The global box office has been dominated by Hollywood for decades. The top 5 highest-grossing films of all time include three James Cameron mega hits, two Avengers movies, and now, the surprise hit out of China, Ne Zha II. With a film this enormous overseas (most of its $2.2 billion being made in mainland China), Hollywood was eager to dip their fingers into the Ne Zha pie. Indie powerhouse A24 acquired the distribution rights for an English dub of the film that is now being released into theaters. So the question begs to be asked: how does a sequel to a film American audiences are not familiar with from another country translate into English? Though the cultural differences fall flat through the translation, Ne Zha II is still a feast for the eyes.

As Ne Zha II is a sequel to a movie that was never released widely in the United States, the film has some legwork to do at the beginning to catch you up to the events of Ne Zha. Ne Zha is a child who was born from a Demon Orb, destined to destroy the world. When he joins forces with Ao Bing, born of a Spirit Pearl, their bodies are destroyed. After a brief (and a bit dense) overview of the first film, we immediately watch our heroes as souls entering gelatinous bodies made of sacred lotus. It’s a lot to catch up with so quickly, especially when one of the film’s villains, Shen Gongbao, threatens to destroy Ne Zha’s homeland, but he is also actually one of Ao Bing’s masters. There’s certainly an amount of unknown culture here as a Westerner. Ne Zha is an ancient figure from the 16th century, so watching this film expecting to understand it completely is like walking into Avengers: Endgame without ever having heard of Captain America.

What the film has no trouble translating is the visuals. The fight sequences in this film are beyond stellar. The action is so clear, yet striking. Shen Gongbao is granted a staff that allows him to cut open portals in open air. From those portals, armies of animal demons pour out from their lava prison and attack Ne Zha’s home. These moments grant you a sensory experience that rivals something out of The Lord of the Rings. In a battle toward the end of the film, thousands of flying soldiers collide with the aforementioned animal demons, creating a floating ballet of bloodshed. It never plays as too gruesome, but it is perhaps a touch too violent for a PG film. The only American animated property that this can even compare to is the How To Train Your Dragon series, and even then, the scope of Ne Zha II is massive. 

The combination of cartoony facial expressions from Ne Zha’s face with the hyper-realistic environments never veers into the uncanny. There are shots of mountains and waterfalls in this film that look like wildlife photography and the ability to seamlessly weave in a group of animal demons balancing on poles is something to behold. During one of Ne Zha’s tests, he must complete to separate his body from Ao Bing’s soul (entirely too much to explain), he has to fight an army of marmot demons who are both extremely cute and also very fun to watch get pummelled into rock faces. 

Ne Zha II, while being quite serious and heartbreaking in moments, doesn’t let up on the humor. You are not prepared for the amount of bodily fluid jokes in this movie. Perhaps it is a cultural difference, but so much of the humor feels inappropriate and downright irresponsible to be shown in a children’s film. Sleeping pills are strangely a recurring plot device that is necessary for our child hero to keep ingesting. During the aforementioned marmot fight, Ne Zha vomits all the sleeping pills he took, but boy, does he try his hardest to eat it right back up. It might be the first time seeing an animated film do something that I would expect to see in Requiem For A Dream. Add in a sentient octopus taking bites of his cooked tentacles and saying “Yummy!” and you have some of the weirdest jokes I’ve ever witnessed in a film intended for children.

3 ½ out of 5 stars

Although Ne Zha II is the smash blockbuster hit of the year across the globe, some might find it hard to connect with without having seen the first in the series. Those who wish to brave this new territory will be delighted by some exquisitely beautiful visuals and some gnarly fight sequences. This needs to be seen on an IMAX screen.