Worst case of ‘Terrible Twos’ ever: a review of Nézhā
Chinese 哪吒之魔童降世
Mandarin Nézhā zhī Mótóng Jiàngshì
Literally Birth of the demon child Nezha
Directed by Jiaozi
Produced by Wei Yunyun & Liu Wenzhang
Screenplay by Jiaozi
Story by Yi Qiao & Wei Yunyun
Based on Investiture of the Gods by Xu Zhonglin
Starring Lü Yanting, Joseph Han Mo, Chen Hao, Lü Qi, Zhang Jiaming, Yang Wei
Music by Wan Pin Chu
Production company Chengdu Coco Cartoon
One line from the Wikipedia entry on this Chinese animated feature tells the tale: “The film has more than 1,318 special effects shots, and it took over 20 Chinese special effects studios, employing more than 1,600 people, to realize the film’s fairy tale setting, the mysterious Dragon King’s Palace, and a complex fight between fire and water. One scene alone took two months to complete.”
And boy, did all that time and effort pay off! The animation is utterly amazing, in a league all its own. It paid off in another way. Per Wikipedia, it surpassed Studio Ghibli’s Spirited Away as the highest grossing non-English animated feature ever, not just passing it, but lapping it, with more than double the box office revenues. It is also China’s first animated IMAX film.
Compared to the gigantic American animated box office listing, it’s still small potatoes, not even making the top 50, but it’s probably been seen by more people than the present world leader, the 2019 version of The Lion King itself with more than double the box office take of Nézhā.
The story of Nezha dates back to the 12th Century, and the plot is that the Demon Orb is, through a series of celestial machinations, born as a demon child, Nezha, who is doomed to die on his third birthday in a heavenly blast of lightning. Most people who know this kid would be relieved to hear that; Nezha really is a little rotter, one with superpowers.
The yang to the Demon Orb’s yin is the Spirit Pearl, and in the transfer of identity it is born as the son of the King of Dragons, keepers of other demons on the ocean floor and effectively prisoners themselves. Nezha’s parents, in a mostly vain effort to contain the boy’s hellish nature and to give him hope of redemption, lie to him and tell him that he is the Spirit Pearl (which he originally was meant to be.)
The two manifestations meet on a deserted beach and, true identities unknown to one another, become friends.
This leads to an awesome war of the gods over the celestial city where Nezha lives. It is confusing in places, especially since many of the combatants, including the Spirit Pearl and the Demon Orb, are proficient at shape shifting. But even when you don’t quite know what is going on, it remains an enthralling visual delight, well worth the time spent watching it.
A sequel was planned for January, but the Covid-19 pandemic has delayed it. It will probably be worth the wait.
Now on Netflix.