Ne Zha 2: the Chinese blockbuster nobody in the West has heard of

Luca Fontana

20/6/2025

Translation: Jessica Johnson-Ferguson

A movie from China is breaking all box office records, even leaving Avengers and Star Wars behind. Don’t tell me you’ve never heard of it? Welcome to the new age of cinema.

This movie review contains no spoilers. Everything mentioned here has already been revealed in trailers. Ne Zha 2 is in cinemas from 26 June.

It’s one of those movies that has you asking yourself: how the hell did I not hear about this for so long? After all, Ne Zha 2 is absolutely huge in China. The film has grossed over two billion dollars there and only there. In February, it crossed the threshold to most successful animated film in history. In March, it’s ongoing success made it the fifth most successful film of all time.

Now that’s a cultural earthquake. But one that hardly anyone in the West felt. However, out of the blue, the film’s hitting cinemas Switzerland. No PR campaign. No famous people in it. No hype. Just one question overarching question: can it really be that darn good?

So who’s Ne Zha again?

To understand Ne Zha 2, you need to familiarise yourself with the main character. Not as easy as you might think. At least not for a Western audience. Ne Zha isn’t just any old animated character. He’s a rebellious folk hero, a legendary figure, as famous in China as William Tell or Ursli from the famous children’s book «Schellenursli» (A bell for Ursli) are in Switzerland.

The story’s deeply rooted in Taoist mythology. The first part of the movie, Ne Zha (2019), is a modern interpretation. It’s about a child who’s meant to be blessed with the divine powers of the astral pearl – a cosmic energy source that stands for purity and hope. But there’s an intrigue and the pearl’s switched. Instead, Ne Zha’s born with the demon capsule, a destructive force that’s almost impossible to control.

So right from the start, he’s considered dangerous. Mortals view him as a monster, despite his good deeds that, admittedly, tend to cause plenty of collateral damage and chaos. But his parents, especially his mother and somewhat goofy but kind-hearted mentor, try to help him stay on the right path.

His opponent is Ao Bing, son of the Dragon King. He too is a child of intrigue, being born with the very astral pearl intended for Ne Zha. This makes Ao Bing something like Ne Zha’s mirror opposite: polite, elegant and disciplined. But like Ne Zha, he’s also being manipulated and grows up deeply resenting the gods who’ve wronged the dragons.

In the end, they both realise they’re not enemies, but allies fighting the same battle. In a final duel with a high death toll, they save the world and pay with their lives. Their bodies perish, but their souls survive thanks to Ne Zha’s mentor. The time has come for them to find a new body so they can finally determine their own fate. While they’re on this quest, they get caught up in a much bigger conspiracy that could trigger a truly divine war.

This is where part 2 comes in.

A hurricane of pixels and drama

Ne Zha 2 starts out like many western blockbusters in the style of Despicable Me or your typical Disney animations: colourful, over-the-top and with a tad too much slapstick. Expect fart and pee jokes, talking weapons and a mentor who’s occasionally like Jack Black on a sugar high.

In spite of this, or maybe even because of it, the movie looks crazy nice. From the set design to the characters and their costumes – the animation’s exhilarating. It’s rich in detail, colourful and powerful. Coco Cartoon, the animation studio behind the movie, doesn’t need to hide away from its western competitors. Quite the opposite.

The trailer’s enough proof of that.

No doubt, visually, the film is an unparalleled force of nature. According to the press release, over 4,000 animation artists worked on it. The number’s so outlandish, it’s almost part of why the movie’s so spectacular. Especially towards the last third. What happens there is more than a simple finale. It’s a hurricane that dedicates almost a whole hour to turning Ne Zha 2 into a sprawling epic.

Its grandeur is easily on par with the ending of Avengers: Endgame or Lord of the Rings. Only without giving a toss about Western narrative conventions. Instead, the battle escalates further and further, in perfect anime style. Several times I was convinced the movie had reached its climax. Boy, was I wrong. Instead, there was another escalation level. And another.

And another.

At some point, I thought the screen would explode. There were thousands of warriors, demons, monsters, dragons, gods, flying swords, dimensional gates and slow motion, magic, chaos. And in the middle of it all, Ne Zha and a whole lot poignancy. At times, I felt equally overwhelmed as I did overcome. Not to mention downright buzzing.

You see, Ne Zha 2 is movie that’s constantly creating and redefining new worlds, characters, mythologies or laws of nature. At the same time, it’s an animated battle scene that dares to tread where many a live-action blockbuster doesn’t. And not just regarding the action, but also in its tone. The movie is rated 12+ and rightly so. There are families in flames, dying children. Blood everywhere when armies collide like swarms of bees.

It’s been a long time since I last saw anything like it in a movie theatre.

A huge movie snubbed by the West

It’s hard to believe very few people in this country have heard of this movie. But while Ne Zha 2 is blowing up cinemas in China, leaving the likes of Dune: Part Two or Interstellar lagging behind in the IMAX charts, it’s been released over here with no hype, little marketing and hardly any context. As if some exotic oriental bird had landed.

Instead, it should scream: from the epicentre of a totally different blockbuster realm.

The biggest surprise about Ne Zha 2 is probably not how good it is, but how effortlessly spectacular it is without copying Pixar or Marvel. Instead, the film is its own thing, with its own heroes, its own myths and a completely unique mood: emotive, poetic, exuberant and unabashedly melodramatic. All of which qualities that Western mainstream has long been weaned off.

Ne Zha 2 isn’t meant for festivals or feature pages. And yet, the film works. Not just as a niche product, but as a blockbuster that redefines the rules – without Hollywood or Europe, if need be. After all, who needs Oscars or Cannes when you have a market consisting of over a billion moviegoers that can break all global records all on its own?

That’s right, nobody. This leaves us with only one realisation: we’re no longer the centre of the movie world.

Luca Fontana

Senior Editor

Luca.Fontana@digitecgalaxus.ch

I'm an outdoorsy guy and enjoy sports that push me to the limit – now that’s what I call comfort zone! But I'm also about curling up in an armchair with books about ugly intrigue and sinister kingkillers. Being an avid cinema-goer, I’ve been known to rave about film scores for hours on end. I’ve always wanted to say: «I am Groot.» more

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