Alex Reviews "Ne Zha II"

It is nearly impossible to quantify the importance of Nezha to Chinese culture, but there is a level that needs to be covered before diving into this incredibly dense narrative. As Ne Zha II is both a sequel and a reimagining of common lore, it starts with a flurry that will either leave the audience trying to catch up or require some base knowledge common to Chinese culture and mythology. Nezha first appeared in the Investiture of the Gods, by Zhonglin Xu, which has been among the predominant historical documents of the country since the 16^th century. He is a deity who began as a demon by choosing his own path. Many shows, novels, and movies have retold the legend in various ways from sacrificial hero to symbol of defiance.

For Ne Zha II, the story of defiance continues from the original film where he is half of a Chaos Pearl split in two to form Ao Bing and himself. Ao Bing began as his mortal enemy who became his closest friend while battling over the fate of Chengtang Pass, Ne Zha’s home. The battle left both physically destroyed, but their souls live on. Master Taiyi uses a mystical lotus to build bodies for the loose spirits and that is where Ne Zha II begins.

As an uninformed viewer, it took a little bit to catch up, but the production does a phenomenal job providing details in a way that never feels distracting or unwanted for even the least educated audience member (me in this instance). I doubt even a knowledgeable observer would have issue with the respite as the story and visuals set the TONE immediately. The action and humor kicks off from the first scene while the visuals are absolutely awe-inspiring.

The story follows our hero(?) on a twofold quest to defend his home and assist his friend to become whole. The range for the narrative is staggering while it covers the most juvenile of humor through incredible battle scenes and even has multiple instances of tearjerking emotion. The only piece that provides momentary pause is that the translation struggles at times but never breaks the flow. As there is so much care given to every aspect of the film, I have to believe that there is no direct phrasing that could relay the message. The dialogue and world building are amazing. Xixing Lu’s deep knowledge and understanding in crafting the script transcends a single culture and creates an incredible story that compares favorably to Tolkien’s works without exaggeration.

Yu Yang returns to the director chair to maintain Lu’s story with an epic crafting for the story to come to life. Blending the visual elements to the lore of Nezha could be considered a Herculean effort, but the use of common threads among cultures seamlessly fits into the script and Ne Zha II blends mythology and modern as well as I have ever seen. As a non-spoiler example: one meme inspired moment made me laugh so hard that I almost spit my drink on the rows in front of me because it both fit and hit perfectly.

Not to be outdone, Devaraj Balakrishnan (Game of Thrones) and his team crafted the most stunning animated picture of all time. It isn’t just the story and putting it together, but the visuals are so good that there were instances where I almost forgot it was animated because of how well Ne Zha II pulled me in.

I can not wait to watch Ne Zha II again in a theater. It demands the highest quality picture and audio for the experience. Normally, we don’t discuss awards this early or even whisper about locks, but as long as this picture is eligible, every other animated feature is performing for second at EVERY event. See it in Dolby. See it in IMAX. Just go see Ne Zha II as soon as it releases on August 22^nd.