Ni shi ying jiu

If you think of this movie as Sci-Fi, it is a mess. Let go the Sci part, and look at it for what it is. Fiction or just plain Fantasy.

The issue is that the script itself doesn't decide what this is. Time Travel or Parallel universes. If they don't understand the difference, explains why everything happened how it did.

Now.. it is not total garbage. As the pro list, i could say it was fun, characters are likable, and the FX is decent. The con list would be that the story/dialogue is borderline stupid (honestly, you will guess every single plot twist before it even start), and the acting ability is amateurish. So, if you watch this not expecting a mind bending movie, you might enjoy it. (Hey, there are some hollywood movies about the same topic that are completely moronic... )

This film basically is about time travel, about how a researcher tries to save her child from various circumstances by travelling back to the amount of time permitted.

This does sound familiar, however, one thing to note is how there were a few seemingly random scenes at the beginning of the film which would remain unexplained until near the end of the film. Thus, it will be kinda mysterious and confusing here and there.

What I find this film lacking is how it presents the scenarios. There were a few scenes which were so incredibly impossible or careless that I really find it hard that this is catered to adults. Thus, the story line becomes boring and predictable, and I kind of lost interest halfway the show. However, there were also quite a few unexpected twists which made the plot line interesting.

In conclusion, this is a film that you should take a pinch of salt with when watching because even for a sci-fi film, it doesn't look very realistic. Watch for the action, not the logic.

This is perhaps not a 1982 Blade Runner or Brazil, but it is not too bad either. Lately the American movies are getting stupider by the day, especially the SF ones which are just buckets of PC, and the Chinese market tries and succeeds in dethroning Hollywood from the pedestal. What goes up will go down. I suspect that in few years we'll see really good SF Far East movies. We'll just have to adapt to a different language. The movie keeps up your attention and for that, it's great.

Since the media frenzy caused by the Three Body Problem winning the Hugo award, Chinese sci-fi community has been taking advantage of the situation and pushing for major expansion. The abrupt increase of Chinese sci-fi films production is the evident result. However, the sustainability of this development relies on the quality of these products. Although still rusty by art standard, this film is good enough to earn further support for the genre from the public and officials alike.

This film is set in near future, with somewhat detailed characterization of near future life.

On the story side, the character development of the main protagonist seem a little too fast to be natural, which is only justifiable if attributed to the side affect of time travel. However, the contrast of these personalities is rather interesting.

It also consists of all the necessary elements of a successful film in China, action, humor and weird personas. Also, an obvious educational element is added at the end of the film to secure the dragon seal required for a mainland release.

When you reset something, you try to make it better. But if you do it too often, you may end up with a mess that you can not improve any longer. Keep that in mind. The motivation of the main character here is relatable, but you may find yourself shaking your head more than once, looking at the direction the movie takes.

Time travel movies have problems and they are not easy to write. Also if you are too impatient, you may have expectations that the movie cannot fulfill. Having said that, this movie is entertaining enough and has enough suspense for you not to care about certain things. While it also delivers impossible stunts from a woman that is a scientist first ... but maybe was a warrior in her previous life. Again try not to overthink it ... and those are the obvious things you can pick out. Just watch it and enjoy it for the romp that it is ...