The greatly anticipated Nezha movie just had its official sequel release on February 14th, 2025. Worked on for over 5 years, Nezha 2 is the most expensive Chinese animation ever made with a budget of $80 million. However, this huge investment was not for nothing. The film ended up grossing over $1.8 billion, surpassing Inside Out 2 to become the highest-grossing animated film of all time and the highest-grossing Chinese film of all time.
Nezha is a Chinese mythological figure who is born a demon child but becomes a god with a body made of a lotus flower. The movies do a spin-off of this legend, with the first movie being about Nezha overcoming his demonic nature and defying his fate with his friend Ao Bing. The second movie starts with Nezha and Ao Bing getting new bodies from Taiyi Zhenren. However, the process gets interrupted and Ao Bing ends up having to stay in Nezha’s body alongside Nezha. In order to get separate bodies again, they are told to complete three tasks under the supervision of Xian Wuliang, the leader of the Heavenly Sect. When asked his thoughts on the movie, Brandon Li ‘26 said “The combination of quality animations, humor, and a solid plotline make this a movie that everyone should watch.”
Nezha 2 is a groundbreaking film for international production. The entire film is Chinese with English subtitles, making it an equally enjoyable experience for all viewers. It demonstrates the capabilities of international animation, and especially having surpassed Inside Out 2 (which in itself was a decent movie) so rapidly, Pixar is going to need to step up its game.
