English Dub Review: Ne Zha 2

Is this TITANIC hit the AVATAR of cinema’s future or the WAY to its ENDGAME?

In 2019, the “live action” remake of Disney’s The Lion King was released and predictably made a large amount of money, to the point that despite being marketed as a live action movie by Disney, virtually all of it (aside from its opening shot) was animated. For five years, there was much contention over whether it should be considered the highest grossing animated movie, which was then quickly resolves when Inside Out 2 took the top spot…for barely half a year before the new, decisive winner arrived: Ne Zha 2, sequel to 2019’s Ne Zha, based on the Chinese mythological hero of the same name. The first Ne Zha was a respectable hit when it came out, making over $700M but getting easily lost in the shuffle outside of its home country due to the surrounding releases of Toy Story 4, the aforementioned Lion King, and Avengers: Endgame. It did well enough that a sequel was put into production and, five and a half years later, Ne Zha 2 came out and plowed through the ranks. As mentioned, it is the current highest grossing animated movie, but, as of this writing, it is also currently the fifth highest grossing movie OF ALL TIME. And unless the upcoming Avatar 3 does exceptionally well (which it very well may), it will go down as the highest grossing movie of this year, something that has only happened to a non-American film TWICE in the past CENTURY of filmmaking. And no hate to Demon Slayer: Mugen Train, but one of those was because of the pandemic.

Anyway, now we can actually talk about the movie itself. Following the events of the previous film, where Ne Zha overcame his foretold tragic end, won over his home village by showing his heroism, and befriended his rival Ao Bing, he must now take trials to become an immortal and obtain the means to restore Ao Bing’s destroyed body, lest his village face Ao Bing’s wrathful father, the Dragon King Ao Guang. And that is the most concise synopsis I could possibly give of this movie because, much like its previous installment, Ne Zha 2 is completely steeped in nearly impenetrable lore from 16th Century Novel, Investiture of the Gods, and believe it or not, this is the SIMPLIFIED version of that. What’s important to point out is that this movie also continues the themes of the first one, namely that Ne Zha was forced to feel like an outcast and a monster and wants to be accepted, while also living true to himself. Over the course of this movie, he gets a chance to be a part of what is essentially spiritual high society, but chafes against the pageantry and decorum while also trying to conceal the demonic part of himself. And once the true machinations of those in that high society are revealed, and what acts they’re willing to commit, Ne Zha recommits to living as his most authentic self, which makes for a thematically satisfying ending, even if the actual ending is clearly just a set up for a third movie, which they are definitely going to get.

And even past analyzing Ne Zha as a character and what his development says about the movie, it is visually head and shoulders above the first. This is a bit of a double edged sword depending on certain points in the movie, as while there are some masterfully animated action sequences, especially in the film’s climax, that will absolutely be going up on the highlight reel for the year in terms of animation, there’s also a habit of gross out humor that is upped a fair bit. For every mind blowing epic moment of fighting, there is the occasional sequence where, for example, Ne Zha ends up pissing in what is revealed to be the Immortals’ water supply, or vomits into some stew but has to then eat it to complete a task, but the thought of doing that causes him to vomit more. Or really, just about anything happening with Taiyi, his fat and slovenly mentor. It’s actually rather frustrating because while this movie has some astounding visual highs, the grosser parts plummet it to confounding lows too. I fully understand this is for a younger demographic at the end of the day, but I feel like there are ways to appeal to that group than…vomit and piss.

There is also a significant recast in the English Dub that I think is worth pointing out. Back when the first film got an English release, it was likely treated as just another foreign animated movie, and so many of the characters were voiced by prolific voice actors like Griffin Puatu, Mike Pollack, Dana Snyder, and most well known, Stephanie Sheh, who played Ne Zha’s mother Yin. But when it came to the sequel, suddenly it was this MASSIVE money maker and needed a big draw for American audiences. And as this was being distributed by A24 and this was a Chinese movie, I can certainly why the choice was made to recast Yin with Academy Award Winning actress Michelle Yeoh. Yeoh’s talent and vast career in acting really cannot be overstated and she is a lauded actor for clear and obvious reasons if you’ve ever seen Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, or more recently, Everything, Everywhere, All At Once, or even last year’s Wicked. HOWEVER, while I understand bringing her in to play the key female role of the movie, I have to admit that her voice really does not fit the character, especially compared to Sheh’s performance in the first movie, and Yeoh’s voice coming out of Yin during key moments often brought me out of the scene. If I were to suggest an alternative, I could see her playing the Dragon Queen antagonist Ao Run, but she also has considerably less lines than Yin, so I can also see why that wasn’t considered. This is by no means a knock against Yeoh, but rather to say that not every actor is necessarily good for any given part. And we’ll likely see soon whether or not her involvement helped boost the movie’s numbers.

Overall, I would absolutely recommend Ne Zha 2 for animation enthusiasts who want a taste of some of the best animated film coming out of China, just like I would probably recommend the upcoming American release of Pakistan’s The Glassworker. But the key difference between them is that Ne Zha 2 is, again, the highest grossing animated film of all time and the fifth highest grossing film OVERALL. And if his Dub release goes well in theaters, it might surpass Titanic and make it to fourth. That’s impressive all on its own already, but what’s also significant is that it got that far with little to know help from the US market. This could end up being a fluke, but it could also just as likely be a sign of changes to come in the global film market. With the American film industry in a bit of a flux following the strikes and tensions rising with the country on other fronts, this could very well be a chance for China to take charge in the market like it never has before. Massive box office earnings have often led to a significant change as studios chase the trend they see. Avatar, the current highest grossing movie ever, led to a resurgence in 3D filmmaking. Titanic, the previous top dog, caused an uptick in historical tragic romances. The Avengers sparked a massive wave of superhero movies and media that is only now starting to majorly slow down. What change will Ne Zha 2’s success bring? I have to admit, I have no goddamn idea what’s going to happen. But I’m certainly curious to see what comes next.