Ne Zha is the latest film to get the 4K treatment from Well Go USA. The Chinese animated film opens with a narration, setting up a somewhat complicated premise (though the movie itself is quite straightforward). For the past 100 years, divine and demonic spiritual energy have been building up, and have now combined to give birth to the Chaos Pearl. The heavenly Supreme Lord Tianzun has split the pearl into its two halves—the Spirit Pearl and the Demon Pill—and has tasked immortal brothers Taiyi Zhenren and Shen Gongbao with guarding them. Tianzun also puts a curse on the Demon Pill, such that in three years, it will be destroyed by a bolt of lightning. Meanwhile, the Spirit Pearl is to be reincarnated into Ne Zha, the forthcoming son of Lord Li Jing and his wife Lady Yin.
Guarding the spirit Pearl is Master Taiyi, a drunk, fat monk-like man who rides around on a flying pig. However, he is tricked by his brother, the evil Lord Shen, into using the Demon Pill when reincarnating Ne Zha. Shen then sneaks off with the Spirit Pearl, which he will use for the reincarnation of Ao Bing, the son of the Dragon King. Lord Li and Lady Yin have spent their lives tracking and killing demons, but when they learn that their newborn son is one, they refuse to kill him. Instead, they have Master Taiyi create a magical ring around Ne Zha’s neck to suppress his demon powers. While Ne Zha’s parents have kept his origin a secret, he feels the constant hatred and fear from the villagers of Chentang Pass. And so he embraces his inner demon, causing trouble and chaos wherever he goes. Lord Li and Lady Yin know about the curse that their son will be destroyed in three years, but they hope that somehow he can beat it by doing good. So they have Master Taiyi train the boy to harness his powers for good, and to fight demons like his parents. But is it even possible for Ne Zha to change his fate, or to become something other than the demon he suppresses inside?
Ne Zha is an action-packed fantasy adventure film, with lots of heart and humor. While the story premise is a bit convoluted, the film has some really fun characters, with interesting arcs and growth over the course of the movie. However, the aging of the characters is a bit confusing—the film is supposed to take place over the 3 years after Ne Zha is born, but after just 1 year, he already looks more like an 8-year-old hellion, and Ao Bing looks more like a buff anime warrior in the same amount of time. Ne Zha is like Dennis the Menace, a little brat who is always causing trouble and mischief wherever he goes. But he really just wants to be loved and accepted, and acts out in response to the hate and fear he sees from others. He is constantly trying to test his teacher, Taiyi, who looks like a buffoon, but is actually pretty skilled in magic.
I wasn’t expecting this movie to be as humorous as it is. One recurring joke that keeps popping up throughout the film is when this big, burly villager who gets scared at the drop of a feather, is constantly releasing these hilarious high-pitched screams. Ne Zha is also quite resourceful, and constantly finds fun ways to trick the guards who are assigned to keep him confined to his room.
The film ultimately builds to a massive, action-packed final act, that provides both an emotionally satisfying close to the character arcs, but also some really intense action and excitement. This film has a little bit of everything.
Well Go USA’s 4K release looks and sounds excellent. The picture is incredibly detailed, really bringing the scenes and characters to life. The 4K release includes Dolby Vision encoding—whether it’s a scene with darker grey skies, or in the bright colorful world inside the painting, or when Ne Zha turns into a ball of flame or wields his flame-tipped spear, the film’s video presentation always looks quite stunning and beautiful. As for the audio, the disc offers both a Mandarin DTS-HD MA and an English Atmos soundtrack. I opted for the English track, which is nicely acted, with excellent performances that don’t feel like a cheaply-dubbed afterthought. The soundtrack provides clear dialogue and a nicely-immersive aural experience, which is especially noticeable in the film’s final act.
While watching this movie, it became quite obvious early on that it was designed with 3D in mind, and based on what I saw in 2D, I think this film would have looked amazing in 3D. I really wish this had received a 3D Blu-ray release, but unfortunately, it appears that Well Go USA is no longer releasing films in that format, and that there isn’t even a 3D release available abroad.
The 4K release comes packed in standard UHD keepcase, with a slipcover. It includes both a 4K and a Blu-ray disc, but no digital copy. There is no supplemental material on the 4K disc, but the Blu-ray includes 3 trailers for this film, and 3 previews for other Well Go USA releases.
What’s Included:
Film: (1:50:07)
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4K Ultra HD:
- 2160p / Anamorphic Widescreen 2.39:1
- Dolby Vision / HDR10
- Audio: English Dolby Atmos in Dolby TrueHD, Mandarin DTS-HDMA 5.1
- Subtitles: English SDH, English, Simplified Chinese
- 1080p / Widescreen 2.39:1
- Audio: English Dolby Atmos in Dolby TrueHD, Mandarin DTS-HDMA 5.1
- Subtitles: English SDH, English, Simplified Chinese
Blu-ray:
Extras:
The supplemental material can only be found on the Blu-ray disc.
- Trailers
- Trailer A (US) (2:31)
- Trailer A (International) (2:30)
- Trailer B (1:16)
- Previews
- Jiang Ziya (1:48)
- Ip Man 4: The Finale (1:49)
- Better Days (1:26)
Final Thoughts:
Ne Zha is a fun fantasy adventure that the whole family can enjoy. It has lots of humor, heart and action. My short description would be Dennis the Menace meets Lord of the Rings/Harry Potter. The story is a bit convoluted at times, but the characters are fun and entertaining, and given proper room to develop and grow. And the world that is set up is really beautiful and interesting. Well Go USA’s 4K release looks and sounds excellent, but unfortunately lacks any bonus material besides a few film trailers. That said, the release comes recommended based on the film itself.
