Ne Zha 2 (2025)
2019’s “Ne Zha” rejuvenated the Chinese animation industry, bringing worldwide attention to itself with the $719 million cume it made in China alone and the genre as a whole. Taking place immediately after the original, “Ne Zha 2” expands in scope, narrative, and adopts a darker tone that makes it more engaging for wide audiences, all while having elements that will successfully satisfy fans of the first.
For the Middle Kingdom, nailing down mythological stories can be quite a difficult task, without compromising lore or ancient heritage. That being said, it’s surprising that “Ne Zha 2” does this and more while being primarily a family movie. Important gods and events are casually name-dropped with no stress, and with this taking place in far more locations, we get to see more representation of notable Chinese figures during that time, instead of being solely focused on Chentangguan Pass. Despite the plot being generally more intensive than the first, it’s easy to see that the team had general audiences in mind, resulting in a CGI-styled anime approach to arcs.
Being more visually ambitious than its predecessor, the action in “Ne Zha 2” is some of the best I’ve seen in Chinese animation this decade. It’s tense, energetic, and gripping, with it not letting up throughout the 2hr+ runtime. In particular, the fight between Ne Zha and Shen Zhengdao was when things started to ramp up, as the icy landscape and the latter’s electric powers made for an interesting set piece. However, there are a lot of heavy themes here that American animation wouldn’t even dare to touch, such as persecution, mortality, and genocide. With this, it becomes shockingly solemn at times and makes it seem like a mature blockbuster willing to weigh good from bad. In a time where most US blockbusters are corporately sanitized, it’s very beneficial to see a billion-dollar grosser that feels like it has something to say.
Thankfully, the comedy for this one is not as juvenile, with there being only a handful of scenes (in the 1st act) where this is the case. Over time, as it gets more serious thematically, the gags and such start to slow down. However, this doesn’t mean fans of the first’s erratic humor won’t be pleased, as references abound (the recurring shuttlecock joke, for one thing). Still, the focus on the story makes “Ne Zha 2” a more competent sequel.
Overall, “Ne Zha 2” is better than the first by having a more ambitious story, a higher scale of action scenes, and a shockingly mature tone for a family film that aids in it being a crowd-pleaser, partly of what I believe has caused the film to become a gargantuan success.
7/10 🍿🍿🍿🍿🍿🍿🍿
Where to Watch: In Theaters
