Interesting for showing the Chinese state of mind
While many of the reviews for this thing are likely paid posts - but then so are many for Disney and Marvel - this is interesting to watch for non-Chinese viewers to assess the Chinese mindset in the middle of the biggest political crisis since WWII. With all the noise about Taiwan, do the Chinese use mega-productions like these to rouse anti-foreign sentiment like the Americans do (and they themselves did with "Wolf Warrior 2"? Well, turns out this is not the case and China seems committed to a we-have-to-work-together-or-else ideology which is fairly appropriate given the many, many problems the world is facing right now.
The very convoluted story is almost impossible to break down for this three-hour action piece in which something explodes every five minutes, but the basics are that a Chinese-led, yet internationally financed and coordinated team of scientists builds a net of mega thrusters to propel Earth out of the solar orbit before the sun flares up. There's a lunar station to test those thrusters reached by some kind of mega elevator which is attacked by terrorists (suspiciously similar to Isaac Asimov's "Foundation"). First of many major script flaws: who are they? What is their motivation? Who backs them? The film makers can't be bothered to explain.
At this point you have to switch off your brain to enjoy the movie, otherwise it becomes sheer torture because nothing makes sense. Andy Lau's scientist is obsessed with uploading his dead daughter's collected memory into a new form of AI - does this cause the malfunction on the Moon which then puts it on collision course with Earth? No answer. But hey, did "Avatar The Way of the Water" make any sense? Not really, but it had perhaps a tad more character development. After two hours, you continue asking yourself "who are these people"?
If you are neutral on the US-China conflict, this is an enjoyable albeit completely bonkers disaster flick which may give you a little hope that the Chinese are not quite as belligerent as the US would have make us believe. If you find glaring plot holes and complete lack of coherency insufferable, better watch something else.
The very convoluted story is almost impossible to break down for this three-hour action piece in which something explodes every five minutes, but the basics are that a Chinese-led, yet internationally financed and coordinated team of scientists builds a net of mega thrusters to propel Earth out of the solar orbit before the sun flares up. There's a lunar station to test those thrusters reached by some kind of mega elevator which is attacked by terrorists (suspiciously similar to Isaac Asimov's "Foundation"). First of many major script flaws: who are they? What is their motivation? Who backs them? The film makers can't be bothered to explain.
At this point you have to switch off your brain to enjoy the movie, otherwise it becomes sheer torture because nothing makes sense. Andy Lau's scientist is obsessed with uploading his dead daughter's collected memory into a new form of AI - does this cause the malfunction on the Moon which then puts it on collision course with Earth? No answer. But hey, did "Avatar The Way of the Water" make any sense? Not really, but it had perhaps a tad more character development. After two hours, you continue asking yourself "who are these people"?
If you are neutral on the US-China conflict, this is an enjoyable albeit completely bonkers disaster flick which may give you a little hope that the Chinese are not quite as belligerent as the US would have make us believe. If you find glaring plot holes and complete lack of coherency insufferable, better watch something else.
- Radu_A
- Apr 15, 2023