Ne Zha Parent Guide

Ne Zha began in Heaven, where a spirit came into being that was too powerful to be contained until the Lord of Heaven divided it into a Heavenly Pearl and a Demonic Pearl. Each was to be sent to Earth, but the Demonic Pearl was cursed: in three years it would be destroyed by a bolt from Heaven. But the plan went awry when a disaffected immortal switched the pearls. The Demonic Pearl found Ne Zha, in the Chentang Pass, while the Heavenly Pearl went to Ao Bing, the son of the Dragon King. Now Ne Zha and Ao Bing will have to confront their warring personalities in order to find their destinies and avoid destruction.

It’s a classic nature vs nurture kind of story, in which the main character struggles not only with the demonic energy inside him, but his kind and loving parents, and the alienation of his village. Ne Zha has to deal with a lot for a kid who isn’t supposed to live past the age of three, and his struggles are both tragic and entertaining (typically not at the same time). Ao Bing, his supposed rival, has a similarly difficult conflict, but he handles it very differently.

The story is based on a part of Chinese mythology, namely the 16^th century Investiture of the Gods. It’s a compelling tale, if slightly confusing for someone who isn’t at all familiar with the mythology. The movie is helpful, with bold and distinct character designs throughout that make keeping track of characters and plot points easier for the dumb North Americans (me) who don’t already know their Chinese mythical stories.

I’m actually a little puzzled as to why this particular film is getting such a broad release. Foreign children’s films don’t usually open in theaters nation-wide. With this unusual circumstance in mind, I went into the screening assuming that Ne Zha would be somehow unique or distinct enough to explain its wide release. But, while it’s a decent enough kids’ movie, neither the animation nor the writing explain its appearance in my city’s busiest theater. I’m guessing the reasons are purely financial: Ne Zha performed exceptionally well in China’s domestic market and studios may have assumed it would fare well in North America.

Viewers who check it out will find that Ne Zha is well animated and reasonably exciting – with lots of punch-em-up, flame-tossing, animated violence to keep the story moving along. Parents will be pleased that the violence is highly stylized and sanitized and there is virtually no other content in the film to be concerned about, with the exception of a scene of excessive alcohol consumption.

Despite Ne Zha’s pluses, it is unlikely to be a big hit with domestic audiences. The principal reason is that the movie is in Mandarin with English subtitles. Unless your ten-year-old speaks fluent Mandarin (as did many in the showing I attended) they’ll likely be bored or distracted and will lose track of the story. This is too bad: the movie is full of the slapstick action and fart jokes which are just about the funniest things in the world for ten-year-olds the world over. But to properly enjoy these humorous moments, kids will need to read subtitles pretty quickly to stay up to speed with the film. It’d be a real shame if they missed out on the deep Chinese mythology, or worse (to a kid), the explanations for a fart joke.