The animated mega-hit Ne Zha 2 is back in theaters, with a very different message than the original movie

[ad_1] Ne Zha 2 stands as 2025’s greatest box-office hit worldwide, although the majority of its theatrical income thus far has come from China. By giving it a wider Western launch on Aug. 22, through an English dub that includes Michelle Yeoh, A24 is aiming to broaden the movie’s attain and solidify its affect on the worldwide market. That can give a a lot greater viewers an opportunity to think about how totally different the hit sequel's messages are from the unique film's.

One of many first issues that stood out once I first watched 2019’s Ne Zha (streaming on Peacock, and free on Tubi and the Roku Channel) was its subversive message about accepting who you're. The titular folks hero was born below a curse of future, because the reincarnation of a demon orb meant to deliver destruction. His village handled him as a monster. That scorn formed him right into a defiant 3-year-old with the world’s greatest chip on his shoulder. Nonetheless, he resists the trail of darkness and fights to grow to be the hero his dad and mom and mentor believed in.

Stepping out of the theater after Ne Zha 2, I used to be struck by how the sequel evolves that theme. As an alternative of simply acceptance, it pushes additional into the concept of full self-ownership: embracing each flaw, each power, and each a part of your self with out compromise.

[Ed. note: Broad spoilers ahead for Ne Zha 2.]

Ne Zha is on the trail towards righteousness after the primary film, however he is nonetheless a crude, vengeful trickster — the identical rotten child from the unique film is current within the sequel. And though writer-director Jiao Zi was fairly intelligent about tying the unique movie’s subversive humor (like the massive man with the high-pitched scream, or Ne Zha’s fake-out jokes) to his narrative twists (just like the “evil” Ne Zha being born in a loving residence, whereas his higher half, Ao Bing, is born to the opposing Dragon King, Ao Guang), he makes his jokes in Ne Zha 2 simply as juvenile as Ne Zha himself.

The sequel amps up the fart, pee, and vomit gags, which principally contain Ne Zha’s bodily capabilities and erratic habits. All this contrasts sharply along with his pursuit of immortality, a quest that requires him to hide each his demonic origins and the truth that he’s sharing a physique with Ao Bing after the occasions of the primary movie, all whereas finishing three duties assigned by heavenly emissary Wuliang. However he nonetheless can’t assist however be himself, which nearly ruins his scheming a number of instances all through the sequel. When he first meets his immortal brothers, he’s afraid of what they may consider him, and permits the extra demure Ao Bing to take over their shared physique to impress them. Towards the tip of the film, he laments lacking the prospect to satisfy his brothers outright, particularly after Ao Bing informs him that they've beloved and can at all times love him, no matter who he's.

That message resonates most by way of Shen Gongbao, the stammering lackey from the primary movie, who takes on a a lot bigger position within the sequel, with an arc about not compromising who he's to his youthful brother, Shen Xiaobao. The 2 brothers reunite early within the movie, and Xiaobao’s presence reveals Gongbao’s softer facet: He’s a household man who cares deeply for his little brother, and tries to shelter him from Gongbao’s villainous deeds. Xiaobao, in the meantime, idolizes his older brother and aspires to be identical to him. He additionally reveals a way of honor that shames Gongbao, and pushes him to be kinder — and ultimately, to combat for a similar village he as soon as commanded Ao Bing to destroy.

Ne Zha and Gongbao finally arrive on the similar lesson from totally different paths: It’s higher to stay authentically than to mould your self into what others anticipate. Gongbao, ashamed of his previous, allowed the falsehoods of his supposed heroism to face, however redeems himself in the long run by upholding his ideas and changing into the hero Ne Zha’s father as soon as claimed him to be. Ne Zha, in the meantime, learns he ought to by no means have tried to be one thing he isn’t. The last word villain in Ne Zha 2 embodies hypocrisy. His energy is constructed on lies and deception, proving that reality, not pretense, is the stronger path. In a manner, Jiao Zi leaning all the best way into his fart, vomit, and piss jokes for this sequel is a mission assertion: He’s proudly owning his inventive tastes with full conviction, simply as Ne Zha learns to completely embrace each a part of who he's.