New Gods: Yang Jian Reimagines Chinese Gods For An Epic Riff On Cowboy Bebop
Fans of Ji Zhao's 2021 Chinese epic New Gods: Niza: Rebirth can expect similar things from its sequel New Gods: Yang Jian . You get quite a bit of what it came for: epic battles involving gods, powerful operatic emotions, and brilliantly beautiful visual design. But in all respects, the second film is very different from the first - not a sequel to the series, but a completely separate story in a different genre.
Nezha Reborn creates a structure that seems destined to repeat itself endlessly with infinite variations: the fighting character learns that he is the embodiment of a mythical deity. Zhao (director of the Donghua thriller " White Snake ") and screenwriter Mu Chuan bring a fascinating realism to this story, a tale of post-apocalyptic exploration and the many intricacies of introducing ancient forces into the world. It's easy to think of the New Gods film series as a game set for the Marvel Cinematic Universe, in which the old gods return to the human world, transforming and eventually conflicting.
But the followers of Zhao and Chuan left the mortal world behind and stayed in the realm of the gods. Yang Jian is a more traditional Chinese fairy tale. The only notable connection to science fiction is in the opening sequence of Super Creepy Cowboy Bebop : The Animated Series. It's a little disappointing.
From the moment Yang Jian introduces the protagonist, who plays a soulful bluegrass harmonica while the spaceship's engine dies from lack of fuel, cowboy bebop fans are ready to indulge. Déjà-vu. Yang Jian (voiced by Wang Kai) - The leader of a gang of four men who helplessly reach their ultimate goal. Like his bebop counterpart Spike Spiegel, Yang Jian is a sneaky young man who often appears sleepy and scared until someone threatens him.
His team also looked strangely familiar: a massive, muscular engineer with a pitch-black, spiky beard. a very thin boy with red hair who screams and walks on all fours; And the dog is smarter than it looks. (The latter two have an interesting relationship, which seems to be even better at the moment.) Only the fourth member, a pirate who hardly appears in the film, doesn't fit into the picture.
Like the Bebop crew, the four wander and get into trouble while transporting their ship from place to place through wormholes that look like high-tech tires from heaven. However, unlike the Bebop group, this group is led by God. Yang Jian, also known as Erlang Shen, a character from traditional Chinese mythology, was once a powerful force among the gods before he closed his third eye and lost his power. After the struggle for supremacy between the gods, the gods and demons in myths often had a difficult time. In this story, the timeless world inhabited by ghosts appears to be a series of towns and chaotic resorts that go back and forth. The same cities are full of flying, shiny dragons and dirty, damp places full of garbage, but the latter clearly predominate.
One of Yang Jian 's greatest mysteries is how quickly the script unraveled this dramatic setting and overall bebop style. After one run, Yang Jian's group disappeared, his voice changed, and his appearance disappeared. (The harmonica solo singing was not lost, however.) When a woman asks Yang Jian to help him find a powerful artifact, he looks back on his former teacher and learns something new about his life. All of this puts him at odds with the other gods and brings him back to the usual misguided sequence of events where he loses his third eye and seals his sister under a mountain forever.
Nezha Reborn also worries about family ties and how the characters leave loved ones, but this film spends a lot of time on their relationships and exploring the value of strength. Yang Jian feels out of place with a full set of images built around family ties, but not enough time to create them. The male characters say, "Mom! Mom! Mom!"
And there are many conflicts between the gods, much of which is associated with the most colorful and unique folk figures, such as Mo the Four Generals or The Investiture of the Gods. In the style of traditional martial arts movies, star Shen Gongbao, who plays a drunken master, lives with a giant white tiger. Each of these deities has their own purposes, but the characters are broadly defined, as mythical guardians or seekers of revenge - like mythical deities that audiences can identify with or understand.
In " Yang Jian " there are several events and actions revolving around the main character's search for this magical artifact and the criminal who took it. But often - at least in GKIDS' English translation - the action plays out without much context and viewers have to watch the flight or fight first, and then gather the players and place bets. This creates a very discreet viewing experience even when the pace or combat is fast, tense and exciting.
Visual pleasure is the main attraction of Yang Jian . As with Nezha's Rebirth , when the gods take conflict too seriously, they create huge, luminous images to reflect their actions. Each god has a different fighting style and a variety of weapons, from traditional guns to musical instruments and giant animal allies, making each battle unique. A device that puts an enemy in a dream state or realm of horror gives director Zhao all the power to drastically change the animation style or fill the screen with wild fantasy imagery. This film must be seen on the big screen.
But even when all the characters call each other's names in tense moments, or scold about their many lies and betrayals, the emotional impact remains small. There's more fun than all the fighting in a short, silent sequence akin to the treetop show in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon . The real struggle here is between those who want change in the broadest and most abstract sense and those who want to keep the whole world still. Relatively speaking, this is a relative fight at a politically charged time, or any time. However, it still doesn't play out here as audiences think specific characters live or die, get what they want or die, or return to a cowboy adventure. At least bebop . . God's great miracles have been fulfilled.
For Western viewers who want to do their homework afterwards, New Gods: Yang Jian as Nezha : Rebirth is an accessible introduction to some of their most memorable characters and a chance to rework these epics into an epic. . no And like the first film, New God II explores the trials and costs of reincarnation and how the endless cycles of history can affect an individual's life. It just lacks a human face to solve all these problems. Clash of the Gods may be our Clash game, but with the third New God movie just around the corner it would be nice to bring the action back to earth.
New Gods: Yang Jian is currently starring in a limited theatrical release nationwide. This review is for the subtitled version of the film. Search for specific theaters on the film's website and check with your local theater to see if they have the subtitled or dubbed version.
