an underwater odyssey with flamboyant animation

With spinning 3D and a palette of colors to delight the pupils, Tian Xiaopeng signs his second feature film with grandiose animation. Enough to compensate for a scenario with a somewhat simplistic morality.

Shenxiu is 10 years old, with a sad face and hair blowing in the wind. She lives with her father, her stepmother and a half-brother who receives all the attention. In this blended family where affection is not balanced, Shenxiu feels too much and shows her suffering. The young heroine dreams of only one thing: finding her mother who left the family home several years ago. This wish throws her into an incredible odyssey to be discovered in the cinema from February 21.

During a family cruise, Shenxiu falls into an underwater world populated by magical creatures. There she meets Nanhe, the chef of a strange restaurant and a priori the only other human under the ocean. Sometimes confronting each other, sometimes facing the same threat, the two characters go from adventure to adventure. In this world of chimeras, Shenxiu perpetually fights against surface demons.

Technical prowess

The Kingdom of the Abyss offers a unique visual experience. The feature film combines the realism of cutting-edge digital animation, the excess of the world of manga and the features of impressionist painting. Throughout the story, ink particles seem to come off the screen. Director Tian Xiaopeng creates a successful encounter between traditional Chinese painting and the swirling skies of Van Gogh.

Film of a thousand colors, The Kingdom of the Abyss is also a film of a thousand movements. The 3D projection makes this underwater journey an immersive experience, almost a physical experience. The animation upsets the senses.

If we find traces of the aesthetics of Spirited Away by Hayao Miyazaki and a bit of the crazy energy of Spider-Man: New Generation, The Kingdom of the Abyss undeniably offers something new. With this production, which mobilized nearly 1,500 people and required seven years of work, Tian Xiaopeng gave an international face to Chinese animation, a field that the country’s filmmakers have been seeking to invest in for several years.

A lack of conscientious representation of mental health

This colorful and ultra-dynamic film is above all the story of a young girl who suffers from a lack of affection. Shexiu experiences real discomfort and walled herself in a world of fiction. The film thus addresses the themes of abandonment, family conflicts and depression. Faced with these heavy subjects on which the plot is built, The Kingdom of the Abyss aims to bring hope and promises the return of happy days.

This unfailing optimism, if it is not problematic a priori, generates a too light representation of depression. After the rain comes the good weather? Maybe. But in just under two hours, The Kingdom of the Abyss fails to offer a real resolution and properly understand Shenxiu’s suffering. This technically impressive film ultimately misses its subject by losing sight of a reality inherent to its plot: it often takes time to climb back up from the abyss for good.

The sheet

Gender : Animation, Adventure, Fantasy
Director: Tian Xiaopeng
Actors (French voices): Maxime Van Santfoort, Pierre Bodson, Aaricia Dubois, Cécile Florin, Séverine Cayron, Frédéric Clou
Country : China
Duration : 1h52
Exit : the 21st of February 2024
Distributer : KMBO
Synopsis : Shenxiu, a 10-year-old girl, is sucked into the sea depths during a family cruise. She discovers the fantastic universe of the abyss, an unknown world populated by incredible creatures. In this mysterious place emerges the Restaurant des abysses, run by the emblematic Captain Nanhe. Pursued by the Red Ghost, their road will be strewn with trials and many secrets. Their underwater odyssey has only just begun.