Ne Zha 2

The sequel to the Chinese animated film Ne Zha (which was based, partly on Chinese mythology), Ne Zha 2 continues the story of Ne Zha and Ao Bing who are forced to share Ne Zha's body (leading to All of Me style comedic bits throughout the film). To help put things right, and to save Chentang Pass from invasion, Ne Zha agrees to undertake three quests to become an immortal which would allow him to restore the Sacred Lotus and create a new body for Ao Bing. However, as Ne Zha soon learns, being an immortal isn't all its cracked up to be.

A huge hit in China, an English-dubbed version of the film is now available to American audiences. For those, like me, who never saw the original it does take a little time to get into the story including the mostly earnest tone and action broken up by pee, fart, and vomit jokes. Tonally it's a bit odd as I could never tell how seriously the film wanted the audience to take the story (especially as it gets into lessons and twists late in the far too long 144-minute run-time.

The film certainly works on a spectacle level and seeing it in IMAX 3D does highlight the many, many fit sequences of the film featuring dragons, immortals, shapeshifters, demons, monsters, and other colorful characters. That said, the film's length and tonal disconnect were problems for me as my interest waned more than once. It's an interesting film experience but not likely one I would ever repeat in theaters or home video.

• Title: Ne Zha 2
• IMDb: link