金吒 and 木吒 to show up in the next movie. The thought also comes to me that 李靖 will also have to answer to the destruction of 陈唐关. Even though its destruction was beyond his ability to prevent, he's still got liability as a military officer. And depending on if the movie follows canon in making Shang emperor evil, or with some alternative interpretation with him being misled or bewitched, there could be different consequences. So we could theoretically end up seeing Nezha (and brothers?) breaking dad out of jail (to join the Zhou rebellion, natch). But that's if there's no twists taken to the story, so who knows?
EDIT: For self reference
幕后纪录片 | Behind the scenes documentary
(no subject)
Date: 2025-02-18 04:31 am (UTC)Presuming you've also seen 哪吒1, so the question is: If I was kinda meh about the first movie, will this second movie still score as high? Because my biggest reservation about this version of 哪吒 is how much it clashes with the classic interpretation. Like, yes, 哪吒 is a delinquent in the original, but it stems from the oppressive conservatism of traditional culture. Like, 李靖 was hardly going to win "Dad of the year" awards, which made raising a problem child more complicated. There was a lot of nuance and social commentary despite the fairly simplistic story. Meanwhile, in this retelling (in 哪吒1), that complication kind of got downgraded to a personal issue rather than expanded further into societal attitudes at large (plus the weird bishi-fication of the dragon was a bit much...).
So, if I have those concerns, would this movie be scoring as high, you think? Aka, has this movie tried to move beyond the individualistic storytelling and looked at the wider societal problems?
(no subject)
Date: 2025-02-18 06:42 pm (UTC)Regarding social commentary, I am pretty sure this retelling is mainly using the IP as a vehicle to make commentary of various current events and trends, rather than retell the traditional themes and commentaries that the original "classical" works were based off of. So in that respect, it is probably not going to be centered on the same themes of the "classic" works.
I don't have a problem with that myself, since I don't feel that fantasy stories based on mythology necessarily *has* to stay true to their original messages. The themes of the original works are still there for those who care to look into it. But folklore in and of itself changes with the times and reflect local/regional/contemporal ideas, so whether modern takes go the edgy grim-dark route (as with Black Myth Wukong), the dog blood drama route (as with TV version 宝莲灯), or family-friendly rival-friendship route as with Nezha and Aobing here... My SOD can accept it.
With animation though, it's the artwork that is more critical to whether I will actually *like* the work or not. At least in this case, the artwork is a thumbs up from me.
(no subject)
Date: 2025-02-19 03:25 am (UTC)I mean, I agree that folklore doesn't have to stay limited to their origins, but the point of using folklore as a starting point, rather than an original fantastical setting, is because they're meant to reference the popular understanding of the folk story, whether that's to subvert expectations or the make allusions to the classical understanding. Deviate too much from the classical vibes and you get Disney's Hercules, which would have been fine as a completely original story, but because it ignores the original Greek (and Roman) mythos, the movie got rightfully panned.
There's no real way for retellings to isolate themselves from the classical understanding of these folktales. 哪吒 is meant to be a prepubescent child, because he represents a challenge to our ideas of right and wrong in the context of social "acceptability". 哪吒's status as a perpetual child is critical to his character, and that's why the "moody teenager" version (新神榜：哪吒重生) didn't do nearly as well as the version that stuck to 哪吒 as a prepubescent kid (哪吒之魔童降世). Because the clash between how a very small child views the world, where right and wrong is more about the immediate good/bad that's happening, and the adult view, where considerations go beyond the immediate results and involves looking down the chain of causalities, is the core engagement to a 哪吒-centric story. Take away that conflict, and the only resemblance left is the name.
哪吒 is fundamentally a good kid. His delinquency is the result of clashing world views. Personally, I thought 哪吒1's twist on him being "inherently evil" who nonetheless defies his "fate" and be a good kid (mostly thanks to mom being a decent influence) was an interesting twist on the classic interpretation. However, given the twist premise, defaulting back to daddy issues kind of weakened the gut-punch of his famous line "我命由我不由天".
Similarly, in classic 哪吒闹海, the main theme there is the clash of adult values that deem moderate suffering is acceptable to avoid greater suffering vs. 哪吒's more uncompromising belief that immediate suffering needs to be avoided even if there's a price to pay for it later down the line (and 哪吒 pays with his life). (And given that the original cultural context is ending slavery...well, 哪吒 has a point.) Despite moral values changing, siding with 哪吒 has been pretty consistent from traditional times to modern times. So if 哪吒2 doesn't deal with that kind of value clash, I would probably be less satisfied with the movie, given its full title is 哪吒之魔童闹海. For me, that value clash (along with fighting dragons) is the necessary component of the story to be a 哪吒闹海 story. Because if 哪吒 isn't challenging the adults' moral norms, then what is even the point of 哪吒?
(no subject)
Date: 2025-02-19 04:24 am (UTC)Eh... or they could be used to describe a power set / aesthetic. Like, DBZ, especially the earlier bits before it escalated outta control, comes to mind.
As well, then you have works that as a mix, or are merely inspired by the source material. A lot of anime fall into this category, and they do fine despite the extreme liberties they take.
> Because the clash between how a very small child views the world, where right and wrong is more about the immediate good/bad that's happening, and the adult view
That's still there in NZ 2. He only gains a teen sized form at the end, he doesn't become anywhere near adult/mature.
The movie is pretty much about the 阐教 dude being a hard man making hard decisions (and getting his ass kicked), the dragon king(s) regretting their previous "hard decisions", 申公豹 not regretting his "hard decisions" but still having a line, and Nezha being straightforward in attacking the "wrongs" he can see in front of him / revealed to him.
(no subject)
Date: 2025-02-19 06:56 am (UTC)I mean, DBZ is, while popular, not exactly high culture nor my cup of tea. Plus, the references to JttW is basically in name only. Hell, Saiyuki has more actual allusions to the original work than DBZ. And frankly, nobody really thinks of DBZ as an adaptation of JttW, which is not the case with the likes of 哪吒 or Hercules.
Well, anime does fine because 1) a lot of the inspiration comes from mythos that have nothing to do with Japan's own mythology and 2) they change the name to avoid any overt references. When looking to anime that actually deal with Japan's native traditions, there is significantly less liberties taken compared to something based on Western/Chinese inspirations. The logic being that a Japanese audience (the main target audience of anime) is much less likely to understand the deviation from non-Japanese source material (and might even have zero conception of the original source material), thus there's no a priori expectations to violate. See difference between say Karasu wa Aruji wo Erabana (based on Japanese tengu mythos) vs. DBZ (based on Chinese JttW mythos). The former sticks far closer to the myths and takes significantly less liberties.
And yes, there are definitely anime that ignores any and all original source material, but those shows also aren't playing on the audience's understanding of said source material either. But that is clearly not the case with something as well known as 哪吒. If this movie had involved a lesser known mythological story (like 晏龙), then sure, go nuts, because there isn't as strong of a collective consciousness of the "canon" as it were.
(no subject)
Date: 2025-06-30 07:15 pm (UTC)Back when Black Myth Wukong was trendy on youtube, I watched quite a bit of reaction/walkthrough/review videos. Plenty of first impression videos immediately claimed that the nimbus cloud in the game intro is like Goku's (some even mistakenly claim it's inspired/copied from anime -_-). Many videos that mention lore, will very often say it's based on JttW and then mention DBZ as well to give context. Because to the western audience, DBZ is context for JttW.
Or perhaps more specifically, for the character of Sun Wukong. Because at this level, he's no longer representing a theme, but just an aesthetic and powerset.