The Wandering Earth 2 (2023) Review: Engines of Sacrifice

Is The Wandering Earth 2 worth watching?

Yes. The Wandering Earth 2 is a bigger, smarter and more emotionally grounded film than its predecessor, and one of the most impressive science fiction blockbusters to come out of China. Frant Gwo’s visual effects rival anything from Hollywood, and the story has a genuine interest in the politics and ethics of planetary survival. The main reservation is length and density: at 173 minutes, with multiple crises and a large cast, it can be exhausting, and its earnestness can tip into speechmaking.

What is The Wandering Earth 2 about?

The Wandering Earth 2 is a prequel set years before the events of the 2019 film. Scientists have discovered that the sun is heading toward a catastrophe that will destroy the solar system, and humanity must decide how to respond. One faction supports building colossal engines to push Earth out of orbit; another believes in preserving humanity as digital life.

The story follows several people caught up in the effort, including Liu Peiqiang (Wu Jing), a young astronaut in training; Tu Hengyu (Andy Lau), a scientist drawn into the controversial digital-life research by a personal loss; and Zhou Zhezhi (Li Xuejian), a diplomat trying to hold the global coalition together. Gwo directs from a screenplay he co-wrote. The Chinese film is in Mandarin with some English, runs 173 minutes, and opened over the Lunar New Year holiday in 2023.

Spectacle with genuine scale

Gwo’s ambitions are enormous, and remarkably, the film delivers on most of them. Space elevators, lunar launches, disintegrating orbital stations and continent-sized engines are rendered with conviction, and the design has a tactile, industrial heft that sets it apart from glossier Hollywood science fiction. The opening action sequence is a thrilling statement of intent, and later set pieces build to a scale that makes the first film look modest.

What makes the spectacle land is its sense of collective effort. The film is less about lone heroes than about thousands of workers, engineers and soldiers doing their part, and that gives the destruction weight. It is a disaster film about cooperation, which is an unusual and affecting emphasis for the genre.

Andy Lau gives the epic its heart

Among a large ensemble, Andy Lau’s storyline is the most moving. His scientist is quiet, grieving and morally conflicted, and the thread about digital life introduces the film’s most thought-provoking questions: what makes us human, and what should we be willing to sacrifice to survive? Lau underplays the role beautifully, giving the film its emotional centre.

Wu Jing, reprising his character from the first film at a younger age, brings stoic physicality and a gentler, romantic side. Li Xuejian is impressive as a veteran diplomat whose calm authority gives the political scenes gravitas. The global council debates are a surprisingly engaging part of the film, even if they are sometimes heavy-handed.

Where the epic sprawls

The film’s greatest weakness is its sprawl. With several major crises spread across years, multiple character arcs and considerable exposition, it can feel like three films compressed into one. Some supporting characters get lost, the emotional beats are sometimes underlined with sentimental music, and the dialogue during big speeches can be stiff. International audiences may also find the film’s rhetoric of national and collective duty a little insistent.

Who should watch The Wandering Earth 2?

This is for fans of large-scale sci-fi and disaster epics, and anyone curious about the growing ambition of Chinese blockbuster filmmaking. You do not strictly need to have seen the first film, since this is a prequel, but it helps to know the world. It has intense action, destruction and peril, but little graphic content, making it suitable for teenagers. Set aside nearly three hours and a large screen if possible.

If it impresses you, the natural next step is The Wandering Earth, Gwo’s 2019 original, set later in the timeline, which is lighter, shorter and more straightforwardly action-driven.

The verdict

The Wandering Earth 2 is a spectacular, sincere and surprisingly thoughtful science fiction epic that surpasses its predecessor. Its length and density will test some viewers, but Frant Gwo’s craftsmanship and Andy Lau’s soulful performance make it a landmark for Chinese blockbuster cinema.

Rating: 4/5