The Wandering Earth

Review of The Wandering Earth -by Wanling Bai The movie The Wandering Earth, adapted from the novel of the same name written by Liu Cixin, was directed by Frant Guo. In the movie, the actor Jing Wu takes the role of protagonist, Liu Peiqiang. The movie takes place on earth and its nearby space station in the near future. Normally, I don't watch movies of the Sci-Fi genre, however this is an exception because it's not only about the technology of the future, but also human emotions and connections. The movie tells a story about scientists finding that the sun is dying soon; so, people all over the world trying to escape from the disaster, come up with a plan where they move the Earth from its orbit. Liu Peiqiang is an astronaut who goes to the nearby space station when his son Liu qi was only four years old. About fifteen years later, when it's time for him to return, the earth's engine has a problem, so Liu Peiqiang must stay back to help his son to save the earth from falling into Jupiter. The best part of this movie is that people unite to save the earth. At first, we see that humanity has given up, but when Han DuoDuo, a teenage nice girl, speaks to the rescue team about giving humanity one last try, they get everything together and save the earth. This shows that although heroes are important, united people have the power that no one can match. The creators try to convey the theme "In unity lies power", and were successful in doing so by showing only when everyone unites, they succeed in saving the earth and all life. They are successful in passing the message, but some of the plot points and reactions of the characters don't connect well. For example, Han DuoDuo's reaction to her grandfather's death is neither consistent nor loyal to character. Overall, the movie is really good. It is definitely good value for money and an enjoyable film.

This is the equal to any US blockbuster in years and I believe that most of the negative reviews are simply an offshoot of the Chinese equivalent of whitewashing. The hero's and decision makers are all Chinese and this is simply growing pains of the Chinese movie making industry and not unlike all movies made in western countries made for decades before the awakening of the globalist world view that has plagued the US in the 21st century. This is an excellent movie and those that say it's not are looking for tiny nits to pick.

Having raked in over $600m at the box office, The Wandering Earth is yet another massive blockbuster from China. However, like so many enormous Chinese blockbusters in recent years, it's all style and no substance, with excessive emphasis on special effects and incoherent fantasy that really impedes any attempts to craft a more elegant or majestic space opera.

And that's where I want to start, because from the beginning of this movie, you'll likely be reminded of a number of other films that go about telling sci-fi stories in a rather different way. The Wandering Earth is based on a novel of its own, so it's not in any way a Chinese remake, but the premise and key ideas explored in the film, particularly in the opening act, are hugely reminiscent of both Christopher Nolan's Interstellar and Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey.

Now, both Interstellar and 2001 are absolute masterpieces of modern sci-fi, because they tell a fantasy story with a stunning sense of grandeur and majesty that can't be achieved in any other genre. In that, while both movies have a plot and characters of their own, it's almost as if space itself is their main component, with astonishing visual effects playing into an eye-opening and almost spiritual depiction of the final frontier.

The Wandering Earth, on the other hand, takes a far more simplistic and unfortunately dull approach to telling a sci-fi story. It does have the special effects to dazzle (although I talk more about that in a moment), but it feels so much more like a formulaic space adventure movie, rather than the majestic space opera that it's so desperately trying to be.

Its opening sequence depicts the ever-intensifying threat of celestial destruction, and throughout, the film relates personal difficulties and tragedies in tandem with the danger of space travel and colonisation. And yet, while all of those ingredients make the film ripe for the sort of emotionally hard-hitting and elegant watch that is a great space opera, it's all overwhelmed by its more basic blockbuster tendencies.

In that, the film's quartet of young leads takes a little of the grandeur out of the story, bringing it closer to something reminiscent of the YA genre, while the special effects are often totally over the top, with an excessively brash and chaotic depiction of the dangers and threats present in space, something that really isn't necessary, as proved by better films such as Interstellar and Gravity.

On top of that, its near future setting, although only in the late 2050s, feels light years away from the present we know today. Unlike Interstellar, whose near future is almost identical to the present day, The Wandering Earth is full of fantasy and sci-fi gibberish about the Earth of the future that's both fairly incomprehensible and difficult to relate to, further taking away from your ability to emotionally engross yourself in the story and feel the real power of what this story has to offer.

And I say that because, despite not thinking much of the movie, there are moments where the film really tries hard to be something more majestic and elegant than just another space adventure. Its fantasy and excessive special effects often make it feel more like Jupiter Ascending than Interstellar, but there are a few moments of emotional intrigue and pathos that do indicate its intentions, and briefly provide an engrossing and impressive respite from an otherwise both chaotic and formulaic movie.

Overall, then, I wasn't particularly taken by The Wandering Earth. Its ambition is clear from the start, and with a premise that's reminiscent of real greats of modern sci-fi, it should have been an elegant, moving and majestic watch. However, with a generic plot that's far heavier on brash special effects, fantasy mumbo jumbo and chaotic action, it really misses the mark when delivering a sci-fi that's a little more special to the normal fare.

1. Background settings have great imagination. Very romantic in some way. (⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐) 2. Visual effects is wonderful (and made by Chinese, not easy) (⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐) 3. Plot not good. The director didn't handle to tell the story well. Rhythm is weird. Plot is not mind-catching. (⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐) 4. Ideas are too narrow. The main roles take family relation more seriously than human survival. And they didn't respect rules. (⭐⭐⭐) 5. Emotional expressions not natural. Lines are awkward. Too much 'tear points' but got little touching. (⭐⭐⭐⭐)

The movie is groundbreaking for China in that the special effects are impressive and that it shows they can do sci-fi in design. Sadly, aside from that, there's not much to like about the movie.

To put into context first, Wandering Earth cannot be compared to a Marvel or DC Comics movie nor to most sci-fi movies: they are completely different genres and are much less likely to involve human cooperation. At it's core Wandering Earth is a 'doomsday' or 'disaster' movie. It should be compared to movies like: The Day After Tomorrow; Armageddon; Deep Impact; Outbreak; Contagion; etc.

In that context, Wandering Earth has a very basic, standard plot. The characters are similar, except exaggerated and over the top. Together, aside from the usual interdepartment and/or international disagreements and eventual cooperation that can be found in such disaster movies, the plot and characters sum up to: "Young, handsome rebel who hates his dad (unreasonably) and acts selfishly in all but the final moments ends up a hero".

The acting is weak. Character motivations are vague and often elaborated on only at the moment of death or near death (eg. through flashbacks), so there is no bonding with the characters on the way there. The main character swings back and forth between wanting to sacrifice all humanity to selfishly save his own friends and family (which would be very temporary) and wanting to sacrifice other people's lives to save all humanity. There is zero chance of ever feeling any connection or sympathy with that character. Potentially moving/touching moments are ruined by the way-too-obvious comedic relief characters (eg. watch someone important die, then laugh because the guy with white hair did something silly). The 'action' arc is "intro - climax - climax - climax - climax - climax - climax - conclusion" to the point that the climax just feels like it's dragging on and on.

Worst of all: There is an amazing sci-fi premise that is pulled off spectactularly with the special effects, but it amounts to nothing. It is the backdrop for just another disaster movie.