Every year gets that movie. The film that's so bad, that it's actually kind of brilliant. And this year, The Wandering Earth heroically answers the call, maybe not as the movie we want, but definitely the one we need. The Wandering Earth is a Chinese blockbuster, and I cannot stress this enough, it's absolutely wild. The film is set in the future, where Jupiter is about to crash into the Earth. To combat this, scientists from around the globe have put jets on the planet to push it away from Jupiter, and most of mankind lives underground after the planet has frozen over. The main characters father has gone to space, leaving him living underground with his grandfather and his little sister. Chaos ensues when they go up to the surface, and from there, it's two hours of crazy action.
That's a pretty stupid premise, and if it's pure quality you're looking for, look elsewhere. Even if you can get past the sheer insanity and improbability of the concept, there's a lot of stuff here that's just impossibly weird. Like Tim, this random convict that starts travelling with them, and acts as the comic relief. This guy is kind of indicative of this film actually. He's strange, kind of unnecessary, you don't know if you like him but he's strangely quite entertaining. The characters are all pretty thinly written, with exception of the hero, his sister, his grandfather and Tim. Everyone else is just kind of there, and none of them are really developed at all. Also if you thought that the core premise was silly, just wait until you see how they try to save the day, because it's absolutely freaking bonkers
So yeah, it's not great, but it's actually kind of admirable. The film is incredibly ambitious, and if some films don't go far enough with their ideas, that certainly isn't the case here. The film draws on contemporary concerns like climate change and the imminent destruction our planet is gradually tipping towards. The film is high concept madness, but the ideas themselves are so out there and unique, and the film never relies on anything that feels fine before. Even other natural disaster thrillers can't really match this one for sheer insanity, and I love how far they let this idea go. There are no half measures in this film, and as flawed as it is, I really have to applaud it for being able to tell a story like this on this scale. It's pretty much the opposite of boring, and as crazy and improbable as it gets, it's never dull. While I was watching it, I was basking in it's madness, and I was genuinely entertained, too. It's not a good movie, but it is a fun one, and sometimes that's fine too
The Wandering Earth is so shit that it's actually kind of brilliant. Wild VFX fuelled destruction + an incredibly wild premise + an ultra ambitious scale = 2019's wildest ride so far. It really scratched a itch I've been looking for, because, both in concept and execution, it's kind of different from anything I've ever seen. Look, it's definitely so bad it's good, but I'd still recommend it, because, while it's going on, it's fun in such a unique way, despite its overall quality being less than stellar
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