By: Annabelle Pan

Graphics Editor

Ne Zha 2, released in February after the somewhat surprising success of Ne Zha 1 in both China and the US, is currently playing in multiple theaters, including AMC, in the US. The film first played in Chinese theaters on Jan. 29, coinciding with the start of Chinese New Year. The movie has an exceptional 99 percent rating on both Fandango and Rotten Tomatoes and an IMDb rating of 8.2/10, though some attribute the success of the movie to its planned release day. The first Ne Zha movie, from 2019, also had high ratings, and it seems like Ne Zha 2 didn’t disappoint fans.

The producers released Ne Zha 2 in many countries worldwide on Feb. 13 and 14, including the United States. The movie reaches other countries in Southeast Asia between March 6 and 21. Barely one month since its international release, Ne Zha 2 has already broken records. Worldwide, Ne Zha 2 raked in more than two billion dollars at the global box office in just 33 days, with more than 1.96 billion dollars of that from China alone, making the movie the highest-grossing film in a single market. Currently, only six other films have earned more than  two billion dollars, and Ne Zha 2 seems set to become one of the top five highest-grossing films of all time. It has already surpassed Inside Out 2, which earned 1.7 billion dollars, to become the highest-grossing animated movie ever, even though the movie only used half of Pixar’s budget.

The animation style is similar to the first, with highly detailed characters, expressions, special effects, and backgrounds. Reviews say that the movie is a lot to take in, but it is uniquely and fully rendered, with vivid color and visual creativity. The storyline of the original Ne Zha animation was based upon a traditional Chinese mythology story about a child named Ne Zha, but this second movie includes many more aspects from the director, Yu Yang, that stray from the original tale while keeping the same characters. Despite Ne Zha 1 ending with a sense of finality, Yu Yang managed to make Ne Zha 2 a direct sequel, continuing where the first left off. The first movie (spoiler alert) ends with the two main characters alive and saved from their fate but without physical bodies. Movie two begins with more catastrophe, and Ne Zha’s mentor searches for a way to imbue their souls into physical bodies to prevent the disaster.

Skeptics originally heavily criticized Ne Zha because Yu Yang portrays the character as an ugly, misbehaving demon boy who constantly terrorizes the town. However, as the movie became increasingly popular, the character’s unconventional appearance soon became endearing. The movie features themes of controlling one’s destiny, familial love, and the nature of good and bad. Although the two movies may be watched independent of the other, they are best enjoyed together. The two animations immortalize traditional Chinese myths and spread the story far and wide to adoring fans all over the world.