Last Updated on 2020/12/06
It took a while to see some Chinese animation film that can compare to the Hollywood blockbusters.
When we use the word animation, people usually think about Disney or the Anime industry. However, with this new film Ne Zha, China’s animation industry is back in the game.
It is a Chinese religion based film, which speaks about the Chinese legend of Ne Zha which turns out to be more family-friendly movie than we taught. This movie smashed the box office records this summer making it the highest-grossing animated film in all genres in Chinese history.
So what makes this film so special?
The movie is based on Chinese Mythology and a big part of the movie is a backstory to all of their histories which is very popular in overseas countries.
The movie begins with a “chaos pearl” that absorbs energy from both the moon and sun. In order to keep this power away from evil people, the King of Havens is forced to split the pearl into “heaven pearl” and “daemon pearl”. He also puts a course on the demon pearl to be destroyed by lighting in three years.
The plot takes off when the King of Heaven instructs the Angel Taiyi Zhenren to protect both parts of the pearl, and plant the heaven pearl into military commander Li Jing’s wife, Lady Yin. He uses this advantage to switch both pearls and plant the “demon pearl” into Lady Yin and keep the “heaven pearl” for himself. That is where the demon child called Ne Zha is born.
Since they only have three years before the Ne Zha is killed from the course, his father must go on a trip to heaven in order to break it. However, this trip will last a year, so in the meantime, Lady Yin has to fight all the demons that attract the village and contain the demon child which proves to be a tough job. Lady Yin also has to work in order to provide for their family so he is let on his own for most of the day.
Even though the child carries a scary demon inside, the film is not dark and scary, but it is all presented in a friendly way. The parents of Ne Zha have trouble containing him as he does mischievous things and wrecks the whole village. This movie has Disney flavor to it as the child must grow out of his child-like temperament in order to rescue everyone.
The most impressive thing about this movie is the 3D renderings which are Pixar quality. It looks like the team behind this movie put a lot of effort in making all the graphics and sound effects.
Ne Zha also reflects the Chinese culture. Many people know that any production movie must be touched by the invisible hand of the Communist party adding some social values that the people see.
In the end, this film teaches us about family values in a very entertaining way. It has a great balance and is designed to entertain both children and adults. Some of the characters are true representation of the real events that happen in China. Going deeper in this movie, you will notice that it is not just a Sunday night animation movie, as it carries some hidden values.
This movie is another step for Chinese animation movies and shows that they are capable of producing a movie that can rival Pixar animation. The international popularity of this movie proves the fact that this movie has a lot of value to offer and it is produced at highest standards.
Most of all this movie is as exciting to watch as the Breeders Cup 2019 horse race. So, if you still haven’t watched it, grab your popcorn and get ready to be amazed.
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