Well Go USA is the premiere distribution for Asian cinema and while most of it is focused on horror and martial arts they have so much more in their library. Their latest, Nezha takes on the world of animation featuring the voice talent of Yanting Lu, Mo Han, Hao Chen, Wei Yang and Jiaming Zhang from director Yu Yang.

 

Nezha follows a young boy, Nezha, is birthed from a heavenly pearl by the Primeval Lord of Heaven. Born with unique powers, Nezha finds himself as an outcast who is hated and feared. Destined by prophecy to bring destruction to the world, the young boy must choose between good and evil in order to break the shackles of fate and become the

hero.

 

Going in I was on the fence with this one from the trailers, but damn if it isn’t great. The story reminds me of the Monkey King films in tone and characters, but here it has ditched the silliness. Make no mistake there are some comical moments and characters, but it felt like it takes itself a lot more seriously for the most part and delivers. I love the look of it all as it brings everything from the epic Asian martial arts films to the table including some great fight sequences. The character designs are excellent with hints of anime at points, but still feels like something unique and memorable.

 

The overall tones to the color palate and scenery is a treat to the senses offering up a vibrant tone that stands out. This allows the bigger moments featuring magic, dragons and epic fights look and feel massive to smash home the story. Everything here is beautiful, but even more so the execution of the dragon that truly stands out and captures the essence of the mythical creature and culture. There is also a great moment that pays homage to the original Terminator that had me smiling ear to ear.

 

In the end I loved this film way more than I had expected too. It brings everything you could want in an animated feature, martial arts magic epic and Asian cinema. This is not only a great movie it has me even more excited to see this studios next feature Jiang Ziya also coming soon from Well Go USA.