Ne Zha (not rated)
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Caution: potential spoilers.

This Chinese film is loosely based on a 16th century Chinese novel, with which I am unfamiliar. (It has been adapted numerous times, but this is the first adaptation I've seen or heard of.) It was released in 2019, but I didn't see it until 2026. I gotta say, some parts of it were a little too goofy for my taste, especially early on. I can't help wondering if it was less so in the original Mandarin. But as it went on, it got more serious (mostly), and ended up having a pretty great story and characters. The animation was incredible throughout the film, especially in a few sequences.

So, it starts with some info about something called the Chaos Pearl, which absorbed lots of energy and wreaked havoc, so the Supreme Lord of Heaven sent two of his disciples, the fat and rather unserious Taiyi Zhenren (I didn't care for the fat humor, and his personality in general was mostly comic relief), and the more serious (and stuttering) Shen Gongbao, to try to stop it. When they failed, the Supreme Lord himself separated the Pearl into two components: the Spirit Pearl and the Demon Pill. (Wikipedia says "demon orb", but that's not what I heard when I watched the movie.) He places a heavenly curse upon the Demon Pill, which would destroy it with lightning in three years. I have no idea why he wouldn't just destroy it right away, but then there'd be no story. The Demon Pill is given to Taiyi to look after, and it was to be reincarnated in a human baby. That baby was Ne Zha, whose parents were Li Jing, the commander of a town called Chentang Pass, and his wife, Lady Yin. The baby causes some destruction, so Taiyi seals (most of) his power with a metal collar, or whatever. Meanwhile, Shen steals the Spirit Pearl, and takes it to a dragon king who, like all dragons, had been imprisoned under the sea long ago, by the gods. The dragon king releases an egg, and infuses it with the Pearl, thus giving birth to a son, Ao Bing. Shen is given Ao Bing as a disciple, to be taught by Shen.

Taiyi takes Li Jing to Heaven to plead with the Supreme Lord to remove the curse, but they learn it cannot be broken. However, we don't see everything that transpires there just yet; the rest will be shown later in a flashback. They learned of a way to get around the curse, but I won't spoil what it was. Anyway, nearly three years pass on Earth, and Ne Zha now looks like a young boy (though I would say older than his age). He is despised by the townsfolk, who consider him a demon, and is particularly tormented by a group of boys who like to call themselves demon hunters. (Ne Zha's ostracization reminds me of other characters, such as Naruto Uzumaki or Nimona. But I'm sure it's a very common theme in lots of different stories.) However, Ne Zha, despite not having his full power, is still much stronger than any human, so there's not much anyone can do besides insult him or run away from him. Meanwhile, he doesn't get to spend much time with his parents, because they are both actual demon hunters, and their work keeps them pretty busy. So Ne Zha resents that, even though they (and Taiyi) are the only people who treat him relatively well. Taiyi starts training Ne Zha to use magic, while locked away inside the world of a painting. Ne Zha isn't happy about this at first, but he soon takes to learning magic.

Ne Zha eventually releases himself from the painting, believing he has learned enough to become a demon hunter, and prove himself a hero to the townsfolk. Unfortunately, he causes much destruction while chasing down a sea monster that can transform into water. The townsfolk don't see the monster, only the destruction that Ne Zha caused, and when the monster abducts a young girl, they believe it was Ne Zha who took her. He continues trying to save the girl, and meets Ao Bing, who saves the girl before Ne Zha can. (Ao Bing, btw, looks like an adult human, but with horns that he conceals under a hood.) Ne Zha resents this, and begins fighting Ao Bing, but they end up becoming friends. Later, Li Jing and Lady Yin tell Ne Zha that he is the reincarnation of the Spirit Pearl, and Li says he can convince the townsfolk of his innocence. Ne Zha's parents want to throw a party for Ne Zha's birthday, which is coming up in ten days. He calls Ao Bing on a conch, and invites him to the party. And then... well, there ends up being a battle when the townsfolk learn that Ao Bing is a dragon, and reject him just as they had always done with Ne Zha. Ao Bing begins to wreak some havoc, but Ne Zha fights him, and... I feel like i've said too much.

I'm leaving out some important details, especially how it all ends, but I will say there is a happy ending. I was getting pretty worried that it would be impossible for the movie to end happily, because I wanted to root for both Ne Zha and Ao Bing. The latter's whole purpose in life was to free the dragons from their imprisonment, and while I only know their side of the story, it sounds like the gods were very unfair to them. So I didn't want Ao Bing to be defeated, but I also wanted Ne Zha to finally redeem himself in the eyes of the townsfolk. Of course, there was still the matter of the curse to contend with, but again, I'm not going to spoil how that turns out. I will say there's a mid-credits scene with the dragons, which seems like a sequel hook. Anyway... despite a certain amount of goofiness, particularly from Taiyi (as well as an unnamed man who we often see screaming in fear with the voice of a girl, which I didn't find amusing), I nevertheless came to love the movie, as a whole. Not as much as I do some similar stories, but I suppose more than some other similar stories. A big part of what I loved was the animation, but that alone wouldn't be enough without a solid story, and the movie ultimately proved to have that, as well.

Followed by a spin-off called "Jiang Ziya", and a direct sequel, "Ne Zha II"