The latest game news from IGN - one of my fave channels ever - check it out Chinese animation, or donghua, has been on the rise in recent years, providing movies with stunning animation that can rival even Disney's multi-million dollar budgets, while offering unique stories we don't normally get from Hollywood. After Ne Zha became the highest-grossing animated film not made in the US, a new retelling of the legend of the trickster child-god Nezha arrives courtesy of Netflix. New Gods: Nezha Reborn may have a story that's familiar, but it wraps it in an exciting dieselpunk world, and realizes it with exquisite animation. The latest film by Light Chaser Animation and director Zhao Ji — who also directed the epic romance White Snake — is set in a mythical city named Donghai, where gods walk amongst humans of different cultures, but water has become a hotter commodity than gold. The film opens with a fast and furious bike race through an industrial plant where contestants get huge foundry flasks filled with molten metal dropped on them. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=netflix-spotlight-april-2021&captions=true"] The winner of this dangerous race is Li Yunxiang (Yang Tianxiang, or Stephen Fu in the English dub), a daredevil delivery courier who, by night, is a renegade hero who would break into a factory to get free water for the people. Yunxiang is marked for death by Ao Bing (Ling Zhenhe, or Alex Le in the dub), the third son of the boss of the Dragon Clan, after it’s discovered Yunxiang is the latest reincarnation of the child-god Nezha, sworn enemy of the Dragon Clan. The first half of New Gods: Nezha Reborn plays almost like a superhero origin story, with Yunxiang learning to tap into his powers with help from an eccentric mentor, and learning that with great power must also come great responsibility, as wave after wave of superpowered assassins are sent to kill his loved ones. Story-wise, this is pretty standard stuff, with the film just using the concept of reincarnation rather than a spider-bite or Kryptonian blood cells. (There's also a weird bit where the film opens with Yunxiang breaking the fourth wall for no reason, and talking directly to the audience about identity and destiny, the two big themes of the movie.) What really makes Nezha Reborn stand out is its fascinating setting. Donghai City is a visually stunning and inventive location, with a unique aesthetic that mixes 1930s Shanghai art deco architecture with '50s style Americana (all those classic cars and motorcycles). There's also a fair bit of dieselpunk thrown in for good measure: huge sculptures and tributes to deities are built out of engines and other car parts, and our hero relies on a suit of armor made out of car parts to protect his still-human skin from his newfound fire god powers. This gives the film an aesthetic we don't really see in animated movies of this scale. This slick-looking film also boasts a lightning dragon villain who transforms into a Tywin Lannister-like crime boss -- who also has a mechanical shark in his underwater lair, protected by magical jellyfish that can also transform into lamps!
The story isn’t always as well executed as the visuals, however. The concept of deities ending a war with humanity by making a deal that would have them act as rulers of a city is intriguing, but the film barely goes beyond that surface-level explanation and doesn't spend as much time in the actual city as it should. Granted, it's likely they're saving it for the sequels, but it's still a bit of a bummer not to see more of this cool place. If you're not familiar with the Nezha story, or haven't seen the similar yet unrelated film Ne Zha, then you might be a bit lost at first. Nezha Reborn mostly assumes you're familiar with the tale of the child-god, as most of the exposition is just devoted to explaining how this interpretation is different, rather than what the myth itself is. Still, the striking animation is likely to draw more attention than the story. The plentiful fight scenes are gorgeously executed; at times it's hard to tell if they weren't just rotoscoped. The hair and fabric textures, as well as background animation and water effects, look just as good as any Disney or Pixar film. Once Yunxiang fully unlocks his powers and fights against his immortal dragon enemy, the film explodes into a colorful force of nature, with punches and sword swings flashing before your eyes at lightning speed. Though the fight choreography is well done, it can still get too frenetic at times, to the point where it may be hard to tell exactly what's going on. Likewise, the film’s pacing is so fast that it exposes how underdeveloped the story is. Characters pop in and out in less time than a Quibi. Complex and seemingly important pieces of lore are introduced and then abandoned, and pretty much everyone who isn't a reincarnated Nezha is a one-dimensional character. Maybe some of this will get fixed in a sequel, as Nezha Reborn ends with not one, not two, but three post-credits scenes teasing everything from a sequel to a continuation of White Snake, the totally unrelated animated film from the same studio. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=the-best-anime-of-the-decade-2010-2019&captions=true"] Where the 2019 Nezha was a fun, DreamWorks-inspired animated comedy with great animation and Studio Light Chaser Animation's White Snake was a beautiful romance, Nezha Reborn is the studio's rebellious teen action film that's a bit empty in the head, but oozes aesthetic and coolness, and for some viewers, that may prove to be enough.
from IGN Reviews https://ift.tt/2QmNFdf
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