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Watching 'The Wandering Earth'

My thoughts on the 2019 Chinese film.

By BoblobV2Published 5 years ago 4 min read
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The Wandering Earth is a Chinese sci-fi film that came out in early 2019, and was distributed by Netflix after its theatrical run was over. The film revolves around the idea that the sun is dying, and so the human race comes together in order to develop a plan that would help humanity survive, as such, what they decide to do is to move the Earth itself into the nearest solar system.

Director - Frant Gwo

Written by - Frant Gwo

Gong Geer

Junce Ye

Yan Dongxu

Yang Zhixue

Starring - Jing Wu

Chuxiao Qu

Jin Mai Jaho

Music - Roc Chen

The film was made on the budget of $50 million, and earned $700 million in the worldwide box office, receiving generally positive reviews. Having recently watched the film, these are my quick thoughts.

As far as the narrative is concerned, it is simple enough. Along the journey towards the new solar system, things go into disarray as the gravitational pull of Jupiter causes problems all over Earth. Intertwined with this cataclysm is a family drama of a boy who is angry towards his father for having left on a fifteen year journey on the spaceship that is helping guide the Earth. In the midst of all this, the son is roped into helping a rescue team reignite the thrusters on the planet, and make sure Earth does not collide with Jupiter.

Much of the film is quite cheesy and convenient, leaning more towards a melodrama than anything else. However, that is also the film’s greatest strength, focusing more on the emotions of the characters, rather than the logic of the film, or the world that these characters find themselves in. As a result, it provides some incredibly emotional scenes throughout the film. There is also a surprising amount of humor sprinkled in throughout the film, which helps make everything palatable to a viewer, allowing there to be a break from the dour situation the characters are in.

As far as the visuals go, they are fantastic, and you can see every penny that has been invested on screen. Both the practical effects, and the CGI are integrated seamlessly most of the time. In addition, there are some really interesting shots throughout the film that makes it interesting to look at, as the film is carrying on. There is a certain weight to the effects that lend themselves well to the realism of the film, and makes things slightly more believable, despite the outlandish idea. There is a visual consistency to the film that is impressive to behold, whether it be in the underground, on the surface, or in space.

The characters are quite one-note for the most part, with character arcs being quite subtle, or non existent altogether. That being said, we do learn about who the characters are, what their personalities are like, what they are good at, and so on and so forth. This adds to the emotion that is felt at the end of the film, despite there not being a lot of character progression, there is a lot of character development, so when these characters are in danger, we feel it that much more. This is all benefited by the fact that the film is incredibly earnest, ultimately going on to provide a message that is positive, and hopeful.

The music serves its purpose well enough. It is most effective when it is used in the film, mainly because if you are to listen to it on its own, it does not stand out from any of the orchestral music that you can find for free on YouTube. By no means is it a bad soundtrack, it simply does not stand out, though one can argue that is the point when it comes to a soundtrack made for a film.

In closing, this is a film I recommend to those who are fans of disaster movies, or giant monster movies primarily, however if you were to ask me if you should watch it or not—because of how niche it is—I would say to watch the film if you are bored and have nothing to do on Netflix for two hours. This is a film I really enjoyed, and is one I recognize that is not for everyone.

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About the Creator

BoblobV2

Writing about anime, and anything else I find interesting.

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