Synopsis: In the near future, when the inflating Sun is threatening all lives on Earth, governments are united together to carry out an ambitious plan: building thousands of gigantic thrusters on the ground to push our planet out of the solar system. They call it "Project Wandering Earth". 17 years later, the plan is in danger of catastrophic failure when the Earth is travelling near Jupiter. With only 37 hours to spare, teams of rescuers rush to save the Earth from colliding with Jupiter. A young man, Liu Qi, his sister and his grandpa are involuntarily involved in this biggest rescue mission of the history. Together, they will encounter many difficulties along the road, they will revisit their past, and they will feel desperation and hope. This is a story about uniting all humans to face enormous challenges, about strong feelings between father and son, and most importantly, about hope in despair. (125 Mins)

 

Views: Based on the short story of the same name by Liu Ci Xin, written almost two decades before, The Wandering Earth is an epic tale that challenges even the biggest Hollywood sci-fi movies. Set in the year 2058, the world has finally come together to create the United Earth Government – brought together in a bid to save mankind from the threat of our ageing Sun which is getting closer to the point of engulfing the Earth's orbit and ending all life as we know it. To avoid their possible extinction, the UEG create The Wandering Earth Project in a bid to shift the planet out of its Solar System and into that of the Alpha Centauri's. They do this by using a team of highly skilled scientists and astronauts to build a host of enormous fusion-powered engines, placed all over the Northern Hemisphere and equator, in order to drive planet Earth to its new destination. Chinese astronaut Liu Peiqiang oversees the manoeuvre, and helps navigate his home planet away from the burning Sun . Following instructions to use Jupiter's gravity to assist them, the UEG soon find some major flaws in their plans as the Earth experiences a host of deadly earthquakes and tsunamis caused by a shift in tidal forces due to the gravitational pull. This, in turn, destroys many of the giant engines across the planet! Meanwhile, in the International Space Station, Liu Peiqiang is challenged by the A.I. system known as MOSS, which has made its own decision to alter plans and leave planet Earth to die – opting to seed a new beginning using Earths biosphere while the Space Station will serve as an ark for any survivors. Reluctant to follow the new plans by MOSS, Liu fights to continue his mission to save his home planet, unaware of the troubles and adventures his young adult son is facing in his absence...

 

I was super excited to see The Wandering Earth get a wide release on Netflix, and even more so to finally see this epic adventure movie! While I've always loved Asian cinema, I've always had a soft spot for the science-fiction genre from classic Hollywood and Japanese titles to many of the modern box-office hits coming out today. The Wandering Earth is one such title, challenging the very best that Hollywood has to offer with its grand story and stunning visual effects. I can't imagine where I would begin with the challenge of creating such a film. Reading up on production notes, it was interesting to find out how much pre-production went into building the design of it all – taking the story theme of the original book, but going on to flesh it out with more focus of the characters, social aspects, politics, economics, and daily life, as well as an outlook on how the world would be after many years of environmental change. The highly impressive VFX were handled by a number of effects teams and are incredibly impressive when compared to other Chinese sci-fi movies such as Shanghai Fortress, and even some titles from the West if I'm to be honest. I don't think I've ever seen a film quite like The Wandering Earth with its ambitious approach both in story and execution – I mean, have we ever seen the planet Earth being driven through the solar system before? It's just insane to see!

 

The film is directed by Frant Gwo, who also serves as one of the eight screenwriters and one of the producers – as well as making a cameo of sorts throughout the film. Until The Wandering Earth I had actually never heard of Gwo, even though he had directed two features prior to this with the first being Lee's Adventure; a sci-fi adventure starring Jaycee Chan and Henry Fong (who also produced). Gwo followed this up with the rom-com, My Old Classmate, with both films obviously making enough of an impression at the box-office to land Frant the job of directing this epic. To date, Gwo has since went on to direct the equally impressive sequel, Wandering Earth 2, and the Chinese war film, The Sacrifice – a movie very similar to the Battle At Lake Chang-Jin movies with Wu Jing leading the way once again. Initially hired to show up in only one scene, Frant Gwo knew that Jacky Wu Jing was the only major star of the film and started making changes to the script in an attempt to keep him around for longer. But as days turned into months and the production itself went over-budget, Gwo found himself in the position of having to ask the superstar if he would possibly forfeit his fee. Respecting both the directors proposal and the film itself, Wu Jing agreed to give up his remuneration and went onto invest his own money in the production so that it could continue shooting without any more issues. This was a massive bonus for Gwo and The Wandering Earth as Jing had pretty much become China's biggest star due to the success of his career and self-directed record-breaking box-office smash, Wolf Warrior 2, which had come out only a year or so before. I've always been a huge fan of the martial-arts star ever since he appeared on the scene in Yuen Woo Ping's Tai Chi 2 / Tai Chi Boxer way back in 1996. With memorable roles quickly following in Drunken Monkey, SPL, Fatal Contact and Invisible Target (along with many more), Wu Jing quickly went onto become one of China's most bankable stars. He impressed as a director with his debut piece Legendary Assassin in 2008, but it would be Wolf Warrior in 2015 that would confirm his strength as a director. That same year would see him star in the hit film SPL2: A Time Of Consequences, followed by Benny Chan's fantastic Call Of Heroes. Since his critically acclaimed Wolf Warrior 2 lit up screens around the world, Wu has led the way in many big scaled Chinese films such as The Battle At Lake Chang-Jin 1 & 2, The Sacrifice, The Climbers, this and its incredible sequel, and even made an appearance in Jackie Chan's 2022 action-comedy, Ride On. In The Wandering Earth, Wu Jing is joined by a massive Chinese cast with legendary Hong Kong actor, the late Ng Man Tat who plays the grandfather to his son, Li Guang Jie from films such as Drug War, Line Walker, and Shattered Earth: Cloudy Mountain, Lei Jia Yin from Brotherhood Of Blades 2 and Cliffwalker, and Qu Chu Xiao – a television actor who plays Jing's son and has also appeared in Jackie Chan's underrated Iron Mask, The Yinyang Master, and Love Will Tear Us Apart.

 

Coming in as China's fifth highest-grossing film of all time, and scoring over 30 wins at awards festivals across China and the world, The Wandering Earth is a huge accomplishment on many levels of Chinese cinema, and another well earned notch on the belt of superstar Wu Jing. While martial-arts fans may be disappointed somewhat with the lack of kung-fu action available, one just has to understand that it's not that kind of movie and will still find enjoyment from the many other scenes of action available – most of which are on a grand scale. This is handled by action director Yan Hua, a stable talent of Donnie Yen's crew having appeared in films such as Twins Effect, Dragon Tiger Gate, Wu Xia, Special ID, Kung Fu Jungle, and Enter The Fat Dragon; most of which he also worked on as one of the action directors. The wonderful score is delivered by Roc Chen, a composer who has been behind titles such as The Legendary Amazons, Chinese Zodiac, Running Man, Kung Fu League, and Andy Lau's unfortunate film, Switch. Brought to life by the busy China Film Company – the same studio behind hits such as Aftershock, Flying Swords Of Dragon Gate, Blind Detective, Police Story 2013, The Mermaid, Cloudy Mountain, and The Battle At Lake Chang-Jin – The Wandering Earth deserves a look, if not for its awe-inspiring moments of science fiction then for its entertainment value and moments of uniqueness that make it a milestone for Chinese sci-fi cinema. And for those of you who have some unanswered questions, be sure to follow-up (or start) with The Wandering Earth 2; a prequel made just a few years after, that could answer most of them. Amazing film!

 

Overall: Massive, visually stunning, and hugely impressive for Chinese cinema, The Wandering Earth is an exciting and impressive piece of sci-fi cinema!

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Watch my video review HERE