English Dub Review: Green Snake

 

 

Overview:

After an incredible battle that resulted in the demise of White Snake, Green Snake awakes to a world she does not know. Asuraville is a place between time, where lost souls from every era fight for their survival, humans, demons, and monsters alike. However, the modern setting is a far cry from Green Snake’s era, and she has much to learn about the new world.

Making companions and enemies along the way, Green Snake’s only goal is to make it out of Asuraville. However, where you need to fight for your survival every day, getting what you want could cost more than anticipated. Most surprisingly, the thing that she has been obsessing over, and the thing keeping her here, maybe closer than she believes.

 

Our Take:

It would be difficult to tell by the English Dub title, but Green Snake is a direct sequel to the 2019 Chinese animated feature, White Snake. This follow-up adventure kills off White Snake in the film’s first scene and puts her sister in the starring role. Green Snake, also titled White Snake 2: The Tribulations of Green Snake takes the magical world established in the first film and takes it to another level. The new movie traverses through time, space, and the afterlife and puts the hero in a whole new world.

Thankfully, if you missed White Snake, this movie works as a stand-alone. Well, at least after the first ten minutes, which seems to wrap up the former film’s events. From there, however, the story puts the heroine in an afterlife limbo, a place where souls go that are not yet ready for reincarnation. Yet, this dystopian world is a thousand years in the future compared to Green Snake’s home, and it is infested with demons, monsters, and daily natural disasters.

Of course, the heroine would be nowhere without guides and friends, and she goes through a few. Do not get too attached to anyone character because they may not last through to the next scene. Side characters that the film would lead you to believe to be necessary have a habit of dying throughout the feature. A fact that shows the main heroine to not rely on anyone, except for her sister that died in front of her a thousand years ago.

As convoluted and challenging as this film can be, it has a lot going for it.

The most lovable feature of the movie is the stunning animation. Detailed settings, fluid action, and creative creatures are overflowing throughout every scene. And with a runtime of over 130-minutes, the amount that is packed into the film is ambitious. Although, it does go on for far too long, arguably.

More interestingly, the movie is entirely original. This unique afterlife is unlike any other setting played out in a film before. And for our heroine, it means that there is always something, or someone, that is always trying to kill her. If it is not a giant demon ox, it is the world itself attempting to drop a skyscraper on top of her.

Although we are thrown into this world and expected to keep up, there is a lot to love about this movie. If for nothing else, offering something different from everything else available on Netflix. If you are looking for something new with many unexpected twists and turns, this is worth checking out. However, make sure to set enough time aside. This film is long, but so are the breaks that you will need to catch your mind up with your eyes.