Ne Zha 2

Nezha 2, the sequel to China's biggest animated blockbuster, Nezha, recently one-upped its predecessor by becoming the biggest animated blockbuster period: $2 billion and counting. An American filmgoer, however, wouldn't notice it unless they looked up their local showtimes. It's been playing a few weeks near me, but my busy schedule kept me from watching it until now. Let's see what it's all about.

In the first film, Ne Zha (Lü Yanting), a crass demon boy, and Ao Bing (Han Mo), the Dragon Prince of the Eastern Sea, both incarcerated from two MacGuffin pearls, became best buddies, but lose their mortal bodies to divine lightning (long story). Fortunately, Ne Zha's Shifu Taiyi Zhenren (Zhang Jiaming), makes them new bodies out of lotus paste. Unfortunately, papa dragon Ao Guang (Li Nan/Yu Chen), seeking vengeance for his son's apparent death, unleashes his maritime demons upon Ne Zha's hometown, Chentang Pass. Ao Bing loses his new body defending the town. That's just within the first twenty minutes!

During its remaining two hours, Ao Bing's spirit moves into Ne Zha's body, while Ne Zha seeks out a magic potion that will help restore Ao Bing's lost body. He can only get the potion if he completes three trials for the elder Immortal Wuliang (Wang Deshun), all of which involve hunting demons. Ao Bing has to take the wheel for these trials, which is easier said than done. But overall, it's all well and good, until Ne Zha and Ao Bing uncover a divine conspiracy brewing. Everyone got that?

It might help if the subtitles were better. I’m normally a fast reader, so I can comprehend subtitles, but since several sentences here are broken up into chunks, their subtitles go by way too fast. I'd be reading one subtitle, only for the next one to pop up instantaneously. There's also the occasional grammar error or two, but that's not too distracting. It's pretty nifty, though, that the subtitles are bilingual, which makes the wicked Shen Gongbao's (Yang Wei) stutter especially noticeable. A few more subtitles introduce us to everyone and everything, which is a lot of names.

It might also help you if you've already seen the first movie, which I don't think ever played near me, or read up on The Investiture of the Gods, the literary classic both films are based on. You'll still get a basic understanding of its characters and their relationships, whether it involves Ne Zha and Ao Bing's friendship, or Ne Zha's relationship with his human parents. Ne Zha, in particular, has a hilariously crude sense of humor, but you'll still admire his sense of goodness. That makes it quite a gut punch when the divine conspiracy destroys his hometown. Still, its emotional climax works best if you've followed his story throughout these two movies. 

During the movie, Shen Gongbao suffers from some personal losses which, combined with a tell-tale weapon, leads us to believe he will be the final boss. But a flashback reveals that he is actually a stalwart anti-villain. The actual villain, meanwhile, has a believable nice guy act, but you'll especially believe how much he relishes in his evilness. His co-conspirators, meanwhile, have some excellent voice work to match their appealing character designs. As loathsome as some of them are, it's still satisfying when they become the butt of a few jokes, particularly during the mid-credits. That scene has a few surprises, too ...

If there's one reason to check out this movie, it's the scale. Although it's not playing in IMAX, I could still comprehend the magnitude of its swarms of white-robed immortals on a normal-sized big screen. During the final battle, they crowd together on a giant tree, where they appear as blossoms from a distance. It's quite a sight, as is the film's overall production design. Yuliang's palace makes for another memorable locale. Its excellently visualized fight scenes are accentuated by an equally great sound design, as well as a magnificent score from composers Roc Chen, Rui Yang & Wan Pin Chu. Keep in mind that the bulk of the film's runtime is devoted to that final battle. 

As of now, Ne Zha 2 is no longer playing in a theatre near me. Despite my issues with it, I'm pretty pleased that I didn't waste the opportunity. This technically magnificent tale of gods and demons has already gotten me interested in seeing it again. The original is readily available, even officially via YouTube, so I can check it out in the meantime. I invite you to take the opportunity, too. It might be an interesting experience.

Nickel Boys

The Oscars are tomorrow, but I haven’t seen all of the Best Picture nominees.

That exception is I’m Still Here, which still hasn’t shown up on streaming, and will only play in a theatre near me next weekend. It most likely won’t win Best Picture, but it’s still in the running for Best International Feature and Best Actress; that might be three categories whose winners I’ll have missed.

I’ll just get to the last of the nominees I can get to. Nickel Boys, based on Colson Whitehead’s novel The Nickel Boys, just premiered on MGM Plus yesterday. Let’s finally see how it is.

It's 1966 in Tallahassee. Elwood Curtis (Ethan Herisse) is a studious young man raised by his grandma, Hattie (Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor). His future seems bright after his teacher, Mr. Hill (Jimmie Fails) gets him a free spot at a major study program. Unfortunately, he accidentally hitches a ride with a car thief and is arrested as an accomplice. He's sentenced to Nickel Academy, a reform school modeled after the real-life Arthur G. Dozier School for Boys. Elwood, and his fellow Black students, are used by the staff for slave labor, while their actual education leaves a lot to be desired. They'll even punish students for getting bullied!

Elwood, an avid follower of Martin Luther King Jr., refuses to let the system break him. His only friend, Turner (Brandon Wilson), meanwhile, does his best to keep his head low and advises Elwood to do the same. Eventually, Elwood’s idealism, as well as a visit from Hattie, erodes Turner’s cynicism. Will they survive Nickel together? Sure, we gradually see an adult Elwood (Daveed Diggs) looking up news stories of Nickel's crimes. But how foregone is that conclusion?

RaMell Ross, the Oscar-nominated director of the documentary Hale County This Morning, This Evening, makes his narrative debut here. He and his collaborator, Joslyn Barnes, tell their story by way of Jomo Fray's first-person cinematography. When I first heard of this approach, I thought it was to facilitate the story's climactic twist, but that's partially true. For most of the film, this approach helps us share in our leads' good and bad times, whether it's Hattie hugging Turner, or Elwood getting tortured in the "White House" (which is kept sound only). It also switches between Elwood and Turner multiple times and even plays their first meeting twice from each perspective. Both are essentially the narrators, by way of pictures, and both are equally compelling protagonists.

Besides those perspectives, Fray captures some stunning imagery. None are more stunning than a journey from inside a boxcar; it's truly something else to watch the seasons zip by. It sometimes gets surreal, such as when an alligator drops by in class, which no one even notices. Even its more "mundane" scenes are made indelible by the warm lighting. Nickel may be bleak, which is conveyed excellently by Nora Mendis's sets, but there is still some hope. Meanwhile, editors Alex Somers & Scott Alario's use of stock footage brings us some jarring results, but it makes more sense as the film goes on.

Who else do they see? Hattie is the kind of woman who will treat anyone as kindly as her grandson. As such, you'll feel for her when she tells Elwood that their lawyer cheated her. Anything else might give the twist away. Griff (Luke Tennie), one of the tough guys, is quite pitiable when he inadvertently angers the cruel superintendent Mr. Spencer (Hamish Linklater). Harper (Fred Hechinger) spends most of the film as one of the nicer staff members, up until the end. Mrs. Hardee (Lucy Faust), the wife of the school's director, is only in two scenes, but she's relatively nice. The late Taraja Ramsess makes quite an impression as Rodney, Elwood's Bad Samaritan. 

Nickel Boys is an unforgettable exercise in visual storytelling. It's also a long movie, at 140 minutes, which my busy schedule forced me to watch in two sittings. Still, watching its two compelling leads will help the time go by. Just be prepared for that climactic twist. With that out of the way, it's time to sit back and watch the results of tomorrow's show. On to a new movie year.