Mainland Box Office Controversy Behind Nationwide Hype for “Ne Zha 2”

On January 29, the mainland Chinese animated film “Ne Zha 2” (Ne Zha: The Demon Child Wreaks Havoc at Sea), which was officially released, has surpassed a box office of over 10 billion RMB as of February 13. The Chinese state media has been vigorously promoting China’s “increasing influence in the global film industry.” However, the film’s success in box office has sparked numerous controversies, with some netizens criticizing it for having a “clichéd plot,” “bad jokes mixed in,” and “cultural distortion,” and bluntly calling it a “propaganda war similar to deepseek.”

According to reports from Radio Free Asia, in the past two weeks, the animated film “Ne Zha 2” dominated the Chinese Lunar New Year box office. Data from the mainland box office platform “Maoyan” shows that as of February 13, the film’s box office has exceeded 10 billion RMB, making it not only the highest-grossing film in Chinese film history but also the first non-Hollywood film to surpass 1 billion USD in box office revenue and the first film in the world to exceed 1 billion USD in box office revenue in a single market.

Currently, on the global animated film box office ranking, “Ne Zha 2” has risen to the third place, coming close to Disney’s 58th classic animated feature film “Frozen II,” which set a box office record of 1.453 billion USD. As a result, the Chinese state media Xinhua News Agency has loudly proclaimed that “Ne Zha 2” has “shown China’s cultural confidence,” “inspired national pride,” and “China’s film industry is on the rise again.”

However, amidst the praise for the film, there have also been many opposing voices and negative reviews. One account named “National Think Tank” recently criticized the film for lacking a basic storyline core and failing to convey any positive features, deeming it “full of flaws from beginning to end, reflecting cultural inferiority.” However, the post was quickly deleted.

A netizen named “r/China_irl” expressed on social media, “I think ‘Ne Zha 2’ is overhyped, the reality doesn’t live up to the name… clichéd plot, no surprising twists, embarrassing awakenings, making me doubt if I watched a children’s film… And some bad jokes mixed in… It’s so cringeworthy.” The netizen also mentioned that similar film reviews posted on mainland Chinese social media platforms were all deleted and unable to be shared.

Radio Free Asia gathered mostly negative feedback from overseas platforms. A netizen named “Richard. Bun” stated, “The storyline is dragging, I couldn’t continue after 30 minutes.” Another netizen “ZQ” sarcastically remarked, “Nation-wide system is great, nation-wide stock trading, nation-wide boycott of Japanese seafood… so many, and now it’s nation-wide movie-watching time, let the world envy us.” A netizen “Hehehaha” straightforwardly stated, “A propaganda war similar to deepseek.”

In fact, the film “Ne Zha 2,” adapted from ancient Chinese mythological legends, transforms the classic prodigy “Ne Zha” into a “demon child” with various vulgar behaviors. The character “Primeval Lord” in the film alters the original “Antarctic Immortal,” becoming the chief culprit who schemes and deceits, akin to a mischief-maker. The character Shen Gong Bao, originally portrayed as envious and treacherous in the myth, was adapted in the film as a positive character seeking immortality.

On February 12, a company in Kunshan, Jiangsu Province, released a document regarding the implementation of “Lantern Festival movie benefits.” The notice stated that from the day of issuance until this Sunday (February 12-16), all employees could bring their families to watch the movie “Ne Zha 2” in theaters. After the screening, they were instructed to keep the movie tickets and submit reimbursement requests to the finance department following the company’s financial procedures by February 21. The company’s representative told “Jiupai News” that the employees are mostly young, with the oldest being born in 1996, some have already seen the movie and can opt for a second viewing.

A female netizen claiming to be studying at the University of Oxford in the UK told “Upstream News” that during the Chinese New Year holiday, she returned to her home country and watched a total of 31 screenings of “Ne Zha 2” within 8 days, with a maximum of 5 screenings in a day. This garnered approval from many netizens but also raised questions like “Sister, do you still have time to sleep?” and “A movie is about 2 hours long, you can only watch a maximum of 4 per day, right?”

Chinese blogger “BeardBroNoBeard” posted saying, “This animation ‘Ne Zha 2’ is actually a cultural distortion, a disguised cultural invasion, everyone thinks it’s great. Turning the Longevity Star into a treacherous villain, turning Ne Zha into a demon, portraying dragons and demons as allies, turning the originally bad and ugly character Shen Gong Bao into a self-reliant embodiment, it’s all nonsense, truly tragic, no idea what the common people are cheering for.”