Amp Wong's "WHITE SNAKE II: THE TRIBULATION OF THE GREEN SNAKE"

Movie Review by Dennis D. McDonald

Known on Netflix as “Green Snake” this spectacularly animated film is a sequel to the 2019 film “White Snake” which was also animated by Beijing-based Light Chaser. The story is a bit confusing without having seen White Snake but the animation and action sequences more than make up for that.

But not entirely. There are several sequences in this film that absolutely rival Pixar and Dreamworks in quality and imagination but where the story falls down is the narrative. Sometimes one gets the impression that eye candy is being put on the screen just to impress. This comes at the expense of character development and emotional resonance.

The story: two magical sisters, White Snake and Green Snake (Xiao Qing), are separated when White Snake is imprisoned by an evil monk in a giant pagoda. Her sister Green Snake vows to free her from the monk’s clutches but Green Snake — now called Verta — is banished, shorn of her magical powers, to a dystopian modern-looking city where gangs of humans and demons roam. Verta spends her days fighting and developing relationships, some of which end badly, some of which touch on raw emotions.

Will Verta make it back to the spirit world and overcome the powers of the evil monk? Who are these humans and demons that live in this ghostly dystopian city? And, whose idea was it to turn Totoro’s Cat Bus into a crawling nightmare?

These and other fascinating questions unfortunately take a back seat to the wondrous images that swirl throughout this film. If Light Chaser’s goal is to out-do Pixar and Disney there are several scenes in this film where they succeed. But the lack of emotional engagement is a disappointment. Action and eye candy can take you just so far. When you get off the rollercoaster the ride is over. But on balance this ride is definitely worth it.

Review copyright (c) 2021 by Dennis D. McDonald