Fans of Ji Zhao’s amazing 2021 CG animated Chinese movie New Gods: Nezha Reborn While you might expect something similar from his follow-up, New Gods: Yang JianThey’ll get some of what they’re after in terms of epic god battles, epic operatic sentiment, and beautifully crafted visual design. But in every other sense, the second film is a big departure from the first. It’s not an extension of the setting as an almost unrelated story in an entirely different genre.
nether reborn Set up a structure that seems designed to be repeated infinitely in infinite variations.A struggling human protagonist learns that he is the reincarnation of a mythical god. white snake) and screenwriter Mu Chuan give the story a striking idiosyncrasy, with a sci-fi-tinged apocalyptic setting and plenty of intricacies about bringing ancient powers into the modern world. increase. Portraying a series of New Gods movies as a Marvel Cinematic Universe-like setup for the final crossover, as the Old Gods return to the human realm and begin to reshape it, eventually colliding. is easy.
But Zhao and Chuan’s follow-up largely leaves the human world behind and instead hangs out in the realm of the gods, so presumably for human viewers, the concerns of the gods feel less relevant. . Yang Jian A much more traditional Chinese fantasy epic. The only noticeable link to sci-fi is in its opening setup: the anime series’ strangely thorough pastiche cowboy bebopIt’s a little disappointing.
from the moment Yang Jian A close-up of the Skyship’s engine stalling due to lack of fuel introduces its titular protagonist playing a melancholy bluegrass harmonica riff. cowboy bebop Fans may have a sense of déjà vu.Yang Jiang (voiced by Wang Kai) is the leader of a team of four hapless bounty hunters who can barely afford to go after their newest target. bebop Yang Jian, his counterpart Spike Spiegel, is a seemingly sleepy-looking, most-of-the-time-checked-out young man, but someone has to frighten him into defeating him with his amazing fighting skills. Hmm.
Image: GKIDS
His crew also seems suspiciously familiar: a bumpy, muscular engineer with a scruffy version of a jet-black spiky beard. Hyper skinny red-haired kid who yells a lot and runs around on all fours. And a dog that is smarter than it allows. (His latter two have the most well-experienced and amusing connections at the moment.) Only his fourth crew, of the generic pirate type that barely makes it into the film, fits the mold. plug.
like the crew of bebopthis quartet runs out of leads, gets into trouble, and steers the ship back and forth through wormhole gates that look like high-tech skyhoops. bebop A team, but this crew is divinely guided.Yang Jian – also known as Erlang Shen, traditional Chinese folklore figure — was at one point a powerful force among the gods before his third eye closed and his powers waned. I am in a difficult time. In this story, an immortal kingdom inhabited by spirits looks like a series of retro-futuristic towns and run-down transit stations. The same city has glowing flying dragons and alleys filled with dirty, dripping trash, though the latter are clearly outnumbered by the former.
one of the big oddities of Yang Jian How fast the script abandons this interesting setting and whole bebop motif. After his one run of Bounty Hunter, Yang Jian’s crew is all but gone, the tone shifts and the setting is lost. (Forlorn harmonica riffs linger all over the place.) When a woman enlists Yang Jiang’s help to retrieve a powerful artifact, he reflects on his past, stops at an old mentor, and asks for his Learn some new things about family. He collided with the other gods, bringing him back in a widely misunderstood chain of events that caused him to lose his third eye and seal his sister beneath a mountain forever.
nether reborn Equally concerned with family ties and navigating characters who have let them down, the film spends far more time exploring that relationship and the price of power. Yang Jian There’s quite an image built around family ties that make it feel much more surface-level, but there’s not really enough time to build them. Mother!” repeats the vague, fading visions of the mother over and over again, but doesn’t actually spend time creating those relationships or having the characters talk to each other.
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Image: GKIDS
And there are plenty of conflicts between gods, a good portion of which involve very colorful and peculiar folklore figures like the four Mo Generals. ordination of the gods star shengongbao, here portrayed as a bitter drunk master in traditional martial arts movie style, hanging out with a giant white tiger. Each of these deities has their own agenda, but the characters are broadly portrayed as mythological deities rather than people audiences can relate to or root for, either as defenders of tradition or seekers of revenge. .
Plenty of events and action Yang Jiancentered around the title character’s pursuit of that magical artifact and the criminal who took it. It’s a pretty remote viewing experience, even when the heists and fights are lively, intense, and thrilling.
Visual thrills are the main attraction Yang Jian. like nether reborn, when the gods get serious about conflict, giant, glowing avatars that reflect their actions appear. They have combat tools that make each battle stand out. Weapons that send enemies into dream and fantasy worlds give director Zhao all the opportunities he needs to radically change his style of animation or fill the screen with his images of wild fantasy. will give you This is a movie worth seeing on the biggest screen available.
But there’s very little emotional impact. Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon than all the battles combined. The real battle here is between those who want change in the broadest abstract sense and those who want the whole world to come to a standstill. It’s, in some ways, a relatable conflict in this politically tense moment or in any other era. It’s not yet drawn in a way designed to leave the viewer wondering whether to return to where it came from. cowboy bebop An adventure after all the big god antics are over.
For Western viewers who want to do their homework later, New Gods: Yang Jian serve some of the same purposes as nether reborn: A brief introduction to some of the most memorable characters in Chinese historical epics and modern reinterpretations of those epics. And like the first film, the second New His Gods film examines the issues and costs of regeneration and the impact of the never-ending cycle of historical change on an individual’s life. It just lacks the human face to tackle all these issues. Brawl of the Gods may be our brawl too, but if a third New Gods movie is on the way, it’s better to bring the action back to Earth.
New Gods: Yang Jian Currently in theaters nationwide. This review is for the subtitled version of the movie. Check out the movie website For specific theaters, check to see if your local theater is showing subbed or dubbed versions.
