China Archives – Page 2 of 6

Review: ‘The Procurator,’ starring Johnny Huang, Bai Baihe, Bao Bei’er, Fengyan Zong, Feng Shaofeng, Wang Qianyuan and Wang Likun

July 22, 2023

by Carla Hay

Bai Baihe, Feng Shaofeng and Johnny Huang in “The Procurator” (Photo courtesy of China Lion Distribution)

Directed by Alan Mak

Mandarin with subtitles

Culture Representation: Taking place in an unnamed city in China, the dramatic film “The Procurator” features an all-Asian cast of characters representing the working-class, middle-class and wealthy.

Culture Clash: A university professor goes on trial for murdering the wealthy man who was accused of raping one of her students, and an ambitious procurator finds out there’s more to the story.

Culture Audience: “The Procurator” will appeal primarily to people who like legal/crime dramas with plot twists and plenty of action.

Wang Likun and Bao Bei’er in “The Procurator” (Photo courtesy of China Lion Distribution)

“The Procurator” is a very good but not outstanding legal thriller with some intriguing layers to the story. The movie starts off looking like it’s about one particular case, but the investigation reveals a lot more secrets. Solid acting and adrenaline-packed action make “The Procurator” better than the average film of this type, but the somewhat jumbled last 30 minutes of this nearly two-hour movie prevent “The Procurator” from being a classic film.

Directed by Alan Mak and written by Zhao Peng, “The Procurator” (which takes place in an unnamed city in China) begins by showing the opening day of a murder trial. The person on trial is a former university professor named Xia Wei (played by Wang Likun), who is accused of using an elegy stone to murder a wealthy and corrupt businessman named Chen Xin (played by Bao Bei’er), who had his own troubles with the law.

Not long before he was murdered, Xin was accused of raping a young woman named Ye Xiaohuan (played by Liang Song Qing), who owed him money. Xiaohuan was one of Wei’s students, and she committed suicide by slitting one of her wrists during one of Wei’s classes. Is it a coincidence? Wei has refused to talk to anyone during the trial. Is Wei’s silence all an act, or is Wei really going through an emotional trauma that has rendered her mute?

It’s shown fairly early in the movie that Xin did in fact rape Xiaohuan, but he intimidated her into changing her story, so the charges against him were dropped. The movie jumps back and forth in the timeline and has numerous flashbacks. Xin was a “loose cannon” business associate of Wei’s husband Hong Junshan (played by played by Feng Shaofeng, also known as William Feng), who is as smooth and polished as Xin was rough and uncouth. Wei, who has been married to Junshan for 20 years, never thought highly of Xin and called Xin a “beast.”

Junshan has been trying to form an alliance with the city’s mayor, Yan Zhi Tian (played by Wang Jin Song), who wants this very messy case to be resolved as soon as possible. Junshan has a younger brother named Hong Qiming (played by Su Ke), who works with Junshan. The two brothers have a close bond and are very loyal to each other. A flashback shows that one of the things that Junshan and Hong did together when they were younger was go on an archeological dig with a professor named Lu Yongqiang (played by Zong Fengyan), whom Junshan met through Wei.

The lead procurator (a prosecutor who is also an investigator) in Wei’s murder trial is Ou Sheng (played by Johnny Wang), who is smart, resourceful and ambitious. He firmly believes that Wei is guilty of murder, and he’s determined to prove it and win the case. Li You Cheng (played by Wang Qian Yuan) is Sheng’s supervisor, who can be tough and impatient.

It just so happens that Wei’s defense attorney is Sheng’s ex-girlfriend Tong Yu Chen (played by Bai Bai He), whom Sheng dated when they were both university students. Chen is also very intelligent and competitive about winning the case. Fueling this rivalry is the fact that Sheng and Chen both have unresolved issues over their breakup.

“The Procurator” alternates between showing the trial, showing the investigations that uncover more evidence, and showing some of the events that led up to the trial. All of the cast members deliver believable performances, although Bao is a little over-the-top in portraying sleazy villain Xin. “The Procurator” is a slick, sometimes-violent thriller that should please viewers who don’t want the answers to murder mysteries to be too obvious.

China Lion Film Distribution released “The Procurator” in select U.S. cinemas on June 23, 2023. The movie was released in China on April 29, 2023.

Review: ‘Love Never Ends,’ starring Ni Dahong, Kara Wai, Leung Ka Fai Tony and Cecilia Yip Tung

July 14, 2023

by Carla Hay

“Love Never Ends”

Directed by Han Yan

Mandarin with subtitles

Culture Representation: Taking place in an unnamed part of China, the dramatic film “Love Never Ends” features an all-Asian cast of characters representing the working-class and middle-class.

Culture Clash: Four elderly people navigate romantic love as couples while facing challenges over health and grief.

Culture Audience: “Love Never Ends” will appeal primarily to people who are interested in watching dramas about romance among people in the later stages of their lives.

Ni Dahong and Kara Wai in “Love Never Ends” (Photo courtesy of Shanghai Film Group)

“Love Never Ends” is a sometimes-uneven but ultimately well-acted drama about finding love later in life. The movie is occasionally repetitive, but the story is compelling enough to maintain viewer interest. Although the movie’s tone overall is serious, there are occasional moments of levity that brighten up a story dealing with some depressing subject matter.

Directed by Han Yan, “Love Never Ends” is based on Kang Full’s comic book “I Love You.” Cheng Li wrote the adapted screenplay for “Love Never Ends.” The movie (which takes place in an unnamed city in China) is about four different elderly people, but the person whose perspective is shown the most is an eccentric widower named Chang Weije (played by Ni Dahong), who is a retired zoo maintenance worker. Weije has been a widower for the past 10 years. His wife also used to work at the same zoo.

The movie begins with a scene of Weije being told during a visit with a doctor that Weije has hyperthyroidism, a condition that causes a thyroid to make and release high levels of thyroid hormone. Symptoms of hyperthyroidism include weight loss, increased appetite, rapid heart beat, sweating, shaky hands, muscle weakness and anxiety. Weije keeps this diagnosis a secret from most people he knows.

Weije lives in an area that could be considered working-class poor. The apartment buildings are run-down, and there’s a lot of garbage strewn over the area. Weije is familiar to many people in the community because he stands out: He likes to wear a long-sleeved black Nirvana shirt, and he likes to use a whip in public for no other reason than to show he can crack a whip. He doesn’t use a whip to scare or harm people but to show that he’s agile enough to use a whip.

Weije has another health problem besides hyperthyroidism. He also abuses alcohol. Although it’s never really said if he’s a full-blown alcoholic, his alcohol abuse has become detrimental to his health and to many of his relationships with people. Weije has an adult son and an adult daughter who know about Weije’s drinking problem, and they worry about his getting arrested for doing something illegal while he’s drunk. Certain people in the neighborhood want to see Weije arrested because they think he’s a nuisance who can be reckless.

Early on on the story, Weije meets Li Huiru (played by Kara Wei), a feisty widow who’s about the same age as he is. Wei is a caretaker and a tenant of an elderly woman named Qui Huaxing (played by Cecilia Yip Tung, also known as Cecilia Yip), who is living with dementia and sometimes uses a wheelchair. Huaxing’s devoted husband Xi Dingshen (played by Leung Ka Fai Tony) is very attentive to Huaxing, but he is feeling the strain of he health issues.

“Love Never Ends” shows how the relationships between these four people evolve over time. Weije gets to know Huiru better, and a romance gradually develops between them. Huiru confides in Weije that she’s ashamed that she and Dingshen often have to collect gabarge to recycle for small amounts of money.

Eventually, Weije starts to help take care of Huaxing when he sees her. Dingshen starts to rely on Weije to help with the physical aspects of taking care of Huaxing. For example, in a scene where Huaxing accidentally falls down outside, Dingshen yells at Weije (who was nearby during this fall) for not helping Huaxing get up right away.

In their own ways, Weije and Huiru are grieving over their deceased spouses and are reluctant to get involved in a serious romance with anyone else. They also feel that they’re too old to fall in love again. It’s a myth that is often perpetuated by society that often thinks of elderly people as people who are just passing time until they die.

The ups and downs of being in love with someone who has serious health issues are handled in a mostly realistic and often tender way in “Love Never Ends.” There’s a long stretch of this nearly two-hour movie that is a “will they or won’t they get together” storyline for Weije and Huiru. This part of the story should have been shorter, since it’s very obvious (and also shown in the movie’s trailer) that Weije and Huiru will get together.

“Love Never Ends” is mostly worth watching for the admirable performances of the four main cast members. In addition to the romantic love that the couples have for each other, all four of these characters develop a genuine friendship that is depicted in a refreshingly candid way. Too often, elderly people in scripted movies are presented as people who are mocked or pitied. “Love Never Ends” doesn’t fall into that trap. It’s not a perfect movie, but it handles some of its most difficult topics with charm and grace.

Shanghai Film Group released “Love Never Ends” in select U.S. cinemas and in China on July 7, 2023.

Review: ‘Lost in the Stars’ (2023), starring Zhu Yilong, Janice Man, Du Jiang, Ni Ni and Huang Ziqi

July 13, 2023

by Carla Hay

Zhu Yilong and Janice Man in “Lost in the Stars” (Photo courtesy of CMC Pictures)

“Lost in the Stars” (2023)

Directed by Rui Cui and Xiang Liu

Mandarin with subtitles

Culture Representation: Taking place on the fictional Asian island country of Balandia, the dramatic film “Lost in the Stars” (based on the play and movie “Trap for a Lonely Man”) features an nearly all-Asian cast of characters (with one white person) representing the working-class and middle-class.

Culture Clash: While on an anniversary trip with his wife, a man finds her missing and another woman insisting that she is his wife.

Culture Audience: “Lost in the Stars” will appeal primarily to people who are interested in watching unpredictable mysteries.

Ni Ni in “Lost in the Stars” (Photo courtesy of CMC Pictures)

“Lost in the Stars” is a stylish and twist-filled thriller that delivers an appealing combination of suspense and plausible acting. What isn’t so believable is a certain aspect of this conspiracy story, but most of the movie is better than its flaws. It’s the type of movie that will keep viewers guessing until the last 15 minute when secrets are revealed.

Directed by Rui Cui and Xiang Liu, “Lost in the Stars” is based on Robert Thomas’ 1960 play “Trap for a Lonely Man,” which was then made into the director Alexey Korenev’s 1990 movie of the same name. Chen Sicheng, Gu Shuyi and Yin Yixiong wrote the adapted screenplay for “Lost in the Stars,” which takes place mostly on the fictional Asian island of Balandia. There are also several flashbacks that take place in China, the native country of the main characters in the story.

He Fei (played by Zhu Yilong) is a former scuba diving instructor who is on a wedding anniversary vacation with his wife Li Muzi (played by Huang Ziqi, also known as Kay Huang) in Balandia. Things seems to be gong well during this romantic getaway. But then, not long after Fei and Muzi arrive in Balandia, Muzi disappears. A glamorous-looking stranger (played by Ni Ni) then appears in the couple’s hotel room and claims to be Muzi.

Fei calls the local police to report this bizarre situation. Zheng Cheng (played by Du Jiang), the police officer who arrives to investigate, is skeptical, to say the least. The woman whom Fei claims is impersonating his wife has photo IDs and other things that she offers as proof that she is Muzi. Fei’s credibility is further called into question when surveillance video from a local bookstore shows that the woman who says she’s Muzi is shown with Fei on the day before Fei says Muzi disappeared.

The woman who says that she is Fei’s wife tells Officer Zheng that Fei has a tendency to be forgetful. She also says that Fei can be abusive. Fei denies it all and insists that the woman who’s claiming to be his wife is the one who’s lying. However, several hotel employees and other eyewitnesses back up the woman’s claims.

The plot gets a little shaky when Fei calls someone in China to ask that person to email photos of the real Muzi. There’s a rushed explanation that the WiFi service is unreliable on this island, so the email doesn’t arrive. The local police are satisfied with the eyewitness statements that the woman claiming to be Muzi is the same woman they saw with Fei the day before Fei claims that Muzi disappeared.

Fei is very disturbed by the woman claiming to be Muzi. She knows a lot about Muzi and has seemingly taken over her identity. Fei isn’t willing to give up so easily in proving that he’s telling the truth. At a bar, he is told about a “hotshot attorney” who might be able to help him.

The attorney’s name is Chen Mi (played by Janice Man), who is intelligent and has a no-nonsense attitude. Mi agrees to help Fei investigate and find out what happened to Muzi. The rest of the movie is a race against time to solve the mystery before Fei’s visitor visa expires.

As Fei and Mi begin to get to know each other better, Fei opens up to her about how he and Muzi met (she was a student taking scuba diving lessons from him) and their whirlwind courtship. Of course, viewers will keep wondering why this mystery woman is impersonating Muzi, or if it’s all just a delusion from Fei. Zhu and Man give the standout performances in “Lost in the Stars,” as Fei and Mi start off having a prickly relationship that appears to turn into gradual respect.

“Lost in the Stars” has definite influences from Alfred Hitchcock films, in terms of cinematography and pacing. However, parts of the story get too convoluted and hard to believe. The big “reveal” at the end is meant to be shocking, but it just raises more questions that the movie never answers. Even with this shortcoming, there are more than enough entertaining aspects of “Lost in the Stars” that should satisfy people who like watching mysteries that don’t follow the usual formulas.

CMC Pictures released “Lost in the Stars” in select U.S. cinemas on July 7, 2023. The movie was released in China on June 23, 2023.

Review: ‘Yesterday Once More’ (2023), starring Chen Feiyu and Zhou Ye

May 16, 2023

by Carla Hay

Chen Feiyu (also known as Arthur Chen) and Zhou Ye in “Yesterday Once More” (Photo courtesy of Wanda Pictures)

“Yesterday Once More” (2023)

Directed by Lin Hsiao Chien (also known as Gavin Lin)

Mandarin with subtitles

Culture Representation: Taking place in China, the dramatic film “Yesterday Once More” features an all-Asian cast of characters representing the working-class and middle-class.

Culture Clash: A toy designer reunites with a female friend from his childhood, and they fall in love, but when she dies in an accident, he has a choice on whether or not to go back in time and prevent her death.

Culture Audience: “Yesterday Once More” will appeal primarily to people who are interested in watching sentimental but well-acted romantic dramas with a sci-fi twist.

Zhou Ye and Chen Feiyu (also known as Arthur Chen) in “Yesterday Once More” (Photo courtesy of Wanda Pictures)

“Yesterday Once More” is a time-travel love story that gets a little too convoluted in order to cover up some possible plot holes. However, the performances in this drama are engaging. The movie also gives a worthwhile look at fate versus freedom of choice.

Directed by Lin Hsiao Chien (also known as Gavin Lin) and written by Xu Yi, “Yesterday Once More” is the type of earnest romantic drama that will appeal to viewers who believe in soul mates and who believe that love transcends time. It’s the type of movie that has some science-fiction elements. Therefore, suspension of disbelief is required for a great deal of the story.

“Yesterday Once More” (which takes place in unnamed cities in China) begins with the movie’s adult narrator Gu Yuxuan (played by Chen Feiyu, also known as Arthur Chen) saying, “If you had a chance to go back in time, what would you do?” The scene then shows Yuxuan at about 7 or 8 years old (played by Fu Bohan) by himself in a garden. A girl who’s about he same age as Yuxuan approaches him in a friendly manner.

Her name is Han Shuyan (played by Luo Yichun), who will end up changing Yuxuan’s life. Yuxuan tells Shuyan that today is his birthday. Shuyan says, “Let me celebrate with you.” Yuxuan and Shuyan become fast friends that day, as they frolic around the garden. They both find out that they like stuffed animal toys and are fascinated with time travel.

But the developing friendship between these two children is short-lived. After this first meeting, Yuxuan finds out that Shuyan, who lived nearby, suddenly moved away with her family. Yuxuan is emotionally crushed, because he’s a lonely child who lives in fear of his abusive, alcoholic father (played by Yang Zihua), a widower who uses alcohol as a way to cope with his grief. Yuxuan’s mother (played by Sui Jin, shown briefly in a flashback scene) died of an unnamed terminal illness. When Yuxuan was a child, his mother made birthday candles for him.

“Yesterday Once More” then fast-forwards about 15 years later. Now in his early 20s, Yuxuan is a toy designer who is happy in his career, but he has been unlucky in love, since he hasn’t found anyone who has captured his heart in the way that Shuyan did on his birthday all those years ago. As fate would have it, Yuxuan will see Shuyan again.

It happens at the wedding of Yuxuan’s best friend/co-worker Teddy (played by Sun Tianyu), who has asked Yuxuan to be the best man at the wedding. Teddy is getting married to a gorgeous social media influencer named Olivia (played by Zhao Xiaotang), who has 10 million followers on social media. Olivia and Teddy’s relationship is a case of “opposites attract,” since she is very high-maintenance and image-conscious, while Teddy is more laid-back and unpretentious.

Before the wedding ceremony starts at a banquet hall, Olivia is frantic about a problem with the wedding cake, because part of the cake has collapsed. Yuxuan goes back in the kitchen and sees a friend of Olivia’s skillfully working on fixing the cake. He joins in to help too,. And then, it dawns on Yuxuan that the woman he is working with is Shuyan (played by Zhou Ye), the long-lost “instant friend” from his childhood.

However, Shuyan doesn’t recognize Yuxan, and he’s too shy to say anything to her to remind her of their first meeting. The wedding cake get fixed. Olivia and Teddy’s lavish wedding ceremony happens without any further mishaps. At the wedding reception, Yuxan and Shuyan are seated at the same table. Yuxan is still too bashful to say anything to her or to ask for her contact information, but he steals glances at her and finds out that his feelings for Shuyan have not changed.

Yuxuan thinks he will probably never see Shuyan again. But one day, he sees her again on a bus. This time, Yuxuan decides he’s going to remind Shuyan how they met. First, he strikes up a conversation with her, because he knows she will remember him from the wedding. And then, Yuxuan gives a toy to Shuyan that he designed himself: a Time Machine Cat. And that’s how Shuyan remembers that she and Yuxuan met in their childhood on his birthday.

Shuyan and Yuxuan begin dating, fall in love, and move in together. Their relationship is serious enough where Yuxuan wants to propose marriage to Shuyan. The only problems in their relationship are some family-related issues and money troubles. Shuyan’s unnamed mother (played by Juan Zi) doesn’t approve of Shuyan’s goal to open her own bakery because she doesn’t think it’s a stable or well-paying career choice. Shuyan’s father (played by Liu Penggang) is more supportive of his daughter’s bakery dreams.

Yuxuan’s father has died and left behind large debts owed to a local thug, who threatens Yuxuan to pay back the money. Yuxuan doesn’t want to burden Shuyan with this information, so he doesn’t tell her. He also promised to help her open a bakery. As a result, his financial problems become more complicated.

However, the burden of keeping this secret, as well as Yuxuan’s grief over his father’s death, cause a strain on the relationship between Yuxuan and Shuyan. Meanwhile, Teddy and Olivia are having marital problems because she gets jealous of him spending time with another woman, and Olivia is suspicious that Teddy has been cheating on her. Teddy and Olivia separate. It looks like Olivia and Teddy could be headed for a divorce.

Teddy notices that Yuxuan is distressed over personal problems, so he recommends that Yuxuan visit an elderly book author (played by Yue Yueli), who wrote a children’s book called “Yesterday Once More.” Teddy says that this author is known to be very wise and could possibly be a psychic. Yuxuan reads “Yesterday Once More” and notices that the book doesn’t seem to have a definitive ending. The author tells Yuxuan: “Maybe what will happen was destined earlier.”

It’s already revealed in the trailer for “Yesterday Once More” that Shuyan gets killed in an accident. It happens on December 31, 2022. The movie then becomes about Yuxuan trying to prevent this accident with things that involve what the mysterious book author told him and the birthday candles that Yuxuan’s mother gave to him. There’s also a female counterpart (played by Wu Xuxu) to the book author, and she also plays a pivotal role in the story.

“Yesterday Once More” isn’t overly saccharine. It offers bittersweet observations about how childhoods can affect the way that people handle romantic relationships when they’re old enough to have these relationships. Like many children of alcoholics/addicts, Yuxuan has a pattern of keeping shameful secrets at all costs, even if it can possibly destroy the most relationship in his life. Shuyan also has to deal with self-esteem issues because of the turbulent relationship that she has with her domineering mother that goes all the way back to Shuyan’s childhood.

The movie doesn’t portray having a “soul mate” romance as the answer to life’s problems. Instead, “Yesterday Once More” admirably shows that the right relationships are meant to help people better cope with problems rather than magically make those problems disappear. Chen and Zhou are absolutely charming in their portrayals of soul mates Yuxuan and Shuyan. Some viewers might not like some of the twists and turns in the movie, but people who are fans of stories about time travel and romance will find a lot to like about “Yesterday Once More.”

Wanda Pictures released “Yesterday Once More” in select U.S. cinemas on May 5, 2023, The movie was released in Singapore on May 11, 2023.

Review: ‘Hachiko’ (2023), starring Feng Xioagang and Joan Chen

May 3, 2023

by Carla Hay

Feng Xioagang and Joan Chen in “Hachiko” (Photo courtesy of CMC Pictures)

“Hachiko” (2023)

Directed by Xu Ang

Mandarin with subtitles

Culture Representation: Taking place in China, the dramatic film “Hachiko” (based on a true story) features an all-Asian cast of characters representing the working-class and middle-class.

Culture Clash: A college professor convinces his wife to let their family keep a stray Akita puppy that he found, and the puppy grows up to be a very loyal companion, even after tragedy strikes the family.

Culture Audience: “Hachiko” will appeal primarily to people who are interested in watching heartwarming stories (with some tearjerking moments) about family pets.

Pictured clockwise, from far left: Yang Bo, Feng Xioagang, Eponine Huang and Joan Chen in “Hachiko” (Photo courtesy of CMC Pictures)

“Hachiko” is a worthy remake of the original film of the same name. This drama about a loyal family dog has some dull moments, but the movie has good performances. The tone is sentimental without overloading on schmaltz. Because the movie is based on a true story, many people might already know how this story is going to end. That doesn’t make watching the movie any less emotionally poignant.

Directed by Xu Ang, “Hachiko” makes some changes to the real story, as well as to previous movie versions of this true story. Xu co-wrote the “Hachiko” screenplay with Zhang Hansi, Li Liangwen and Li Lin. The movie is based on a true story of a male Akita dog named Hachikō, who lived in Japan, from November 1923 to March 1935. Hachikō showed unusual loyalty to his closest companion: a Tokyo-based college professor named Hidesaburō Ueno, who adopted Hachikō from a farm when Hachikō was a puppy.

This story has been made into several movies, beginning with the 1925 Japanese film “Hachikō.” The most famous and most commercially successful movie about this story is the 1987 drama “Hachikō Monogatari,” which was Japan’s biggest hit film of the year. An American movie version of the story, titled “Hachi: A Dog’s Story,” starring Richard Gere, was released in 2009.

The 2023 “Hachiko” movie is the Chinese version of the story. The movie takes place over a 15-year period. The dog is still an Akita, but the entire movie takes place in early 21st century China, not in the 1920s or 1930s.

The name of the dog in “Hachiko” is actually not Hachiko but is BaTong. That’s because in real life, Hachiko (which means “eighth prince” in Japanese) was the eighth puppy born in his litter. In the Chinese “Hachiko” movie, the dog is not adopted from a farm but is found as a stray puppy in a rural area. The professor who finds the dog and keeps him has no idea what the background information is for this puppy.

In the beginning of “Hachiko,” Chen Jingxiu (played by Feng Xioagang) is a mild-mannered professor who is living a comfortable but dull and stagnant life. The main disruption to his peace is when his cranky homemaker wife Li Jiazhen (played by Joan Chen) nags Jingxiu about the fact that he could be making more money if he had the talent and ambition to become a tenured professor. Jingxiu has been an associate professor for years without getting a job promotion.

Jingxiu and Jiazhen have two children—a son (played by Yang Bo) and a daughter (played by Eponine Huang)—who are teenagers at the beginning of the story and are in their 30s by the end of the story. Jiazhen spends a lot of time play mah jong with her female friends. And because Jiazhen gets irritated easily, she often says, “So annoying,” when she doesn’t like something.

The movie’s opening scene shows Jiazhen and her two children going back to visit the house that they lived in for years before moving away, for a reason explained later in the movie. The house is now abandoned and in a state of disrepair. This visit leads to Jiazhen to reminice about the years that she and her family lived there, beginning 15 years earlier. Most of the “Hachiko” is a flashback to those years.

During this flashback part of the movie, it shows early on how BaTong came into Jingxiu’s life. He and six or seven colleagues are riding on a private bus together, because they’re attending an event. The bus is going though a rural area in Yunyang County, China, when it gets stuck in the mud.

The passengers disembark from the bus to help the driver get the bus un-stuck. When all of a sudden, they see a 3-month-old Akita puppy underneath the bus. Jingxiu is immediately charmed by this frightened puppy. He picks up the dog and comforts the dog.

While the others are tending to the bus, Jingxiu walks around in the area to ask people in nearby houses if they know anything who might own this puppy. No one he asks knows anything about the dog, so Jingxiu decides to keep the dog, even though he knows that his wife Jiazhen doesn’t like dogs. He decides to name the puppy BaTong.

Jiazhen is predictably upset at the sight of the dog. She has a fear of dogs, ever since she was bitten by a dog when she was a child. Before she and Jingxiu got married, she made him promise that they would never have a dog in their household. Jingxiu tells her that he’s only going to keep this stray dog temporarily until he can find a permanent home for this adorable pup.

Jingxiu goes through the motions of putting up flyers around town to solicit adoption of the puppy. But he rejects people who answer the ads, for various reasons. Of course, we all know that Jingxiu doesn’t really want to give away this dog, and he ends up keeping it. Jingxiu becomes very attached to BaTong, by treating the dog as his best friend. Eventually, Jiazhen warms up to the dog and considers BaTong to be a member of the family too.

“Hachiko” shows that it isn’t all smooth sailing for Jingxiu and BaTong. When BaTong is a puppy and small enough to hide in a backpack, Jingxiu secretly brings the dog to work (he keeps the dog in his office), even though it’s against the campus policy for pet dogs to be the work offices.

BaTong’s presence on the campus isn’t a secret for long: One day, the escapes through an open office door while Jingxiu is teaching in a classroom. And you can easily predict the rest. Jingxiu doesn’t get in a lot of trouble for it, but BaTong is now officially banned from being in any building on the campus.

As BaTong grows up, he has a routine of accompanying Jingxiu to and from work, with BaTong patiently waiting outside in a campus area for his Jingxiu at the end of each day. BaTong has a routine of sitting on the same seat. A newsstand operator (played by Qian Bo) nearby gets to know BaTong and is friendly with the dog. The newsstand operator sometimes feeds treats to BaTong.

Jingxiu’s close bond with Batong comes at a price. It’s later revealed that Jingxiu’s son feels that Jingxiu treats the dog better than Jingxiu treats his own son. After the on graduates from college, there’s a subplot about the son contemplating taking a job as a web designed in Beijing. Jingxiu doesn’t seem very concerned about the son’s decision will be and tells him that the son can make his own decisions.

The son interprets it as Jingxiu not really caring at all, because what the son really wants are for Jingxiu to give him some advice or some indication that the son will be missed if he moves away from home. Surprisingly, the usually prickly Jiazhen is the more nurturing parent in this situation.

“Hachiko” then takes a tragic turn, which won’t be revealed in this review, because some people watching this movie won’t know what happened in real life. It’s enough to say that it’s a bittersweet part of this story about family love and loyalty. The cast members’ performances, as well as directing and screenplay, are perfectly competent but not outstanding. Overall, “Hachiko” is exactly what you might expect from a movie about a beloved family pet and how that family copes with loss and grief.

CMC Pictures released “Hachiko” in select U.S. cinemas on April 14, 2023. The movie was released in China on March 31, 2023.

Review: ‘Full River Red,’ starring Shen Teng and Jackson Yee

April 10, 2023

by Carla Hay

“Full River Red”

Directed by Zhang Yimou

Mandarin with subtitles

Culture Representation: Taking place in Tianjin, China, in the year 1146, the comedy/action film “Full River Red” (loosely based on some real-life historical figures) features an all-Asian cast of characters representing the working-class, middle-class and royalty.

Culture Clash: A deputy commander and a soldier get involved in a political conspiracy that includes spying, murder and a rivalry between the Song dynasty and the Jin dynasty.

Culture Audience: “Full River Red” will appeal primarily to people who are interested in watching convoluted but comedic spy thrillers based on ancient history.

Wang Jiayi and Zhang Yi in “Full River Red” (Photo courtesy of Edko Films Ltd.)

“Full River Red” is a fictional action political thriller with inspiration from China’s ancient history. The comedy is cheeky and sometimes silly, but it works because of the right tone set by the energetic direction and the cast members’ performances. It’s not always easy to have jokes in a violent spy movie, but “Full River Red” accomplishes that intention.

Directed by Zhang Yimou (who co-wrote “Full River Red” with Chen Yu), “Full River Red” is a little too long (159 minutes) and could have had a better and tighter narrative if it didn’t go off on a few unnecessary tangents. Despite these flaws, viewers who like twist-filled mysteries with plenty of action should remain interested. However, this movie is not for people who don’t like plots that have the potential to be confusing.

The two central characters in “Full River Red” (which takes place in China in the year 1146) are Sun Jun (played by Jackson Yee) and Zhang Da (played by Shen Teng), who are part of a tried-and-true action movie formula of a older man paired with a younger man, and they often clash with each other as they learn to work together. Jun is a recently promoted deputy commander of a guard battalion, while Da is a new soldier for the Chinese army, and he doesn’t have any ranking yet. “Full River Red” goes against stereotypes by having the younger man (Jun) with the higher ranking in this seemingly mismatched duo.

At this point in time, there is a fierce rivalry between the Song dynasty and the Jin dynasty. A murder has recently occurred in the home of Song dynasty grand chancellor/prime minsiter Qin Hui (played by Lei Jiayin), and there is a conspiracy to cover up who committed murder. Meanwhile, Da gets captured by Wang Biao (played by Guo Jingfei), commander of the house battalion, who forces Da to become a spy for the Song dynasty. Da is placed under the command of Jun, as they work to find an informant who has an important letter.

The rest of the movie shows various encounters in this caper, with a lot of the comedy coming from Jun and Da having contrasting personalities. Jun is impulsive and more likely to start a fight, while Da is more level-headed and more likely to want to outwit someone with negotiating and a clever plan. Other characters in the movie include the villainous He Li (played by Zhang Yi), who is a lord and a general manager of the grand chancellor bureau; a dancer named Zither (played by Wang Jiayi), who becomes Da’s love interest; Wu Yichun (played by Yue Yunpeng), the vice general manager of the grand chancellor bureau; and Liu Xi (played by Yu Ailei) a peasant horseman, who has a pivotal role in the story.

Describing more of the movie would be giving away too many spoiler details. But it’s enough to say that people who like “unlikely partner” movies will find a lot to like about “Full River Red,” since the performances of Yee and Teng as Jun and Da are charismatic anchors of this occasionally repetitive movie that has above-average cinemataography. Some of the violence in “Full River Red” will be too intense for some viewers. “Full River Red” is not a groundbreaking film by any means, but it’s an entertaining portrayal of spies and political intrigue in ancient China.

Edko Films Ltd. released “Full River Red” in select U.S. cinemas on March 17, 2023.

Review: ‘The Grandmaster of Kung Fu,’ starring Dennis To

March 11, 2023

by Carla Hay

“The Grandmaster of Kung Fu”

Directed by Cheng Si-Yu

Mandarin and Japanese with subtitles

Culture Representation: Taking place in Tianjin, China, in 1894 or 1895, the action film “The Grandmaster of Kung Fu” features an all-Asian cast of characters representing the working-class and middle-class.

Culture Clash: As Japan begins to take over parts of China, the martial arts city of Tianjin resists this invasion, and a Chinese porter becomes an unlikely kung fu hero against the Japanese invaders.

Culture Audience: “The Grandmaster of Kung Fu” will appeal primarily to people who are fans of star Dennis To and no-frills kung-fu movies.

A scene from “The Grandmaster of Kung Fu” (Photo courtesy of Well Go USA)

“The Grandmaster of Kung Fu” does nothing groundbreaking, but it delivers what it’s supposed to deliver: an action-filled, uncomplicated story with interesting characters. Kung fu fans should at least be moderately entertained by this briskly paced movie. “The Grandmaster of Kung Fu” has a total running time of 74minutes, which is just the right amount of time, because the plot didn’t need to be stretched out to an overly long run time.

Directed by Cheng Si-Yu, “The Grandmaster of Kung Fu” takes place in Tianjin, China, in 1894 or 1895, when Japan invaded China. Tianjin is considered one of the top martial-arts cities in China. The movie begins by showing a martial-arts contest where the winner will be named the leader of the Wushu Association, which oversees the martial-arts activities in Tianjin.

The elderly Master Yu (played by Zhou Pengcheng) is retiring as the leader of the Wushu Association. The arrogant Master Zhao (played by Yin Jian) is expected to be easily named as Master Yu’s successor. But an unlikely contender steps forward to enter this contest: a humble porter named Huo Yuanjian (played by Dennis To, also known as Dennis To Yu-hang), who is laughed at by many people in the crowd, because Yuanjian is much smaller than Master Zhao.

Master Zhao doesn’t take Yuanjian seriously as an opponent. However, a colleague named Master Feng (played by Yin Zhiwei) taunts Master Zhao, by saying: “Are you afraid to fight a porter? He’s challenging you right now. Don’t be a coward!”

Yuanjian says he is from Mi Zong Chinese boxing, but this experience doesn’t help him in his fight against Master Zhao, who quickly defeats him. Yuanjian is embarrassed, but he graciously accepts the defeat. Yuanjian doesn’t know it yet, but he and Master Zhao will cross paths again

The Japanese want to open their own martial-arts school called Hong Hua in Tianjin, but the residents of Tianjin are suspicious of this idea. The Japanese officials who have arrived in Tianjin—including an imperious military leader named Yoshida Masaichi and the would-be Hong Hua school leader Mr. Takeda—try to make the school sound like a friendly cultural exchange of Japanese and Chinese cultures. However, the presence of Japanese in this area represents acceptance of Western culture that the Chinese think will denigrate Chinese culture.

The Japanese have a champion martial artist named Anbei, who wants to do things the Japanese way. Anbei is very prejudiced against the Chinese way of martial arts, because he thinks it’s inferior to the Japanese way. (Curiously, the actors who portray the Japanese actors are not listed in the movie’s end credits.) Anbei is obviously presented as the villain of the story, especially since he has a bullying personality. It’s already revealed in the trailer for “The Grandmaster of Kung Fu” that Yuanjian will get involved in some kind of showdown with Anbei to defend the honor of the Chinese people.

“The Grandmaster of Kung Fu” has some supporting characters who don’t add much depth to the story, but are worth mentioning. Chen Zhen (played by Deng Wei), a handyman for the Wushu Association, asks Yuanjian to mentor him. Yuanjian has a wife (played by Gao Xuemei) and and son named Dongge, who’s about 6 or 7 years. Yuanjian’s wife doesn’t have much to do in the movie, except to play a stereotypical “worried wife at home” role.

Of course, part of the story is about Yuanjian overcoming his self-doubt and people’s perceptions of him, in order to become a hero on his own terms. Alliances shift, as national pride take precedence over individual grudges. You know how this movie is going to end. Lo (who is best known for the “Ip Man” movie series) lives up to his reputation for doing some memorable fight scenes. Ultimately, “The Grandmaster of Kung Fu” is like a quicky and tasty snack for people who have an appetite for kung fu movies.

Hi-YAH! premiered “The Grandmaster of Kung Fu” on November 4, 2022. Well Go USA released the movie on digital, VOD, Blu-ray and DVD on January 31, 2023.

Review: ‘The Wandering Earth II,’ starring Andy Lau, Wu Jing, Li Xuejian, Sha Yi, Ning Li, Wang Zhi and Zhu Yanmanzi

March 3, 2023

by Carla Hay

“The Wandering Earth II”

Directed by Frant Gwo

Mandarin with subtitles

Culture Representation: Taking place on Earth and in outer space, from 2044 to 2058, the sci-fi action film “The Wandering Earth II” (a prequel to 2019’s “The Wandering Earth,” features a cast of predominantly Asian characters (with some white people) representing the working-class and middle-class.

Culture Clash: Scientists, engineers and other people frantically try to prevent the moon from crashing into Earth, and there are disagreements on the best way to do it.

Culture Audience: “The Wandering Earth II” will appeal primarily to people who are fans of the movie’s headliners, “The Wandering Earth,” and epic sci-fi disaster movies.

Andy Lau in “The Wandering Earth II” (Photo courtesy of China Film Group Corporation and Well Go USA)

In the sci-fi action movie “The Wandering Earth II,” the novelty has worn off a little bit from the movie’s predecessor, 2019’s “The Wandering Earth.” After all, how many times can there be a “Wandering Earth” movie about another planet being on a collision course toward Earth? “The Wandering Earth II,” which is a prequel to “The Wandering Earth,” repeats this concept with generally entertaining but long-winded results: “The Wandering Earth II” is nearly three hours long.

Frant Gwo, who directed “The Wandering Earth,” returns to helm “The Wandering Earth II,” which he co-wrote with Gong Ge’er. “The Wandering Earth II” is an over-the-top sci-fi spectacle that doesn’t lose sight of the human stories in this saga about trying to avert an outer-space disaster. In other words, the movie delivers exactly what viewers can expect from “The Wandering Earth” franchise.

“The Wandering Earth II,” which takes place from 2044 to 2058, is about scientists, engineers and other people trying to prevent the moon from crashing into Earth. In “The Wandering Earth,” which takes place from 2058 to 2078, is about scientists, engineers and other people trying to prevent Jupiter from crashing into Earth.

All of this is happening because the sun is expanding and could destroy Earth in the 22nd century if Earth doesn’t get out of the way and move to a safer part of the universe. However, changing Earth’s location can cause problems if could cause other planets to crash into Earth. These problems are at the crux of “The Wandering Earth” movies, which are based on Liu Cixin’s 2000 short story of the same name.

It’s not necessary to see “The Wandering Earth” before seeing “The Wandering Earth II,” since “The Wandering Earth II” is a prequel. However, since “The Wandering Earth” before seeing “The Wandering Earth II” gives better context to some of the motivations of the characters.

In “The Wandering Earth II,” the United Nations has been renamed the United Earth Government (UEG) and is backing the Moving Mountain Project, which will use gigantic ion engines to move Earth out of the current solar system into a safer part of the universe. UEG has shut down a radical opposition group called Digital Life Project (DLP), which believes that the future of human survival is by making humans into digital form and uploading everything using the advance mind technology.

In China, a former DLP computer scientist named Tu Hengyu (played by Andy Lau) agrees to work on the Moving Mountain Project, but he secretly continues his research into the digital mind upload technology that he thinks is still the better way for humans to survive any interplanetary disaster. Hengyu has a personal reason for wanting to make humans immortal in digital form: His wife and daughter died in a car crash, when his daughter Yaya was about 4 or 5 years old. Hengyu keeps looking at a digital simulation of Yaya that can only lasts two minutes at a time. Hengyu wants the technology to be developed so that people can bring back and preserved their deceased loved ones in digital form.

Meanwhile, from 2044 to 2058, UEG has developed enough ion engines to stop Earth’s rotation, a necessary first step in getting it out of the current solar system. The Moving Mountain Project has now been renamed the Wandering Earth Project. But something goes terribly wrong when Hengyu uploads the digital memories of Yaya into the 550W supercomputer that Hengyu helped invent. It leads to the moon going on a collision course toward Earth.

Several people who work for UEG are involved in this disaster prevention mission. Liu Peiqiang (played by Wu Jing) is a UEG astronaut who represents the “everyday” man in the story who finds his inner hero when he is called on to save lives. Someone who was a trainee in the astronaut program is Han Duoduo (played by Wang Zhi), who has confidence and intelligence that Peiqiang immediately finds attractive.

Much of the earlier part of “The Wandering Earth II” chronicles a shy and awkward Peiqiang trying to court Duoduo, who rebuffs his advances but the warms up to him. It’s not spoiler information (since it’s already in “The Wandering Earth”) that Peiqiang and Duoduo eventually fall in love with each other, get married, and start a family together.

Another important person in Peiqiang’s life is Zhang Peng (played by Sha Yi), a senior-level UEG fighter pilot who becomes Peiqiang’s mentor. Other supporting characters in the story are Zhou Zhezhi (played by Li Xuejian), who is China’s ambassador to UEG; Hao Xiaoxi (played by Zhu Yanmanzi), who is Zhezhi’s personal assistant; Ma Zhao (played by Ning Li), who works with Hengyu as a quantum computing researcher; and Mike (played by Andy Friend), the U.S. ambassdor to UEG; and Andre Graschnov (played by Vitalli Makarychev), a Russian senior-level UEG fighter pilot. There’s also a cute computer robot named Benben.

“The Wandering Earth” packs in a lot of action and suspense, which are expected. However, the movie also skillfully weaves together the parallel stories of Hengyu and Peiqiang. Hengyu is working outside the UEG system with his secretive, behind-the-scenes computer research. Peiqiang is working inside the UEG system and is on the front lines of the battles to save lives. Peiqiang has a mentor. Hengyu does not. Both men experience grief related to a death in the family.

Beyond the explosions and races against time, “The Wandering Earth” explores issues related to hope and faith in humanity. It’s also an emotionally moving story about what personal sacrifices can mean if they are for a cause that’s bigger than one person’s needs. No one is going to win any major acting awards for “The Wandering Earth II,” but the cast members are believable in their roles. It doesn’t matter if viewers understand all the sci-fi jargon in the movie, because the greater message of “The Wandering Earth” is about the lengths that people will go to for their survival and the survival of future generations.

China Film Group Corporation and Well Go USA released “The Wandering Earth II” in U.S. cinemas on January 22, 2023, the same date the the movie was released in China and several other countries. The movie will be released on digital and VOD on May 9, 2023.

Review: ‘Ping Pong: The Triumph,’ starring Deng Chao, Sun Li, Liang Chao and Wu Jing

February 26, 2023

by Carla Hay

“Ping Pong: The Triumph”

Directed by Deng Chao and Yu Baimei

Mandarin with some language in Italian and German with subtitles

Culture Representation: Taking place in various parts of Asia and Europe from 1989 to 1995, the dramatic film “Ping Pong: The Triumph” (based on true events) features a cast of Asian and white characters representing the working-class and middle-class.

Culture Clash: A former professional tennis table player reluctantly becomes a coach of China’s national men’s tennis table team, which he turns around from a losing streak to becoming world champions.

Culture Audience: “Ping Pong: The Triumph” will appeal primarily to people who are fans of table tennis/ping pong and true stories about sports victories against the odds.

A scene from “Ping Pong: The Triumph” (Photo courtesy of China Lion Film Distribution)

Even if people who watch “Ping Pong: The Triumph” don’t know before seeing the movie that it’s based on a true story, the movie’s title and marketing materials already reveal that the team at the center of the story is going to win a championship. It’s a very formulaic and predictable “underdog” sports story, but there are enough riveting scenes of table tennis/ping pong competitions to keep viewers interested. These action scenes are well-filmed, even though the screenplay is somewhat bland.

Directed by Deng Chao and Yu Baimei, “Ping Pong: The Triumph” is a dramatic retelling of China’s national men’s table tennis team going from a losing streak in 1990 and 1991, to becoming world champions in 1995. The movie takes place in various parts of Asia and Europe. Six people are credited with writing the screenplay: Li Feng, Liu Pei, Meng Hui, Yu Baimei, Zhang Yan and Zhong Wei. That’s a lot of people for a screenplay that is competent but not very innovative.

The movie begins in 1989, in Italy, where table tennis coach Minjia Dai (played by Deng Chao) has been mugged on a street by a boy and his adult accomplice. (The Minjia Dai character is based on the real-life coach Cai Zhenhua.) It’s one more stress in Dai’s life at the time. His wife Ying Wang (played by Sun Li) is eight months pregnant at home in China, and he’s anxious about being away from her.

Dai has recently renewed contract to work for $50,000 a year as a table tennis coach in Italy. He’s been offered a chance to return to China to coach table tennis for the national men’s team, but he declines. Dai has some painful memories of playing table tennis in China. He used to be a professional table tennis player in China, but he retired from playing at the age of 24, after he narrowly missed out on a chance to be in the Olympics.

China’s team won the gold medal for the World Tennis Table Championships in 1981, 1983, 1985 and 1987. China has won more gold medals at the World Tennis Table Championships than any other country. In 1989, the team won the silver medal. However, by 1990, the team was on an alarming losing streak with little hope of winning a gold medal. China wants a coach who can turn things around and bring back China’s status as gold-medal world champions for this team.

One of the other reasons for Dai’s reluctance is that China’s national men’s team for table tennis has been on a downard spiral, and he doesn’t want to take on the responsibilty of coaching a losing team. Of course, Dai changes his mind and begins coaching the team in 1991. Dai tells his wife that if he fails, he can go back to coaching table tennis in Italy.

“Ping Pong: The Triumph” then shows the expected up-and-down experiences and challenges that Coach Dai goes through in coaching this formerly victorious and now underdog team. “Ping Pong: The Triumph” includes competition scenes that take place in China, South Korea, Germany and Sweden. The most exciting scenes depict the World Tennis Table Championships in 1993 and 1995.

The movie’s supporting characters are mostly generic, but a few stand out for having memorable personalities. Coach Xiaodong Ni (played by Liang Chao), who previously coached the team, is kind of a stereotypical sidekick that is in the movie for comic relief. Coach Ni has stayed on the team as an assistant coach to help Coach Dai. Coach Li Da (played by Wu Jing) is their somewhat stern supervisor. Even though all three coaches have an influence on the team, Coach Dai is the one who becomes the team’s greatest motivator and strategist.

The journey for him isn’t easy. At first, Dai doesn’t handle the media scrunity very well. One day, he sees a photographer taking pictures of him on a street. Dai gets unnerved by the attention, takes the photographer’s camera, and rips the film out of the camera. Dai and the team also experience racism and xenophobia from some white Europeans who underestimate them.

Dai gets defensive and insecure when anyone asks him why he quit being a professional tennis table player. The “what ifs” still cause him to sometimes doubt his decision, especially when people imply he didn’t live up to his potential as a tennis table player. Of course, it’s easy to predict that Dai’s coaching of these young teammates helps him come to terms with his decision to leave professional table tennis when he was 24.

Dai’s coaching job requires him to travel a lot, so the movie briefly shows how all this traveling has meant sacrificing aspects of his personal life. There’s a scene where Dai is far from home because of his job, and he is on the phone with his wife Wang. She tells him that their son has talked for the first time, and she puts the toddler on the phone so Dai can hear him. Dai is overcome with emotion at knowing he can’t be there in person, and he breaks down in tears. These personal moments are brief, because the movie is mostly about the team’s training and tennis table competitions.

One of the biggest flaws of “Ping Pong: The Triumph” is that the character development is somewhat lacking. A little too much time is spent focusing on Dai, and the movie doesn’t really give much personality to the players on the team. One of the players who stands out is Gong Feng (played by Cai Yida), because he is the oldest member of the team and treated like an odd man out, but there’s nothing that he and the other team members say that’s particularly memorable. Likewise, the players and coaches on the opposing teams are completely devoid of any charisma.

“Ping Pong: The Triumph” is more than about winning games. There’s also an obvious message in the movie about national pride for China. All aspects of the movie (including the writing, direction and acting) are not terrible, but neither are they outstanding. For people who want the sports-movie equivalent of comfort food, “Ping Pong: The Triumph” has enough to satisfy, as long as people don’t expect anything extraordinary about this film.

China Lion Film Distribution released “Ping Pong: The Triumph” in select U.S. cinemas and in China on February 17, 2023.

Review: ‘New Gods: Yang Jian,’ a fantasy adventure about a mythic figure from China

January 21, 2023

by Carla Hay

“New Gods: Yang Jian”

Directed by Zhao Ji

Available in the original Mandarin version (with English subtitles) or in a dubbed English-language version.

Culture Representation: Taking place in China in the years 420 to 589 (during the Wei, Jin, and Southern and Northern Dynasties), the animated film “New Gods: Yang Jian,” a sequel to 2021’s “New Gods: Nezha Reborn,” features an all-Chinese cast of characters representing the working-class, middle-class and royalty.

Culture Clash: A formerly powerful god, who is now a poor bounty hunter, competes with his long-lost nephew and other rivals to find the treasure of a magical lotus lantern.

Culture Audience: “New Gods: Yang Jian” will appeal primarily to people who are fans of “New Gods: Nezha Reborn” and any fantasy film involving a hunt for hidden treasure, no matter how substandard the storytelling is.

Chenxiang in “New Gods: Yang Jian” (Image courtesy of GKIDS)

The animated film “New Gods: Yang Jian” is just a mess of fantasy adventure clichés about a hero looking for a hidden treasure, and spells that must be broken. Eye-catching visuals can’t disguise the erratic storytelling and stupid dialogue. The movie’s world building is inadequately explained. The choppy editing seems intended for viewers with short attention spans, yet it still makes the story very dull.

Directed by Zhao Ji and written by Mu Chuan, “New Gods: Yang Jian” is a sequel to the 2021 animated film “New Gods: Nezha Reborn,” also directed by Zhao and written by Mu. Both movies are loosely connected to each other in having the same concept of reincarnation/reinvention for their respective protagonist heroes, but both movies have completely self-contained plots. In other words, it’s not necessary to know anything about “New Gods: Nezha Reborn” before seeing “New Gods: Yang Jian.”

“New Gods: Yang Jian” takes place in China in the years 420 to 589 (during the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties), but most of the story really takes place within a year in a place called the Immortal Realm. The movie has numerous flashbacks that jump around from different decades, thereby further muddling the already poorly constructed plot. A story about finding a hidden treasure should be fairly uncomplicated, but “New Gods: Yang Jian” gets sidetracked with many detours and convoluted explanations that are get quite irritating after a while, in this 126-minute movie that becomes a chore to watch.

In “New Gods: Yang Jian,” Erlang Shen, also known as Erlang Mu, is a poor bounty hunter who used to be a powerful god named Yang Jian. Thirteen years ago, when he was Yang Jian, he trapped his sister Yang Chan beneath a mountain, and Yang Jian was stripped of his powers. (It’s explained why in the last third of the movie.) Yang Jian’s sister has a 13-year-old son named Chenxiang. In the beginning of the movie, Yang Jian has not seen Chenxiang since Chenxiang was a baby.

One day, Erlang/Yang Jian is visited by a mysterious woman named Wanluo, who hires him to find her sister, who disappeared 12 years ago. Wanluo says that the Lamp of Universal Contentment, also known as a magical lotus lamp, was stolen from her sister, and she wants Erlang/Yang Jian to find this magical lamp too. Guess who else is looking for the lamp? Chenxiang, because he thinks getting the lamp will free his mother from the cave.

Other rivals want the lamp too. Erlang/Yang Jian’s adversaries include a hulking duo called the Mo Brothers and a powerful but drunken military general named Shen Gongbao, who used to be a mentor to Chenxiang. Shen Gongbao also has a grudge against Yang Jian. Some other characters appear along the way. One of them is Master Yuding, an elderly and wise teacher of Gold Sunset Cave. Yang Jian used to be a student of Master Yuding.

A major problem with “New Gods: Yang Jian” is that it zips around from one elaborately created location to the next in the Immortal Realm—sometimes with editing that’s so fidgety, a location is shown for less than three minutes before it’s on to the next location. Viewers will feel like visitors who are being rushed through a tour without getting enough time or enough explanation to learn more about each location in the Immortal Realm. These locations include Penglai Fairy Island, Square Pot, Yingzhou and Smuggler’s Point.

“New Gods: Yang Jian” has some unnecessary characters that have no real bearing on the main plot. For example, the beginning of the movie shows bounty hunter Erlang on Penglai Fairy Island, where he narrowly escapes death when a monster named Boss Hai comes after him with an axe. Erlang captures a teenage boy, who is called a “snake oil peddler” and listed as Medicine Boy in the movie’s end credits. Erlang puts Medicine Boy in jail on a ship. None of this action ultimately has any revelance to the outcome of the story. “New Gods: Yang Jian” shows this jailed teenager enough times, it looks he will play an important role in the movie, but he doesn’t.

“New Gods: Yang Jian” also has very unimpressive and sexist portrayals of the movie’s few women and girls, who are either depicted as femme fatales or subservient airheads. Another very unnecessary character is a teenage girl named Xiaotian, who is infatuated with Erlang/Yang Jian. Xiaotian worships him so much, she crawls on all fours when she’s around him, as if she’s a pet animal. The male characters treat her like a pathetic “fangirl” or “groupie.” This Xiaotian character is ultimately not needed at all in the movie, and neither is the misogyny that went into creating this degrading female character.

The hunt for the Lamp of Universal Contentment doesn’t feel like a treasure hunt in the movie but more like plot objective that gets shunted to the side when the movie has more rambling expositions and flashback scenes that clutter up the story. A huge chunk of the movie takes place on a ship (probably the least interesting location), when more time could have been spent in more fascinating-looking places, such as the Fairy Palace or the Square Pot Casino. All of the movie’s fight scenes, except for the final showdown, are very forgettable. As for the characters’ personalities, they are filled with stereotypes and have simple-minded conversations. There isn’t enough comic relief to make watching this shambling movie any easier.

The voices of the “New Gods: Yang Jian” characters are portrayed by different actors, depending on the version of “New Gods: Yang Jian.” The original Chinese version (with English subtitles) has Wang Kai as Yang Jian, Li Lanling as Chenxiang, Ji Gwanling as Wanluo, Li Lihong as Master Yuding and Zhao Yi as Shen Gongbao. There’s also a U.S. version, with the dialogue dubbed in English, that has Nicholas Andrew Louie as Yang Jian, Luke Naphat Sath as Chenxiang, Christine Lin as Wanluo, Parry Shen as Master Yuding and James Sie as Shen Gongbao.

“New Gods: Yang Jian” is the type of animated film that was made to appeal to a wide range of age groups. However, this movie is not going to be very enjoyable to most children under the age of 10, who will easily get restless or bored by a jumbled plot that requires comprehension usually found in people older than the age of 10. Even people who are old enough to understand the plot will get annoyed about how “New Gods: Yang Jian” takes a little over two hours to tell a story that could have been told in a movie that’s 45 minutes or less. “New Gods: Yang Jian” is a treasure-hunt movie that is ultimately not work seeking out by viewers who want to watch a thrilling animated adventure that tells a story in a cohesive and clever way.

GKIDS released “New Gods: Yang Jian” in select U.S. cinemas on November 4, 2022, and re-released the movie in U.S. cinemas on January 20, 2023. “New Gods: Yang Jian” was released in China on August 19, 2022.