Definitely better than Moonfall (a traumatizing tragedy) and lives up to the fame of its first counterpart. Inventive cinematography, compelling performances, and jokes that really land. Moreover, sublime visual effects, shown in the futuristic production design, blade-runner-ish architectures, and aesthetic visual layout especially upon the moon, which I can confidently claim amount to Dune's level of impressiveness. Plot-wise, despite the multiple storylines and fragmented expedition, the film does successfully employ suspenseful buildups through countdowns, recurring motivic dialogues, and emotively riveting missions, which all demonstrate the directory's effort and heed to this ardently demanded movie (at least in the mainland). This takes me to my major complaint: I understand the profit-oriented intention behind revising the Wandering Earth into a movie series, but as a fan of the book, the conversion of the original's spinal ideology and the abandonment of its overarching incidents have exceeded my level of tolerance. Why does the production refuse to present the already-there perfectly constructed story in the book, which has all of apocalypse, desolation, hardcore science, dystopia, survivorship, conspiracy, revolution, filial piety, and censored love, and choose to borrow the mere concept. Comparing to the desperately rational and selfish characters in the novel, the film adapts a bunch of romantically heroic idealists, as their martyrdom is emphatically lauded. However, has it really been this way when humanity encounters a global crisis? Do the saints actually unite and salvage us? Or do they (censored material)?
Review of The Wandering Earth II
