Although made and released across China and North America in 2023, the incredibly animated historical epic Chang'an is finally getting it's UK cinematic release (on February 28th) courtesy of Dazzler Media – and while it's taken close to two years to reach our shores, I have to say, that the wait was most definitely worth it! Originally released as a 3D feature, it's only fair to say that the 2D is just as engrossing. I honestly don't think I have seen an animated feature as beautiful as this in a long time. Told over a number of years, Chang'an tells the story of two Tang Dynasty poets, Li Bai and Gao Shi, whose friendship spans decades as they begin their journey to the city of Chang'an. As they journey together and apart, battling enemies, political turmoil, rebellions, and their own misfortunes, the pair soon find that their writings are fast gaining an audience. But as expected, this results in the fate of their lives and friendship!

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Coming in at a staggering and hugely impressive 2 hours and 48 minutes, Chang'an is so wonderfully made and entertaining that you don't even notice the time pass. While watching, I was genuinely gobsmacked at most of the beautiful imagery I was seeing on screen – from it's perfect lighting to it's intricate detail, not to mention it's humour, fight action, and celebration of this golden age of Chinese culture. In short, Chang'an is just as (if not more) impressive than any of the biggest hits from Hollywood studios such as Pixar, Dreamworks, and Illumination among others, and all while carrying it's own style and uniqueness that really makes it stand out as something special...

 

The film was produced by the Beijing based Light Chaser Animation Studios, the same animation powerhouse behind cartoon features such as Little Door Gods (2016), Tea Pets (2017), White Snake (2019), New Gods: Nezha Reborn (2021), Green Snake (2021), and more – and a studio I'll absolutely watching for future projects. Containing over 40 genuine poems written by various Tang period poets, Chang'an was the directional feature of both Xie Junwei and Zou Jing, who were no doubt mentored under the watchful eye of Light Chaser founder Gary Wang; but what a debut film indeed! Offering enough mature themes that may not work for younger children, but will ultimately keep all adults engaged, the film delivers on many levels that comes across like an animated version of various Hong Kong and Chinese historical epics as seen by directors such as Zhang Yimou, Tsui Hark, Yuen Woo Ping, and Ching Siu Tung. But it also offers moments that harked back to the finest Shaw Brothers classics; and more notably, those from the legendary Chang Cheh – even down to the homoeroticism as topless heroes wrestle with each other before falling into one another's arms to laugh about it.

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Backed by a host of fantastic voice actors and an emotionally beautiful score courtesy of Guo Haowei and Lo Ta Yu; the latter of which won awards for his musical scores on films such as Sammo Hung's Eight Taels Of Gold (1990), Johnnie To's Heroic Trio (1993), and the Hsu Feng produced Red Dust (1990) starring Brigitte Lin and Maggie Cheung – Chang'an is a hugely impressive piece of work that deserves to be seen on the big screen. At the time of writing, the film stands as the fourth highest-grossing Chinese animated film ever made (although at it's time of release, was the second) and it's easy to see why. Without a second thought, I can honestly say that Chang'an is one of the most beautifully animated films I have ever seen. It's also worth noting that fans of Hong Kong and Chinese historical epics will enjoy its blend of fight action and large scale battles, as seen in John Woo's Red Cliff (2008) for example, with political drama and culture akin to Chow Yun Fat's Confucius (2010) among many others!

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Overall: An incredibly beautiful and stunningly animated epic, Chang'An holds it's own against the finest Hollywood animation studios and highly entertains! (5/5) George @invincibleasia​