The Wandering Earth

I finally had the chance to sit down and watch the 2019 Chinese movie "The Wandering Earth" (aka "Liu lang di qui") here in 2020. I had heard about the movie, of course, but just never gotten around to actively sitting down to watch it.

So was the wait worth it? Oh yeah. This movie was definitely an epic Chinese production, and the movie was very enjoyable. Sure, you need to fully forget everything about realism, science and probability. This was without a doubt a very entertaining and enjoyable sci-fi adventure, but there was not an ounce of realism in the movie. But hey, hence the purpose of being a movie meant for entertainment and not enlightenment of facts.

I was really surprised with the epic feel that there was to this movie. This easily outdid a lot of Hollywood produced movies. And I was really enjoying the CGI, the props, the sets, the costumes, etc. While the movie failed to have a single ounce of realism in it, it more than made up for that in terms of visuals and pure eye candy.

The storyline was fully and wholeheartedly unrealistic, but it was entertaining. "The Wandering Earth" is a very, very predictable movie, and you knew exactly what would happen a long time before it transpired on the screen. But this overly predictable formula really wasn't a hindrance to the movie.

"The Wandering Earth" also had a good ensemble of casted actors and actresses, whom portrayed their respective characters quite well. And that definitely also contributed a great deal to the overall enjoyment of the movie.

All in all, "The Wandering Earth" was an all-round pleasing movie, and I was more than entertained with it. I am rating it a seven out of ten stars.

1. Background settings have great imagination. Very romantic in some way. (⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐) 2. Visual effects is wonderful (and made by Chinese, not easy) (⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐) 3. Plot not good. The director didn't handle to tell the story well. Rhythm is weird. Plot is not mind-catching. (⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐) 4. Ideas are too narrow. The main roles take family relation more seriously than human survival. And they didn't respect rules. (⭐⭐⭐) 5. Emotional expressions not natural. Lines are awkward. Too much 'tear points' but got little touching. (⭐⭐⭐⭐)

This is the equal to any US blockbuster in years and I believe that most of the negative reviews are simply an offshoot of the Chinese equivalent of whitewashing. The hero's and decision makers are all Chinese and this is simply growing pains of the Chinese movie making industry and not unlike all movies made in western countries made for decades before the awakening of the globalist world view that has plagued the US in the 21st century. This is an excellent movie and those that say it's not are looking for tiny nits to pick.

Went in with big expectations as a fan of Liu Cixin's Three Body Problem. Have not read Wandering Earth, so can't compare, but perhaps reading it would have made the movie easier to follow. Outside of Wu Jing, the main characters in general were hard to like, especially his son Liu Qi and adopted daughter, Duoduo, both acting like petulant children. Expected high levels of cheesiness, but the jokes fell flat and the emotional tear jerking scenes were milked dry. While you should go into a sci-fi with an open-mind, temporarily suspending reality, this had hole after hole and jumped all over the place. At one point, one of the special force team members suddenly fell on his face - he froze to death for no apparent reason. Kind of summed up the movie. While I am sure the novel is as unique as anything Liu Cixin has written, the movie is a lesser version of Armegeddon, lacking the fun, character building (I know, I am talking about a Michael Bay movie) and star power. Did enjoy seeing a Chinese perspective and wasn't overly nationalistic like Wu Jing's former Wolf Warrior. Living in Shanghai, was also fun seeing the city and the rest of the country highlighted as it fell beneath natural disasters, joining NYC, Paris, London and the rest of the major cities that regularly are destroyed for popcorn munching sake. China continues to head in the right direction when it comes to great movie making and hope it continues. If anything, this has me heading out tomorrow to buy Wandering Earth, the novel.

The movie is groundbreaking for China in that the special effects are impressive and that it shows they can do sci-fi in design. Sadly, aside from that, there's not much to like about the movie.

To put into context first, Wandering Earth cannot be compared to a Marvel or DC Comics movie nor to most sci-fi movies: they are completely different genres and are much less likely to involve human cooperation. At it's core Wandering Earth is a 'doomsday' or 'disaster' movie. It should be compared to movies like: The Day After Tomorrow; Armageddon; Deep Impact; Outbreak; Contagion; etc.

In that context, Wandering Earth has a very basic, standard plot. The characters are similar, except exaggerated and over the top. Together, aside from the usual interdepartment and/or international disagreements and eventual cooperation that can be found in such disaster movies, the plot and characters sum up to: "Young, handsome rebel who hates his dad (unreasonably) and acts selfishly in all but the final moments ends up a hero".

The acting is weak. Character motivations are vague and often elaborated on only at the moment of death or near death (eg. through flashbacks), so there is no bonding with the characters on the way there. The main character swings back and forth between wanting to sacrifice all humanity to selfishly save his own friends and family (which would be very temporary) and wanting to sacrifice other people's lives to save all humanity. There is zero chance of ever feeling any connection or sympathy with that character. Potentially moving/touching moments are ruined by the way-too-obvious comedic relief characters (eg. watch someone important die, then laugh because the guy with white hair did something silly). The 'action' arc is "intro - climax - climax - climax - climax - climax - climax - conclusion" to the point that the climax just feels like it's dragging on and on.

Worst of all: There is an amazing sci-fi premise that is pulled off spectactularly with the special effects, but it amounts to nothing. It is the backdrop for just another disaster movie.