the wandering earth nyc

Cinema Escapist

Explore and connect the world through a cinematic lens

Review: Chinese Sci-fi Prequel “The Wandering Earth II” Offers Epicness Amidst Subdued Times

Starring Wu Jing and Andy Lau, "The Wandering Earth II" channels its predecessors’s sense of ambition—perhaps too much for its own good, given shifts in China’s sociopolitical climate.

By Anthony Kao , 22 Jan 23 02:00 GMT

When The Wandering Earth came out in 2019, another Cinema Escapist reviewer deemed it a “breathtaking sci-fi success. ” Based on a short story by renowned author Liu Cixin (best known for his Three Body Problem trilogy), the big-budget movie signaled China’s arrival as a major player in the global sci-fi blockbuster arena.

Four years later, director Frant Gwo returns with a prequel, The Wandering Earth II . Starring Wu Jing and Andy Lau, the film feels just as—and perhaps even more—epic than its predecessor, with sweeping sci-fi set pieces and ample CGI. However, The Wandering Earth II ’s grandiosity feels somewhat overwrought, especially given China’s sociopolitical mood is much more subdued in 2023 compared to 2019.

Moving Mountains for a Wandering Earth

The Wandering Earth II spans three decades (from the 2040s to 2060s) and dives into the backstory of how humanity ended up building a bunch of nuclear fusion engines to push Earth away from a soon-to-explode sun, as seen in the first Wandering Earth . It turns out that, as an alternative to moving Earth away from the solar system with the “Moving Mountain Project,” others proposed preserving human consciousness on computers through the “Digital Life Project.”

The movie contains three character subplots that convey the struggle between those two philosophies, though the Moving Mountain Project always enjoys clear supremacy. First and foremost, actor Wu Jing (famous for his roles in the nationalistic Wolf Warrior franchise) reprises his role as astronaut Liu Peiqiang—who was the primary protagonist of the first Wandering Earth , and somehow never ages in the five decades that elapse as he advances the Moving Mountain Project across two movies. Next, Hong Kong movie star Andy Lau plays a grief-stricken scientist who secretly embraces the Digital Life Project, as a way to keep his young daughter alive. Finally, Li Xuejian plays China’s understated but firm representative to the United Earth Government (which succeeded the UN), who must corral international alignment around the Moving Mountain Project amidst sabotage efforts and naysayers.

Epic Movie, Epic China?

On top of this ambitious narrative scope, The Wandering Earth II contains all the drone swarm battles, space elevators, and nuclear explosions necessary to satisfy the cravings of action-hungry audiences. What’s more interesting though is how the movie doubles down on a particular image of Chinese-led geopolitical order, in a manner that feels even sharper than what the first Wandering Earth established.

As with the first Wandering Earth , The Wandering Earth II features China at the helm of a broad international coalition implementing the Moving Mountain Project; these two movies probably recruited the most foreign actors of any productions in Chinese cinematic history. Reflecting China’s real-world engagement with Africa , a chunk of the prequel takes place at a space elevator base station in Libreville, Gabon. While Chinese astronauts, soldiers, scientists, and diplomats take the lead under all circumstances, they’re usually cheery and avuncular, as opposed to imperious. Characters from the Russian military complement the Chinese on multiple occasions, playing into stereotypes of Russians as a zhandou minzu (战斗民族) of soulful warfighters .

While the above elements are all present to some degree in the first Wandering Earth , one significant difference is The Wandering Earth II ’s depiction of the United States as a foil to China. Whereas the original Wandering Earth didn’t feature Americans at all, The Wandering Earth II shows Americans in discussions at the United Earth Government headquarters in New York City. Apparently 91% of Americans don’t believe in the Moving Mountain Project, and the movie paints American officials as belligerent, obstructionist, and petulantly absent from frontline affairs. It’s a view that accords with official Chinese attitudes towards the US, formed especially during the Donald Trump administration.

In general, The Wandering Earth II projects an ambitious image of China that the Communist Party would like audiences to believe exists. Benevolently paternalistic officials leverage advanced technology alongside courageous Wolf Warriors to make this version of China (and by extension the world) a better place. At the same time, in an echo of real-world gaming and tech industry crackdowns, those who engage in digital escapism must be tamed lest they threaten social stability.

2023 isn’t 2019

Alas, reality in China is more complicated than the Communist Party would prefer. In 2019, China indeed seemed like an ascendant responsible global leader, especially compared to a Trumpian United States wracked with isolationism and conspiracy-mongering. The first Wandering Earth fittingly echoed this state of affairs.

However, in 2023, China’s real-world sociopolitical position feels more subdued. With two years of zero-COVID, it’s China that has chosen global isolation , and suffered economically for it. China’s multilateral efforts through the Belt and Road Initiative have stalled , and the country’s famously assertive “ Wolf Warrior Diplomats ” are getting reined in as well. Disillusioned with life in China, educated young Chinese are embracing the “ run philosophy ” of emigrating abroad . Even those stereotypes of Russians as proficient warfighters are now in question , after Putin’s failure to conquer Ukraine.

With that in mind, the epic bombast of The Wandering Earth II starts feeling a bit tone-deaf, especially with the movie clocking in at an eye-numbing 2 hours and 53 minutes (40 minutes longer than its predecessor). The film feels like it’s stuck in a pre-COVID China, and fails to acknowledge what China has been through these past few years. Granted, not every movie needs to reflect political sentiment—but The Wandering Earth II bears a unique burden given its franchise’s established geopolitical significance .

Perhaps The Wandering Earth II should’ve taken a page from Top Gun: Maverick . Both movies convey their respective nations’ geopolitical fantasies, and strive for epic blockbuster appeal. However, Maverick acknowledges America’s malaise before laying it thick with Department of Defense-funded propaganda shots, and emerges a better movie as a result—call it character redemption as a national metaphor, if you will. Alas, showing a China that gets stronger after learning from its anxieties requires acknowledging the existence of anxieties, and doing that gets into a political minefield that The Wandering Earth II ’s filmmakers probably wanted to avoid.

That said, Chinese audiences will likely still flock to watch The Wandering Earth II given its star power, and the halo effect of being a sequel. More nationalistic types will probably embrace the movie as a way to reinvigorate patriotic sentiments. But don’t be surprised if The Wandering Earth II enjoys less buzz than its predecessor, especially among global viewers.

The Wandering Earth II (Chinese: 流浪地球2) —China. Dialog in Mandarin Chinese. Directed by Frant Gwo. First released January 22, 2023. Running time 2hr 53min. Starring Wu Jing, Andy Lau, Li Xuejian, Sha Yi, Ning Li.

Want more? Join our 30K+ followers on Facebook and Twitter .

You May Also Like

Review: "the wandering earth" is china’s first breathtaking sci-fi success, by richard yu, south korea, review: "space sweepers" is korea's first sci-fi blockbuster—with blatant commercial ambitions to boot, by anthony kao, review: "last sunrise" is a thoughtful addition to china’s burgeoning sci-fi genre, by xingting gong, review: "operation red sea" offers a chinese take on military heroics, review: sci-fi k-movie "seo bok" tries exploring what being human means.

• International edition
• Australia edition
• Europe edition

The Wandering Earth II review – blockbuster Chinese sci-fi prequel veers off course

Frant Gwo’s follow-up to his 2019 mega-hit favours special effects and set pieces over performances, as the human race battles for survival

A gargantuan success in 2019, Frant Gwo’s The Wandering Earth remains one of the highest grossing non-English films of all time. This hotly anticipated prequel, even more ambitious in scope, follows the catastrophic events leading up to the Earth leaving the solar system in the original hit.

At nearly three hours long, The Wandering Earth II is packed with expository science talk, which gets more convoluted and tiring as the clock ticks on. The gist of the matter is, in the face of imminent ecological disasters, an internationally consolidated government body has hatched a solution to alter the orbit of our planet. It also involves blowing up the moon. As well as resistance from (mostly) western countries, the decades-spanning enterprise is also routinely sabotaged by the rival Digital Life Project, which looks to virtual reality as a new beginning for the human race.

Against the threat of total extinction and the unsettling ubiquity of AI, the question of what it means to be human lies at the heart of this prequel, whose sombre silver-grey colour palette marks a stark departure from the first film. Ironically enough, in this case, characters played by superstars like Wu Jing or Andy Lau take a backseat to the admittedly spectacular CGI effects.

In the end, the emphasis on set pieces over performances renders the collective plight of humanity emotionally distant and impersonal. Various mentions of how machines will take over human jobs also finds a strange echo in the film-making itself: Ng Man-tat died from cancer in 2021, yet his character from The Wandering Earth makes a cameo appearance in this prequel via AI technology. It is a gesture of tribute that, within the context of the film, feels oddly unsettling.

• Science fiction and fantasy films
• Artificial intelligence (AI)

Comments (…)

Most viewed.

Filed under:

The Wandering Earth II takes a sci-fi blockbuster in a stranger, darker direction

The prequel to one of China’s biggest-ever box-office hits is kinda just… 3 hours of suffering

Share this story

• Share this on Facebook
• Share this on Reddit
• Share All sharing options

Share All sharing options for: The Wandering Earth II takes a sci-fi blockbuster in a stranger, darker direction

To successfully imitate the kind of mega-budget worldwide blockbuster most closely associated with Hollywood productions, filmmaker Frant Gwo literally went global. 2019’s The Wandering Earth , a sci-fi disaster adventure that became one of China’s biggest-ever box-office hits, takes place in a future world where Earth has been implanted with thrust rockets and piloted out of orbit to avoid a solar disaster. Astronauts must steer the spaceship-planet to a new home, while the surface freezes and its diminished inhabitants huddle underground.

The film’s enormous scope helped the movie become a Chinese smash, though it fell short of a worldwide phenomenon. (In the U.S., it had a limited theatrical run, then premiered on Netflix a few months later.) Wandering Earth ’s extensive, sometimes convoluted world-building, drawn from a short story by The Three-Body Problem author Cixin Liu , left plenty of room for a follow-up. But Gwo must have grown attached to the less icy version of his home planet, because The Wandering Earth II , receiving a somewhat wider U.S. release alongside its Chinese debut, is something even less likely than a disaster-movie sequel: a disaster-movie prequel.

Set across multiple decades leading up to Earth’s launch out of orbit (enabled by thousands of fusion-powered engines around the globe), the prequel starts off with plenty of its predecessor’s grab-bag maximalism. There’s a seemingly mad scientist extolling the virtues of a “digital you that can live forever” — an AI-based plan pitched as an alternate way to survive the coming apocalypse. (It’s unclear, but it sounds like the idea was to upload everyone to a Matrix-esque digital world, and leave the actual one to fry.) Pro-digital terrorist groups attack a massive space elevator, explosions and low-gravity fisticuffs erupt, and we learn that 91% of Americans oppose moving Earth out of orbit because they don’t think a problem 100 years away is worth solving. (“The world isn’t on the side of the reality,” one official laments.)

The sprawling results initially feel like a mashup of Don’t Look Up and Independence Day: Resurgence , but as the film enters its second hour, then its third, it brings in even more familiar bits and pieces of other movies. (It runs 173 minutes, including credits and multiple postscripts.) There is so much movie in The Wandering Earth II , and so many disasters, countdowns, and chyrons to go around. The movie may set a record for the sheer number of subtitled locations, timelines, characters, and occasionally even hardware. The first movie’s astronaut, Liu Peiqiang (Wu Jing) gets a backstory. So does one of the computer systems. The writing team steals bits of Interstellar one moment, and engages in parallel thinking with Moonfall the next. (“The moon disintegrates in 179 hours.”)

But perhaps the goofiest thing about Wandering Earth II is how resolutely un-goofy much of it is. There are moments of absurdity, but the film is often surprisingly grim, in a way that feels admirably ambitious but questionably useful. Much of the movie has a downbeat moon-gray palette, even in scenes that don’t take place on the moon. The saddest storyline it weaves across the decades is about Tu Hengyu (Andy Lau), a scientist grieving the loss of his wife and daughter, convinced he can fine-tune the digital echo of his young child into a fuller AI consciousness. (Here, there are thematic parallels with Yeon Sang-ho’s JUNG_E , a fleeter and more manageable science fiction movie premiering on Netflix right as Wandering Earth II lumbers into theaters.)

The dead-family storyline isn’t the only obligatory pause for pathos, either. Another character must deal with his wife’s imminent death, since cancer cases have spiked during the rise of dangerous solar activity. At the same time, he’s trying to secure one of the limited tickets to an underground city.

In many ways, Gwo carries this heaviness with more grace than the supposed masters of the modern form. Unlike Roland Emmerich (whose work the Wandering Earth series generally resembles) or Michael Bay (whose Armageddon feels like part of this movie’s DNA), Gwo isn’t afraid of quiet moments amid the bombast. He doesn’t nervously pack his movies with goony comic relief or shameless ploys for applause. Some of his imagery has an eerie, almost mournful beauty — even more so than the previous movie, which found some poetic imagery among the chintzier-looking special effects.

Yet none of this keeps exhaustion from setting in over the course of nearly three hours. Exactly how many countdowns to possible apocalypse can a movie bear, especially when the planet is demonstrably intact at the beginning of the next movie? The audience knows Earth survives, which turns Wandering Earth II into a torture device for its new characters: The planet will keep going, but these poor suckers can still get put through the wringer.

That obviously isn’t Gwo’s intention, and it is remarkable that his three-hour Wandering Earth prequel is simultaneously stranger and more emotionally grounded than the earlier film. Yet even at this length, even with eye-popping moments and believable characters, some crucial humanity feels missing. Classic disaster movies offer something similar to the feel of a horror movie: the terror of annihilation and the catharsis of survival, but spread over a larger canvas. Maybe that model just doesn’t work anymore. Skillfully made as it is, Wandering Earth II feels more like immersion therapy for the modern onslaught of apocalyptic news from around the world. Like franchises, global disasters no longer really end.

The Wandering Earth II opens in theaters on Sunday, Jan. 22, the first day of the lunar new year. Check the movie’s website for locations.

• Movie Times
• The Wandering Earth II

The Wandering Earth II movie times near New York, NY

• Refine Search
• Regal Tangram 4DX
• All Showtimes
• Sun, Mar 24, 2024
• Wed, Mar 27, 2024

Showtimes for "The Wandering Earth II" near New York, NY are available on: 3/24/2024 3/27/2024

• Movie Times by Zip Code
• Movie Times by State
• Movie Times By City
• Movie Theaters

Log in or sign up for Rotten Tomatoes

Trouble logging in?

By continuing, you agree to the Privacy Policy and the Terms and Policies , and to receive email from the Fandango Media Brands .

By creating an account, you agree to the Privacy Policy and the Terms and Policies , and to receive email from Rotten Tomatoes and to receive email from the Fandango Media Brands .

By creating an account, you agree to the Privacy Policy and the Terms and Policies , and to receive email from Rotten Tomatoes.

Email not verified

Let's keep in touch.

Sign up for the Rotten Tomatoes newsletter to get weekly updates on:

• Upcoming Movies and TV shows
• Trivia & Rotten Tomatoes Podcast
• Media News + More

By clicking "Sign Me Up," you are agreeing to receive occasional emails and communications from Fandango Media (Fandango, Vudu, and Rotten Tomatoes) and consenting to Fandango's Privacy Policy and Terms and Policies . Please allow 10 business days for your account to reflect your preferences.

OK, got it!

Movies / TV

No results found.

• What's the Tomatometer®?
• Login/signup

Movies in theaters

• Opening this week
• Top box office
• Coming soon to theaters
• Certified fresh movies

Movies at home

• Netflix streaming
• Prime Video
• Most popular streaming movies
• What to Watch New

Certified fresh picks

• Love Lies Bleeding Link to Love Lies Bleeding
• Problemista Link to Problemista
• La Chimera Link to La Chimera

New TV Tonight

• X-Men '97: Season 1
• Nolly: Season 1
• In Restless Dreams: The Music of Paul Simon: Season 1
• The Long Shadow: Season 1
• 3 Body Problem: Season 1
• Palm Royale: Season 1
• Alice & Jack: Season 1
• Davey & Jonesie's Locker: Season 1
• Photographer: Season 1
• Top Chef: Season 21

Most Popular TV on RT

• Shōgun: Season 1
• The Gentlemen: Season 1
• Manhunt: Season 1
• Apples Never Fall: Season 1
• Avatar: The Last Airbender: Season 1
• The Regime: Season 1
• Mary & George: Season 1
• Masters of the Air: Season 1
• Best TV Shows
• Most Popular TV
• TV & Streaming News

Certified fresh pick

• X-Men '97: Season 1 Link to X-Men '97: Season 1
• All-Time Lists
• Binge Guide
• Comics on TV
• Five Favorite Films
• Video Interviews
• Weekend Box Office
• Weekly Ketchup
• What to Watch

Marvel TV Ranked by Tomatometer

Best TV Shows of 2024: Best New Series to Watch Now

Women’s History

Awards Tour

X-Men ’97 First Reviews: “Marvel’s Best Release in Years,” Critics Say

The Most Anticipated Movies of 2024

• Trending on RT
• Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire
• Play Movie Trivia
• X-Men '97
• Late Night with the Devil

The Wandering Earth

2019, Sci-fi, 2h 5m

What to know

Critics Consensus

The Wandering Earth 's story won't win many points for originality, but this sci-fi epic earns its thrills with exciting set pieces and dazzling special effects. Read critic reviews

You might also like

Where to watch the wandering earth.

Watch The Wandering Earth with a subscription on Netflix.

Rate And Review

Super Reviewer

Rate this movie

Oof, that was Rotten.

Meh, it passed the time.

It’s good – I’d recommend it.

So Fresh: Absolute Must See!

What did you think of the movie? (optional)

You're almost there! Just confirm how you got your ticket.

Step 2 of 2

How did you buy your ticket?

Let's get your review verified..

AMCTheatres.com or AMC App New

Cinemark Coming Soon

We won’t be able to verify your ticket today, but it’s great to know for the future.

Regal Coming Soon

Theater box office or somewhere else

By opting to have your ticket verified for this movie, you are allowing us to check the email address associated with your Rotten Tomatoes account against an email address associated with a Fandango ticket purchase for the same movie.

You're almost there! Just confirm how you got your ticket.

The wandering earth videos, the wandering earth   photos.

When the sun dies out, the people of Earth build giant thrusters to move the planet out of orbit and sail to a new star system. After 2,500 years, young people continue the fight for everyone's survival.

Genre: Sci-fi

Original Language: Chinese

Director: Frant Gwo

Producer: Gong Geer

Writer: Yan Dongxu , Gong Geer , Frant Gwo , Junce Ye , Yang Zhixue

Release Date (Theaters): Feb 8, 2019  limited

Release Date (Streaming): May 5, 2019

Box Office (Gross USA): $2.2M

Runtime: 2h 5m

Production Co: Beijing Jingxi Culture & Tourism Company, United Entertainment Partners, China Film Company Limited

Cast & Crew

Li Guangjie

Jin Mai Jaho

Hongchen Li

Yichi Zhang

Jingjing Qu

Screenwriter

Yang Zhixue

Frank Michael Liu

Cinematographer

Ka-Fai Cheung

Film Editing

Critic Reviews for The Wandering Earth

Audience reviews for the wandering earth.

There are no featured audience reviews for The Wandering Earth at this time.

Movie & TV guides

Play Daily Tomato Movie Trivia

Discover What to Watch

Rotten Tomatoes Podcasts

Advertisement

Supported by

China’s Film Industry Finally Joins the Space Race

• Share full article

By Steven Lee Myers

• Feb. 4, 2019

BEIJING — China was a latecomer to space exploration, and in the movies, it has been a latecomer to science fiction, too. That is about to change.

The country’s first blockbuster set in space, “The Wandering Earth,” opens Tuesday amid grandiose expectations that it will represent the dawning of a new era in Chinese filmmaking.

It is one in a series of ambitious, big-budget films tackling a genre that, until now, has been beyond the reach of most filmmakers here — technically and financially. Those movies include “ Shanghai Fortress ,” about an alien attack on Earth, and “ Pathfinder ,” about a spaceship that crashes on a desert planet.

“Filmmakers in China see science fiction as a holy grail,” said Raymond Zhou, an independent critic, who noted that Hollywood had set the technological standards, and thus audience expectations, very high.

“The Wandering Earth,” shown in 3-D, takes place in a distant future in which the sun is about to expand into a red giant and devour the Earth.

The impending peril forces the world’s engineers to devise a plan to move the planet to a new solar system using giant thrusters. Things go very badly when Earth has to pass Jupiter, setting off a desperate scramble to save humanity from annihilation.

The special effects — like the apocalyptic climatic changes that would occur if Earth suddenly moved out of its cozy orbit — are certain to be measured against Hollywood’s, as ever here. And the preliminary reviews have been positive.

“It’s like the coming-of-age of the industry,” Zhou said.

“The Wandering Earth” opens with the Lunar New Year, the beginning of an official, weeklong holiday that is traditionally a peak box-office period in China. It has a limited release in the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

At home, it will compete with “Crazy Alien,” a comedy inspired by “E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial” about two brothers hoping to capitalize on the arrival of a visitor from outer space.

Both “The Wandering Earth” and “Crazy Alien” are adapted from works by Liu Cixin, the writer who has led a renaissance in science fiction here, becoming the first Chinese winner of the Hugo Award for the genre in 2015.

His novels are sprawling epics and deeply researched. That makes them plausible fantasies about humanity’s encounters with a dangerous universe. Translating them into movies would challenge any filmmaker, as the director of “The Wandering Earth,” Guo Fan, acknowledged during a screening in Beijing last week.

That has made the film, produced by Beijing Jingxi Culture & Tourism Company and the state-owned China Film Group Corp., a test for the industry.

Guo, who uses the name Frant Gwo in English, noted that Chinese audiences have responded coolly to many of Hollywood’s previous sci-fi blockbusters. Studios, therefore, have been wary of investing the resources required to make convincing sci-fi.

The film’s budget reportedly reached nearly $50 million, modest by Hollywood standards but still significant here in China. More than 7,000 people were involved in the production. Much of it was filmed in the new Oriental Movie Metropolis, an $8 billion studio in the coast city of Qingdao, built by the real estate and entertainment giant Dalian Wanda.

“I really hope that this movie will not lose money at least,” said Guo, whose previous film, “My Old Classmate,” was a romantic comedy. “As long as this one does not lose money, we can continue to make science-fiction films.”

The popularity of Liu’s novels could help. So could two recent Hollywood films, “Gravity” and “The Martian.” Both included important plot twists that, not incidentally, cast China’s space program in a positive light, and both were huge hits here.

The openings also come as China reached a milestone in space: the landing of a probe on the far side of the moon in January. Although decades behind Russia and the United States, China has now put astronauts in orbit and has ambitious plans to join — or even lead — a new age of space exploration.

“I think there is a very close connection between Chinese cinema and the nation’s fortunes,” said Sha Dan, a curator at the China Film Archive , who moderated a discussion with Guo.

He cited the most popular film in China last year: “Operation Red Sea,” an action drama loosely based on the Chinese rescue of several hundred civilians from Yemen when war erupted there in 2015.

“When we have the ability to go to war, we can make movies like ‘Operation Red Sea,’” he said, alluding to China’s military modernization in recent years. “Only when China can enter the space era can we make works like ‘The Wandering Earth.’”

Unlike “Operation Red Sea” or the two “Wolf Warrior” movies, which featured a Rambo-like hero battling Western villains, “The Wandering Earth” is not jingoistic, though it does star Wu Jing, the hero of the “Wolf Warrior” films, who put up his own investment in the project. He plays an astronaut aboard an international space station who has to contend with a HAL-like computer.

Guo said he consciously avoided making Wu’s character a do-it-alone superhero. The fight to save Earth is fought instead by an ensemble, including an affable Russian cosmonaut who explains why his country prohibited alcohol in space, at least officially. (To say more would be a spoiler.)

“The Wandering Earth” takes for granted China’s central role in future space exploration, but it also has a vision of the international collaboration necessary to cope with the threats facing the planet, a theme that runs deeply through Liu’s fiction. Liu, who attended a screening last week, noted that science-fiction films in China dated as far back as the 1930s, when the director Yang Xiaozhong made ones like “Exchanged” and “Visiting Shanghai After 60 Years,” but those were largely forgotten here after the Communist revolution in 1949.

A 1980 movie, “ Death Ray on Coral Island ,” was a campy, propagandistic flop. There have been few attempts since.

“This is mainly because Chinese society is relatively closed and conservative,” Liu said in a written response to questions. “There were not the conditions for science-fiction movies to have an impact.”

A film project based on Liu’s best-known work, the trilogy that began with “The Three-Body Problem,” was optioned and even filmed in 2015 but has since languished in postproduction, reportedly because of technical challenges and costs.

The conditions now seem ripe. Seeing the “The Wandering Earth” on the screen, Liu said, was “soul shaking.”

Claire Fu contributed research

Follow Steven Lee Myers on Twitter: @stevenleemyers

Explore More in TV and Movies

Not sure what to watch next we can help..

Despite finding success on the stage in London and New York, Anthony Boyle had landed only minor roles onscreen before this year.  Now, he stars in two historical series , “Masters of the Air” and “Manhunt.”

The HBO show “The Regime” is set in a fictional European country. But our chief diplomatic correspondent recognizes references  to many real despots and failed states.

In the comedy series “Girls5eva,” Paula Pell, at 60, has become the comedy star  she always dreamed of being.

Barry Keoghan, Paul Mescal and Cillian Murphy are among a crop of Irish hunks who have infused popular culture with big Irish energy .

If you are overwhelmed by the endless options, don’t despair — we put together the best offerings   on Netflix , Max , Disney+ , Amazon Prime  and Hulu  to make choosing your next binge a little easier.

Sign up for our Watching newsletter  to get recommendations on the best films and TV shows to stream and watch, delivered to your inbox.

Movie Reviews

Tv/streaming, collections, great movies, chaz's journal, contributors, the wandering earth.

Now streaming on:

"The Wandering Earth" cured my winter depression. 

Seriously: on opening night, I happily joined a packed Times Square auditorium-full of moviegoers watching this science-fiction adventure, which stars a talented ensemble of of Mandarin-speaking actors trying to stop the Earth from crashing into Jupiter. I left the theater hoping that "The Wandering Earth"  would be one of this year's Chinese New Year's hits . It grossed $300 million in China during its opening week alone, a hopeful sign that we'll see more entertainment as assured as this.

The setup might seem familiar at first. Two teams of astronauts fight to save the Earth years after its leaders transformed it into a planet-sized spaceship to escape destruction by an overactive sun. The first team is a two-man skeleton crew: the square-jawed Peiqiang Liu ( Jing Wu ) and his Russian cosmonaut buddy Makarov ( Arkady Sharogradsky ). The other is a small exploratory group led by Peiqiang's feisty twentysomething son Qi Liu (Chuxio Qu) and his upbeat partner Duoduo Han (Jinmai Zhao). These factions respectively spend most of their time battling MOSS, an unhelpful computer in a remote space station; and exploring an ice-covered Earth in stolen all-terrain vehicles (some of which bring to mind "Total Recall," specifically the tank-sized drill-cars).

But while director Frant Gwo and his writing team blend Cixin Liu's source novel with elements from American-made sci-fi disaster films—including " Armageddon ," " The Day After Tomorrow ," and "Sunshine"—they synthesize them in a visually dynamic, emotionally engaging way that sets the project apart from its Western cousins, and marks it as a great and uniquely Chinese science fiction film.

For one thing, rather than build the tale around a lone hero ringed by supporting players, "The Wandering Earth" distributes bravery generously amid an ensemble that includes action hero Wu; rising stars Qu and Zhao; and comedy institution Man-Tat Ng, who plays a grey-bearded spaceman named Zi'ang Ha. The script, credited to a team of six, never valorizes a singular chest-puffing hero, nor does it scapegoat a mustache-twirling antagonist (not even MOSS, the sentient, HAL-9000-style computer program in the space station). 

The teamwork theme is cross-generational, too. Both Peiqiang and Ng (formerly the straight man to film comedy superstar  Stephen Chow ) are treated with reverence because they're older, and are therefore presumed to have more experience and stronger moral fiber. The veterans work well with the film's younger astronauts, whose optimism makes them as brazen as they are idealistic. 

This apolitical blockbuster about a post-climate-change disaster extends its belief in teamwork to the rest of the international community. The movie is filled with narrative diversions that reassure viewers that no single country's leaders are smarter, more responsible, or more capable than the rest—except, of course, for the Chinese.

Second, "The Wandering Earth" looks better than most American special-effects spectaculars because it gives you breathing space to admire landscape shots of a dystopian Earth that suggest old fashioned matte-paintings on steroids. Although Gwo and his team realized their expensive-looking vision with the help of a handful of visual effects studios, including the  Weta Workshop , they have somehow blended their many influences in bold, stylish ways that only Hollywood filmmakers like James Cameron and Steven Spielberg have previously managed.  

Third, the film's creators breathe new life into hackneyed tropes. Gwo and his team take a little extra time to show off the laser beams, steering wheels, and hydraulic joints on their space cars and exoskeleton suits, to make the gear seem unique. And the storytelling goes extra mile to show viewers the emotional stress and natural obstacles that the characters must overcome while solving scientifically credible dilemmas (all vetted by the Chinese Academy of Sciences). This movie may not be the next " 2001: A Space Odyssey ," but it's everything "2010: The Year We Make Contact" should have been (and I like "2010," a lot).

A week after seeing "The Wandering Earth," I'm still marveling at how good it is. I can't think of another recent computer-graphics-driven blockbuster that left me feeling this giddy because of its creators' can-do spirit and consummate attention to detail. The future is here, and it is nerve-wracking, gorgeous, and Chinese.

Simon Abrams

Simon Abrams is a native New Yorker and freelance film critic whose work has been featured in  The New York Times ,  Vanity Fair ,  The Village Voice,  and elsewhere.

Now playing

Ordinary Angels

Marya E. Gates

Land of Bad

Golden Years

Clint worthington.

History of Evil

Brian tallerico.

Sheila O'Malley

Film credits.

The Wandering Earth (2019)

125 minutes

Li Guangjie

Jin Mai Jaho

Qu Jingjing

Arkady Sharogradsky

Cinematographer

• Michael Liu
• Ka-Fai Cheung

Latest blog posts

No Matter How Big He Gets, David Dastmalchian Still Wants to Scare You

SXSW 2024: Diane Warren: Relentless, Thank You Goodnight: The Bon Jovi Story, Omar and Cedric: If This Ever Gets Weird, Preconceived

Disney+ Returns to the Classic World of X-Men '97

True To Yourself: James Gray on James Gray's New York

Posters of the Chinese science fiction film The Wandering Earth 2. Photo: VCG

• Available now
• New eBook additions
• New kids additions
• New teen additions
• Most popular
• Try something different
• NYPL WNYC Virtual Book Club
• Spotlight: Toni Morrison
• New audiobook additions
• Kindle Books
• World Languages
• Français (Canada)

The Wandering Earth

Description.

"Narrators Feodor Chin and Greg Chun deftly narrate this collection of short stories from one of the most evocative science fiction writers in the business." - AudioFile Magazine From New York Times bestselling author Cixin Liu, The Wandering Earth is a science fiction short story collection featuring the title tale—the basis for the blockbuster international film, now streaming on Netflix. These ten stories, including five Chinese Galaxy Award-winners, are a blazingly original ode to planet Earth, its pasts, and its futures. Liu's fiction takes the listener to the edge of the universe and the end of time, to meet stranger fates than we could have ever imagined. With a melancholic and keen understanding of human nature, Liu's stories show humanity's attempts to reason, navigate, and above all, survive in a desolate cosmos. A Macmillan Audio production from Tor Books.

• Cixin Liu - Author
• Feodor Chin - Narrator
• Greg Chun - Narrator

OverDrive Listen audiobook

• ISBN: 9781250819024
• File size: 408917 KB
• Release date: October 26, 2021
• Duration: 14:11:54

MP3 audiobook

• File size: 408955 KB
• Duration: 14:18:47
• Number of parts: 12

OverDrive Listen audiobook MP3 audiobook

Fiction Literature Science Fiction Short Stories

Publisher: Macmillan Audio Edition: Unabridged

OverDrive Listen audiobook ISBN: 9781250819024 File size: 408917 KB Release date: October 26, 2021 Duration: 14:11:54

MP3 audiobook ISBN: 9781250819024 File size: 408955 KB Release date: October 26, 2021 Duration: 14:18:47 Number of parts: 12

• Formats OverDrive Listen audiobook MP3 audiobook
• Languages English

Why is availability limited?

Availability can change throughout the month based on the library's budget. You can still place a hold on the title, and your hold will be automatically filled as soon as the title is available again.

The Kindle Book format for this title is not supported on:

Read-along ebook.

The OverDrive Read format of this ebook has professional narration that plays while you read in your browser. Learn more here.

Recommendation limit reached

You've reached the maximum number of titles you can currently recommend for purchase.

Session expired

Your session has expired. Please sign in again so you can continue to borrow titles and access your Loans, Wish list, and Holds pages.

If you're still having trouble, follow these steps to sign in.

Add a library card to your account to borrow titles, place holds, and add titles to your wish list.

Have a card? Add it now to start borrowing from the collection.

The library card you previously added can't be used to complete this action. Please add your card again, or add a different card. If you receive an error message, please contact your library for help.

• North Korea
• South China Sea
• Environment
• Asia Fact Check Lab
• Jobs and internships

Chinese commentators hail propaganda win for blockbuster ‘The Wandering Earth II’

The U.S.$163 million Lunar New Year blockbuster movie Wandering Earth II is seen by many in China as the bleeding edge of nationalistic futurism, aligned with ruling Chinese Communist Party leader Xi Jinping's vision of a Sinocentric world led by his personal brand of political ideology, and more than able to take on U.S.-led notions of individualistic heroism and freedom.

Executive producer Fu Ruoqing said the show, which boasts a plethora of jaw-dropping special effects in its vision of a China-led planet trying to avoid being swallowed by a dying sun, offers a story in which the world is saved by Chinese scientists.

"[In the film,] Chinese scientists showed that we have the capability of and there is possibility of 'wandering' with the Earth [to escape destruction]," Fu said in a recent interview with state broadcaster CCTV.

"In fact, it is concerned with the concept of 'a community with a shared future for mankind'," Fu said, quoting one of Xi's political buzzwords verbatim.

Fu said the movie was "a milestone in China's history of film," boasting slick science fiction as well as showcasing China's "values."

CCTV said the movie "is set to lift Chinese cinema to new heights, and shares a strong message for the need for greater global cooperation during troubled times."

In that respect, the movie appears to be an appropriate successor to The Wandering Earth (2019) , which was based on a novella by sci-fi master Liu Cixin about Chinese taikonauts trying to save the Earth from an unstable sun – a theme that echoes the plot of Liu's "Three-Body Problem" trilogy.

Set in a far-distant future, where the dying sun threatens to extinguish all life on Earth, the film shows an attempt to relocate the planet to orbit a safer star. 

Overseas reception

While its sequel Wandering Earth II – which wasn't penned by Liu – enjoyed box-office takings of more than 500 million yuan (U.S.$73.7 million) on the first day of its release in China over the Lunar New Year holiday, it has been slightly less well-received by overseas critics, garnering a low score of 30% in a review from The New York Times , prompting ire on Chinese social media.

"What they are afraid of, and what they try to slander, is exactly what we must insist on," wrote Weibo user Gongli_22 from Guangdong, in a reaction to the New York Times review, which was trending as a hashtag on the social media platform this week. "Propagandists can no longer sit idly by."

Movie commentator Lang Yanzhi said the movie has been subject to "constant attacks and slander," especially in the Western media and by "pro-Western forces."

"Clearly, The Wandering Earth II is more than just a movie: it's rather a symbol of great influence," Lang wrote on Jan. 23.

User @Looking_at_the_scenery_from_the_clouds said "they're rattled," with a laughing emoji.

"Earth II is all about Chinese self-confidence, and the export of Chinese values, which is fantastic," the user wrote.

@Wuhan_Jinxiao agreed, writing on Jan. 31 that the movie is being criticized because "it is strong."

"It uses hard power to prop up a grand narrative that China will lead the whole of humanity in the future, which arouses strong panic among anti-China forces," the user said. 

Meanwhile, user @chaitaibenzun likened the New York Times review to the dumping of Japanese propaganda materials out of planes in China during World War II.

"China's blood is up ... but they only want stuff that is in line with the West," the user wrote, while @Film_and_television_variety_show_king wrote on Jan. 28: "If the enemy is fearful, then we're doing something right. A successful cultural export."

Many users said they were blown away by the special effects, particularly the scenes involving a space elevator, while others complained about its length.

@Han_Dongyan said the review was evidence enough that the movie had done its job in wielding influence overseas, while @Observer_Network merely commented "Sour grapes!" amid dozens of similar comments.

"It really blew me away in the theater," a Shanghai film and TV worker who gave only the surname Liu told Radio Free Asia. "I think the online reviews were right – especially about the space elevator at the beginning. That was so cool."

"I think overall the investment was money well spent because the sets were really cool," he said, adding that the plotting was likely the movie's weakest point.

‘A huge stumbling block’

Former Hollywood Producer Chris Fenton, author of a book about the movie industry in China, said production values have improved in leaps and bounds in the Chinese film industry, but blamed the weak plot-line on the government's insistence that it illustrate the Communist Party's "core values."

"In the West, the system works for the people; but in China, the people work for the system," Fenton said. "Until recently, collectivism and a group mentality have been the dominant philosophy."

"The idea of ​​true individualism, freedom of creative expression, has been very limited, [while] the process of storytelling is heavily censored and policed, which is a huge stumbling block to translating original ideas on the international stage," he said.

Germany-based writer Liao Yiwu was less circumspect.

"I regarded 'The Wandering Earth' as a propaganda project of the Communist Party, using writers like Liu Cixin to package nationalism and authoritarianism within the sci-fi genre," Liao told Radio Free Asia. He said the problems have persisted with the movie's sequel, which he likened to "a promotional film."

Online commentators have pointed out that one of the characters appears to have been modeled on late premier Zhou Enlai, while a Chinese Communist Party emblem is still being worn by a Chinese representative millions of years into Earth's future, and the initials CCP appear on another character's shirt.

"This is a nationalist commercial blockbuster packaged with ideas of so-called world unity and common human life," wrote Twitter user "Mr Li."

Another blogger said the entire movie was dominated by "straight male" characters, with the few female characters reduced to instrumental roles, while foreigners are either "in the way" or "stupid."

Weibo influencer Pingyuan_Gongzi_Zhao_Sheng wrote that "The Wandering Earth 2" is less concerned with freedom, human rights or "listening to your inner voice" than about "mutual assistance, responsibility and unity."

"People who have been brainwashed by American universal values ​​for a long time will definitely not like it," the user wrote, in a comment that was retweeted more than 6,000 times.

Translated by Luisetta Mudie .

• China slashes number of foreign movies shown as industry lies 'moribund'
• Shanghai residents take issue with 'fake' propaganda claims about reopening
• China's Ruling Party Limits Underage Gamers to Three Hours' Play a Week
• China Goes After Online Fan Groups Amid Clampdown Ahead of Centenary
• Lockdown Imposed in China's Henan Province After Fresh Cases Emerge

• UK relaxes rules for Hong Kong migrants ahead of new security law
• Chinese arrests jump nearly 50% amid clampdown on ‘hostile foreign forces’
• Military conscription poised to start in Myanmar’s Yangon
• North Koreans try to avoid forced construction work
• China pushes ‘Sinicization of Islam’ in Xinjiang as Ramadan arrives

• Hong Kong blasts criticism of its Article 23 security law
• ‘10 Don’ts’ for Chinese young people
• Chinese state TV reports passage of Hong Kong security law before vote