Late in “Ne Zha 2,” the record-breaking, box office behemoth of a sequel to the 2019 Chinese animated action saga, the battle between a clan of divine immortals and the grisly monsters they look down upon in an ancient realm of myth reaches such dazzling, mind-melting fever pitch, one can’t help but feel overwhelmed by the sheer volume of astounding effects and characters in relentless motion. The aerial clash turns so colossal, the fighters on both factions appear like minuscule specks in a flock of birds.
By that point, one has likely already surrendered to the realization that keeping up with the intricate overload of lore at hand is a task that may require multiple viewings and nonstop notetaking. There are spells, curses, vendettas, a twist villain, giant dragons who turn into humanoid warriors and many other creatures populating the world of this gargantuan feat of eye-popping computer animation. Surpassing its predecessor in all manner of visual ambition and kinetic intensity, the stereoscopic 3D and Imax-released “Ne Zha 2” is breathtaking even as the screen and the narrative become as oversaturated as the viewer is overstimulated for nearly three hours.
Back at the helm for this second installment, writer-director Jiaozi (AKA Yu Yang) opens “Ne Zha 2” with a swift recap of what transpired in the first chapter, namely that Ne Zha (Lü Yanting), the unlikely hero who defied his predestination to become a villain, and his more composed counterpart Ao Bing (Han Mo) developed a friendship and challenged the almighty forces that created them. They are two halves of the same elemental energy — representing a sort of yin and yan dichotomy — with Ne Zha being born of a portion known as the fiery Demon Orb and Ao Bing from the complementary water-based Spirit Pearl.
At the end of “Ne Zha,” the pair sacrifices their physical bodies to protect their respective clans. Ao Bing was raised by dragons condemned to guard an underwater monster purgatory. Meanwhile, Ne Zha grew up around humans who, with the exception of his loving parents, were afraid of him in the Chentang Pass. Now, in order to help Ao Bing’s soul recover his tangible body, Ne Zha will have to hide his identity as a demon, overcome multiple obstacles to become an immortal, and obtain a miraculous elixir to aid his pal.
Strategizing a way to pass the trials without being ousted as a demon, Ne Zha allows Ao Bing’s spirit to take over his consciousness. When this occurs, the face of the film’s petite, yet unruly namesake morphs into Ao Bing’s more delicate facial features while in the same body. Leaning into the duality they embody; the character design communicates their distinct personalities. When Ne Zha reaches his full potential, his appearance changes from a cartoonish boy to a slim and handsome teenager with a too-cool-to-care attitude. How the artists reinterpret the design of the dragons as they take on a human form, with their reptile-like skin turning into an armor, also showcases the thoughtful craft behind the myriad of characters in the seemingly ever-expanding “Ne Zha” universe.
Similarly, the production design of the spaces where the action unfolds reads both incredibly pristine and detailed. The heavenly abode known as Xu Tu Palace where immortal master Wuliang Xianweng (Wang Deshun), who takes on great significance in the film’s last third, is said to be made entirely from jade, and the texture and lighting on display certainly reflects that claim in a convincing manner. These accomplished individual aspects of the world-building, as well as the impressive water and fire effects and the impeccable character animation, come together in the astonishing action set pieces.
When Master Shen Gongbao (Yang Wei), a powerful being working on behalf of the dragon clan, slashes through the sky in an early scene, a portal is created to the dragons’ underwater lair unleashing waterfalls of scorching lava and a horde of monsters, setting the stage for an epic confrontation that threatens Chentang Pass. That’s only one of several sequences written to creatively flaunt the prowess of the thousands of people who worked on these films. During another fight, Ao Bing (in Ne Zha’s body) faces an adversary with the ability to take the form of electricity and teleport through conducive elements like water. As rain pours over a lake, the electric charge zigzags through the sky for an otherworldly brawl in a movie that consistently delivers in-your-face visual spectacle.
Like other Chinese animated features with similar scopes and vast mythologies, including “The Storm” (2024) and “Big Fish & Begonia” (2016), the “Ne Zha” franchise suffers from dense exposition conveying the supernatural particularities of the legends and deities that guide the drama. Both “Ne Zha” films are based on a 16th-century literary work known as “Investiture of the Gods” that features numerous gods and their divine interactions. In what appears like an effort to help the audience keep track of all moving parts, text on screen announces every new character, location and even the names of the weapons and techniques the characters deploy. Still, the amount of information renders it all dizzying.
A maximalist concoction with humor that might puzzle Western spectators (both “Ne Zha” films mine laughs from showing him urinate), “Ne Zha 2” finds its emotional core in the protagonist’s heartfelt bond with his parents, in particular his mother, and in explicitly stating that those with an angelic exterior might in fact not be the good guys. The pariahs deemed monstrous, Ne Zha included, might have within them a more commendable moral compass. What’s remarkable is that even if one fails at grasping in full the plot and its many conflicts, “Ne Zha 2” has the power to flood the senses and convince anyone who watches it that they have just witnessed an animated production that holds absolutely nothing back.
