The Wandering Earth 2

If you are a fan of science fiction films, action blockbuster films, or both, then this movie is for you. This movie takes the usual Hollywood sci-fi movie tropes and puts a unique Chinese spin on them. Without getting into details, it's about a group of scientists and astronauts trying to save the world from imminent destruction while governments disagree on the best course of action. The movie takes us on a wild ride as teams of unlikely heroes face moral dilemmas and make sacrifices to secure the future of mankind. At its core, the film delivers a hopeful message about the power of humanity when we work together to solve problems - a message that is sorely needed in the current times.

Pros: Jaw-dropping action sequences, slick CGI and some thought-provoking technological and philosophical concepts that will make you think about where humanity is headed in the future. Themes such as AI and automation, our increasing dependence on technology, the meaning of human existence and mortality, and the future of civilization, provide plenty of food for thought. There is also a major plot twist in the third act that you will not see coming, so stay tuned till the end, especially during the credits (there's an Easter egg scene that hints at a possible third installment to this franchise).

Cons: The movie is bit lengthy, at nearly 3 hours, so make sure you avoid drinking a lot of fluids before or during the movie. (Apparently the director already cut 80 minutes out of the movie, so it really was the equivalent of two movies packed into one.) Also, because the movie is multilingual, some languages are dubbed weirdly in some scenes, but it's easy to overlook this because you'll be too busy marvelling at the visuals or trying to keep up with all the action sequences.

Conclusion: If you are a fan of sci-fi action blockbusters then this movie is for you. Definitely do not miss it in cinemas - this is a movie that needs to be seen on the big screen.

This one is better than the first movie, which is very rare these days. The story lines are great. Although there are some plots that do not make a lot sense, it doesn't affect the overall rating at all. It doesn't make me feel it's a 3hr movie at all. This is actually the best Si-Fi movie I have watched in the last 3 years (and I've watched a lot lol) and I think it's fair to say it's better than 70% of the Hollywood Si-Fi movies these days.

I'm looking forward to the third one now given there are some flash forward scenes hinting at the next story line. Also, don't miss the credits at the end. I left early and have to read up on the end credit scenes online afterwards.

Over the last decade, Chinese cinema has made giant leaps and bounds in terms of quality and sophistication of their films, especially in sci-fi genre. The Wandering Earth and this prequel, The Wandering Earth II, is a significant milestone. As a prequel, it has more depth in the story than the first, though the premise behind the main conflict is a bit shallow to be believed, as if "digital life" and survival of the planet are mutually exclusive. Pizza OR pepperoni? What kind of a decision is that? You still need the pizza, with or without the pepperoni.

But like its predecessor, the problem is pacing. The story is grand, an epic tale of an audacious plan to save mankind and Earth from the dying sun. But the pacing is so ridiculously fast, that it's difficult to enjoy and appreciate it. It's so focused on the crisis from all angles that it feels like every scene and every shot is less than two seconds long. For subtitle readers, it's even worse to follow. On top of that, there is visual information overload, with names flashing on the screen. There is so much going on, you will be afraid to blink and miss an important plot point.

And then there are the annoying tropes. I think this is the third or fourth Chinese film and TV show I've recently watched that has a shrill little girl/daughter yelling and crying "Baba! Baba!" to stoke our sympathy and emotional attachment to. And, where do they find these foreign actors?!? They cannot act and they are loud. Perhaps this is how they want to portray westerners, but there are plenty of international films shown in China--they have to know how bad these actors are, right? With so many actors (waiters) in Hollywood looking for work, you'd think it'd be easy to find more passable supporting cast.

Despite all this, you're not going to watch The Wandering Earth series for the acting--this is a CGI spectacle. It's gorgeous, and if you treat it like cut scenes from a triple-A video game, you'll enjoy it a lot.

I saw this film last night with perhaps twenty others. Most of the audience were young and female. And Mandarin speaking.

My province in Canada - British Columbia - has a large Asian community but this mainland China blockbuster is only being shown in two cities, Vancouver and Victoria.

Pity.

In some ways the film's story surprised me: there is a mission, the mission seems largely Chinese led, but the success of this mission depends entirely on the cooperation of thirty three nations.

We dive in quickly with the arrival of 1138 new recruits who are blasted into space at 9 Gs. We are introduced to key characters who will have a role to play over the next three hours, amd thirty years.

Their mission is almost stillborn because of a successful, well organized and coordinated terrorist attack by 'terrorists' of DIGITAL LIFE. This group strongly disagrees with the coalition to build massive engines to move the earth away from the advancing sun predicted by science to hit Earth in one hundred years.

The balance of the film focuses on efforts to build those engines; preserve space elevators; move or blow up the moon. Obstacles at every point.

I grew irritated by on screen announcements of events that would unfold: in years, months, hours, minutes...

I appreciated how Sfx were used to show the great strides science could implement especially the supercomputer 550 and its successors.

I was able to sort out the leading players: two Chinese officials, a Russian and an American in a futuristic UN; two key Chinese scientists- hello ANDY LAU who looked impossibly young in the scenes with his AI daughter, and a handful of pilots who bond despite their nations' politics.

Indeed the closest I came to shredding a tear came late with said pilots 'volunteered' on essentially asus ice mission.

Did anyone else feel key characters were killed off, only to. Resurrected?

This film should challenge you: it should make you sad; you may feel you are helpless against what fate Mankind is maki f for itself.

If a significant part of the world's population questioned the existence of COVID, a significant number of people believe an election was stolen, I am relieved this film ends with "I choose hope".

It's a catastrophical & sci-fic film with a novel epic narrative. The Wandering Earth 2 is more about the values of a community of shared future that unites all mankind. The special effects, needless to say, were a huge improvement over the first film, and the plot filled in the first film's shortcomings. At the same time, as the second of the series, it did not regress like most movies, but made obvious progress,. The overall score is 9 points, looking forward to the third part to bring us a better story.

There are three lines in the movie which build a wonderful construction. I promise it deserves one ticket.

By the way, it's a prequel. However,it doesn't matter to me.