LogFAQs > #975120110

Inviso: I cant believe this fucking bullshit was almost two hours long. I hated EVERY fucking minute of this. This hearkened back to classic Disney bullshit, with a bratty, obnoxious lead character who made the film utterly unwatchable. Ne Zha is created as a result of some spiritual treachery that leads to a baby being infused with a demon spirit instead of a heavenly spirit, and as a result, the main character of the film becomes an obnoxious piece of shit (as babies/children often are), cranked up to fucking eleven.
For like, the first eighty percent of the film, he is portrayed as uncaring, bratty, and just generally mean-spirited to everyone around him. The village he lives in hates him, yet its NEVER portrayed like their hatred is irrational. Even when they mistakenly blame him for something, he goes out of his way to behave far worse than what theyre accusing him of. This attitude continues, until a random flashback hits and shows the audience a deleted scene showing Ne Zhas dad willing to sacrifice himself to protect his son from a curse. I would willing to tolerate this this kind of purposeful withholding of information, if it didnt feel forced onto the plot to makes us give a shit about this character.
And wouldnt you know it, after being a piece of shit the whole movie up to that point, and throwing a fucking tantrum as his birthday party when he learned that he actually IS a demonits like a switch flips, and suddenly every action he takes is unequivocally heroic. Theres no character growthits literally just a switch flipping. And what makes it more frustrating is that he becomes the hero, fighting Ao Bing, after Ao Bing ALSO makes a completely stupid heel turn and tries to murder an entire villagebecause the bad guy justtells him to? Oh, but then both he and Ne Zha (who are friends because theyre both outcasts), BOTH turn good and help each other save everyone.
I feel like this would have been more enjoyable if Ao Bing was the main character, growing up in solitude as a dragon, even though he was given the heavenly pearl, because him going from villain to hero could feel like legitimate character growth, plus Ne Zha might be more tolerable as a side character in Ao Bings story. Itd feel like Ao Bing, a dragon, having to prove himself a hero by tempering the demon child raised in the human world. But alas, instead they decided to just go hard with Ne Zha as their overbearing brat, and Ao Bing barely makes an appearance until over half the movie was over, at which point his plot points get rushed along extremely fast. The whole plot, tone, and pacing just made this unbearable to watch; especially for such a long runtime