Monday, February 11, 2019
When The Matrix first released in Hong Kong it was titled “22世紀殺人網絡” meaning “22nd Century Murder Internet”. This movie was well received in China and was broadcast on the national CCTV television channel. This week marks a major milestone for Chinese science fiction as a new film The Wandering Earth has shattered Chinese New Year box office records to become 2019’s #1 film worldwide with an estimated $380 million USD in its first week alone. This marks China’s first major sci-fi film and it is currently on track to become the highest grossing film in Chinese history. This renewed interest in science fiction will certainly make China a top International market for new Matrix films.
David 安大卫 is an American writer for MatrixFans’s sister website www.NarniaFans.com and has been living in Shanghai, China for the past four years. Here he shares his review of The Wandering Earth and compares the film experience to Hollywood science fiction movies. The Wandering Earth is currently playing in IMAX 3D in a limited number of theaters in The United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand (see complete list below).
THE WANDERING EARTH REVIEW
by David 安大卫 from www.NarniaFans.com
If the sun was preparing to turn into a red giant and threaten the life of your home planet how would you respond? In decades of Hollywood sci-fi films the response to cataclysmic events has been to set out and colonize a new world and this reflects the very spirit of exploration and discovery which resulted in the formation of America. The Wandering Earth changes this paradigm as China’s first major science fiction film responds to the end of the world circumstances with a way that reflects Chinese values. In a distinctly Chinese story, the values of devotion to the homeland and family lead the people of Earth to devise a plan to protect and defend the home planet of their ancestors. This plan is to install thousands of rockets on the earth’s surface to transform the world into a spaceship Earth that can travel to a new solar system, but a failed gravitational slingshot assist around Jupiter now threatens the future of humanity.
The film is visually impressive and matches the visual effects quality of mainstream Hollywood blockbusters. It also shows an impressive level of development for the Chinese cinema industry to have a movie of this quality level distributed worldwide on IMAX 3D (see complete list of participating theaters below). In the past one of the main criticisms Americans have had about Chinese entertainment has been a lack of originality, but that complaint does not apply here. Instead of trying to imitate other films, The Wandering Earth has delivered a unique and compelling story. The only aspect of the film that is similar to a popular predecessor was a shipboard computer that appeared as a clever homage to HAL from 2001: A Space Odyssey. The biggest appeal to this film was seeing a space film uniquely told from a Chinese perspective which could be revealed in the overall nature of the plot as well as particular details relating to family on Earth and the celebration of Chinese New Year. A core of the film’s experience revolves around a multigenerational family united by their experiences before and after the launch of spaceship Earth. This family forms a strong emotional core to the film that turns out to be one of the film’s unexpected strengths. I do not typically associate space travel movies with being tear jerkers, but this is a different type of film for a different audience. Although there were moments of hope the overall tone of the film was dark and tragic. This is a thematic shift from the feel good tone of typical Hollywood films. The Wandering Earth is a leap forward for Chinese film making that can be recognized for quality production, originality, and sincere cultural relevance.
For an American this movie will be a challenge to follow along with even if you do speak some Chinese, but fortunately there are subtitles in both English and Chinese. The difficulty of reading subtitles during intense action sequences makes me sympathize with Chinese friends who have had trouble understanding Star Wars. For the easiest experience following along with subtitles try watching on a smaller screen or sit further back in the theater. The opening of the film begins with an overload of background context before jumping 17 years ahead. I was left scratching my head at a few points in the film and only later understood why the spaceship Earth was so close to collision. There are significant flaws in the movie and a few corny moments where major characters survive death defying falls or fluently understand all possible languages. There were even a few major characters that felt insignificant in the overall story. Despite some unclear details that were hard to follow and many other problems, the film held together much better than most Chinese films.
American viewers will be relieved that they can enjoy this movie as exciting entertainment with minimal political messages. The actions of the planet are controlled from an international space station and United Earth Government, but are told from a predominantly Chinese perspective. The film prominently features a Russian cosmonaut, but diminishes the role of The United States to near non-existence. Although the film marks a great leap forward for Chinese filmmaking it still lacks refinement in storytelling and character development. It is very unlikely that this movie will become a global success when it is only playing in a handful of theaters outside of China, but that is not the film’s main audience. This is a story made uniquely for the Chinese people making space travel relatable to a new audience. If you want to be a part of a new era of Chinese science fiction go see The Wandering Earth!
