A Lenda de Hei

Dating back to 2011, the mysterious independent producer MTJJ created the character of Luo Xiao-Hei and animated TV series as well. With stick figure style yet marvelous storyline and profound worldview, the series captured millions of viewers and considered to be the shining star of domestic animation. Though facing difficulties of fund and staff shortages, MTJJ never gave up and keep on serializing to 28 short episodes, about 2 hours in total, till this day with the help of a team consists of few people. That's why the 100 mins long 2D animated film with the same name set off a fan carnival this summer. Not only the smooth painting style can be compared to world famous Studio Ghibli and Kyoto Animation, the intimate growing up tale also touched the innermost feelings of audiences, let along Easter eggs hidden everywhere and homage paying to classics. Last but not least, the film portraits a true Chinese style atmosphere with a glimpse of ancient and modern China together. The movie do have a relatively slow pacing of daily life stories In the first half which may cause some audience fell a little bit dull. Whatever the flaws, it still resembles a milestone of modern day 2D Chinese animated films

At the beginning, I always thought that the rise of Guoman meant the picture rather than the plot, but now I know what the real rise of Guoman is. Just this plot, picture, clip and soundtrack have reached the world level. Unexpectedly, douban'er fell from 9.0 to 8.2! It's a pity that the film didn't show in America, otherwise it would have won the Oscar.

I hadn't seen any trailers or heard anything about this movie before watching it. I simply had a lot of nieces who liked cats and this looked like a cute cat movie. The cat on the cover is just ridiculously cute, with its big cat eyes, how could I resist picking it?

For the first 7 minutes of the film it follows basically how I imagined the story to go. Hei is a cat that lives in the forest, until the evil monster known as "man" comes and destroys it. Hei must then find a new home in the city. Hijinks ensue as he and his smaller hairball companion ( I never did figure out what it was supposed to be) search for food and shelter. Now, if you want to watch the movie as ignorant as possible stop reading now and just be surprised by the craziness which follows. But, since part of a review is to give the reader some idea of what the movie is like, I will explain the premise.

As some bully kids decide to torment the cat, Hei transforms into a giant cat beast. Before Hei can get vengeance on the kids, they are instead picked off by phantom tree branches. These tree branches are being controlled by some kind of tree bending spirit. A number of spirits then join in and sweep Hei off to a hideout in the woods. Hei transforms into a cat boy hybrid. The hideout is then invaded by a metal bending "enforcer" who captures Hei and plans to take him to the realm of spirits...That all happens in about 6 minutes of screentime. I had no idea what kind of movie I was getting into

Once I adjusted to the tonal whiplash of the opening, I did find myself enjoying the film. Safe to say that I never knew what to expect going forward, so it always kept me on my toes. The movie is (mostly) very well animated and incredibly creative. I found myself very swept up in the drama of it. Certain action scenes towards the end had me at the edge of my seat.

On the negative side, the main enforcer, named "Infinity", is really dull. He speaks all his lines in the same monotone whisper, trying to convey the air of a tough stoic Samurai. Other main characters are also pretty bland and forgettable.

Not to mention, this film is crazy. Throughout the finale the rules of this world are put into question. It concludes in a confusing way, taking advantage of some obscure loophole in the lore that wasn't really explained. And there are times where the animators were just wanting to take a break, so they will linger on a still frame for nearly a minute.

But, if you find yourself in the mood for some craziness, this may be the film for you. It has some crazy over the top action scenes and keeps you guessing where it's going to go up to the very end. I didn't understand all of it, but it certainly left an impression on me.

This is a big effort in 2D animation for China, trying very hard to deliver a product that could be at the same time exciting and profound and that has the look of a blockbuster Japanese Anime, more specifically the Studio Ghibli ones. And the end result manages to work in some occasions and to look quite the part, but still suffers from some pacing problems and a lack of emotional focus at times. Also, the way the story develops ends up being quite conventional, but for the most part it's an enjoyable film.

If you have seen the TV version of this film, you will get confused by the birth of Hei. The film is here to introduce it.

In my opnion, the film is special. It pays more attention to audience exprience. In the film, the perspective follows Hei. We can feel the emotional change of Hei.

What's more, the film brings us to think about ethics. It is not only a storyline, but also a intro into the thinking of right and wrong. Each character is not completely right or wrong. Everything is judged by the audience.

The shortcoming of the film is that it is not very friendly to a western audience. As an asian audience, he or she can understand the film quite well. But as to western audience, he or she may have to know more background about asian culture.

More, I strongly recommend you to watch the TV version, which is now free of charge. If you do so, you would have a brand new view of all characters.