‘Ne Zha 2’ Review: A Record-Breaking Spectacle Worthy of The Hype

After 2019’s Ne Zha, based on the Chinese mythological character, grossed over $700M worldwide, director Yang Yu (also known as Jiaozi) has returned to bring an animated spectacle quite unlike anything I’ve ever seen before. Read our Ne Zha 2 review.

To preface, before I watched Ne Zha 2 (also known as Ne Zha: The Demon Boy Churns the Sea), I had never seen the original. While this isn’t something I normally do, after the film grossed $2.15 billion worldwide, becoming the highest-grossing animated film ever, I felt like I had to see this. After I missed its initial release in theaters, luckily for me, A24 picked up the English dub distribution rights and put the film back in IMAX 3D this past weekend. I watched the film in IMAX 3D with Laser and it was absolutely breathtaking. I don’t really know Chinese mythology at all; my only experiences with it have been Dragon Ball Z and Black Myth: Wukong, but even with my limited knowledge, I found this to be incredibly easy to follow, given its in-depth recap of the first installment at the beginning. 

Ne Zha 2 follows the demon orb, Ne Zha (Griffin Puatu), and his best friend, the spirit orb, Ao Bing (Aleks Le), after their physical forms are destroyed following a battle. While Ne Zha’s Master Taiyi (Rick Zeiff) rebuilds new physical forms for the pair, things go awry as a result of Shen Gongbao’s (Daniel Riordan) attack on the village of Chentang Pass, and Ao Bing’s spirit is put into Ne Zha’s body. Master Taiyi and the pair journey to take the trials necessary to get Ao Bing his new physical form, while the threat of Chentang Pass’s destruction puts a sense of urgency in the heroes. 

From the opening action sequence of the siege on Chentang Pass, I was glued to the multiplex screen, with my attention not breaking once throughout the 144-minute runtime. Yang Yu has crafted quite easily some of the most epic action setpieces I’ve ever seen in my life. From start to finish, the film has a rhythm of amazing character development, then follows that with some of the most badass action you’ve ever seen. Even though the film is animated (quite gorgeously, I must reiterate), the action sequences feel so real as the movement of the characters is so fluid, as is the camera. It feels almost rare these days that we get an animated film that feels truly epic. We’ve had some in the 2020s with Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, and The Boy and the Heron, but Ne Zha 2 is quite simply on another level. Its characters have so much depth, while also having a very complex story that made my jaw drop several times. 

However, this film is not perfect, at least the English dub isn’t. Sometimes the dialogue characters say doesn’t match what’s happening onscreen, and some of the performances are just pure annoying. A24’s big marketing gimmick was that for this dub, Michelle Yeoh would be portraying Lady Yin, Ne Zha’s mother. I watched the first film as soon as I returned from the second, and was immediately caught off guard to find out a lot of the voice actors from the original English dub weren’t present for the sequel. At the start of the film, before the story really began, I was a little bit worried about the numerous fart and booger jokes in the film. I know one fart is in the animation, so that’s in the sub, but maybe they added more unnecessary ones in this dub. Other than those nitpicks, I was blown away by this film. It’s a rare case of something being really hyped and living up to the expectation made with immense passion. In a world where theatrically released animated films aren’t as common as they were 20 years ago, Ne Zha 2 proves that when the right group of creatives is put together, anything is possible in animation. 

When I revisit these films, I will definitely be watching the original Mandarin versions, as I prefer watching movies in their original language. Ne Zha 2 is an absolute triumph of animation and is a wonderful time at the movies. I finally understand why this is the 5th highest-grossing film of all time, and urge fans of epic films to see it on the biggest screen possible while they still can.

Ne Zha 2 was written and directed by Yang Yu. The story was adapted from the 16th-century Chinese novel, Investiture of the Gods, by Xu Zhonglin and Lu Xixing. The film stars Lu Yanting, Joseph, Han Mo, Chen Hao, Lu Qi, Zhang Jiaming, Yang Wei, Wang Deshun, and Yu Chen. It was originally released in theaters and IMAX 3D by Beijing Enlight Pictures on February 14th, 2025. A24 released the English dub in theaters and IMAX 3D on August 22, 2025.