What New Chinese Movies Are Worth Watching
With huge budgets and attracting massive audiences, Chinese movies are now a force to be reckoned with. What are some of the recent blockbuster hits from this country that you might not have heard about before now?
The Wandering Earth 2
Asian culture is increasingly appealing to Western audiences, as we can see from TV series such as South Korea’s Squid Game and movies including 2022’s RRR from India. A look at the Paddy Power casino reveals many slots based on an Asian theme, with Coin! Coin! Coin! Slot at Paddy’s a good example. This Playtech tech has reels that feature symbols such as bells, dragons, and lanterns. The gold and red color scheme is seen in several other Asian-themed slots and this exotic yet luxurious style has proved popular with players.
Going back to the movie industry, The Wandering Earth 2 is the prequel to the 2019 film of the same name. The first movie is on Netflix but the What’s on Netflix site confirms that no details have yet been released of whether The Wandering Earth 2 will be made available on this or other streaming services. The original is set in the future and shows how a team of astronauts try to stop the Earth from getting too close to the expanding Sun or crashing into Jupiter. In the second movie, the year is 2058 and it’s feared that the Sun will engulf the Earth in the next century.
The solution is to build thousands of engines to carry our planet into a different solar system, while people on Earth are moved into underground shelters. The main characters are an astronaut (Liu Peiqiang), a diplomat (Zhou Zhezhi), and an engineer (Tu Hengyu). Incredible 3D animation brings the story dramatically to life and, like the first movie, The Wandering Earth 2 has been a massive commercial success in China
Full River Red
Director Zhang Yimou brings us this movie, which is described as a historical comedy thriller. The action occurs in the 12th century and follows the Southern Song Dynasty through a series of mysterious murders and a conspiracy. Western viewers might not fully understand the historical context of the story or the fact that the title comes from a poem dating back to the period in question.
In terms of popularity, it was released right at the end of 2022 and was the country’s top film over the Chinese New Year this year. Full River Red is now the sixth highest-grossing Chinese movie of all time, one place behind The Wandering Earth. It’s also now been released on Netflix in some regions.
The Battle at Lake Changjin
Made in 2021, this movie is a little older than the others we’ve looked at. However, it’s worth considering since it’s the highest-grossing movie in Chinese history. As seen in this review by The Guardian, the plot revolves around the Chinese army battling American forces during the Korean War.
It was massively popular on release and has grossed over $900 million at box offices across China. Globally, this was 2021’s second most popular movie behind Spider-Man: No Way Home. Yet, it’s been criticized for alleged historical inaccuracies and the ratings given by Western viewers are far lower than those given by Chinese audiences.
These three movies are all worth watching, although The Wandering Earth 2 is arguably the most accessible for Western viewers who aren’t familiar with Chinese history and culture.
