Film Name:瘋狂的外星人 / Crazy Alien
Ning Hao + Huang Bo + Shen Teng + Xu Zheng + Liu Cixin… With such a star-studded creative lineup commanding attention and buzz, Crazy Alien is undoubtedly the undisputed No. 1 of this year’s Spring Festival season. Everyone is curious to see what kind of work will emerge from the collision of these “magical” talents.
After watching the film, I let out a long sigh… This film is hard to pin down: From the perspective of Ning Hao’s “Crazy” series, it abandons his signature interlocking multi-plot narrative while retaining its core absurdity and grassroots spirit. As a sci-fi film, it uses homegrown ‘lowbrow’ humor to playfully mock potential “highbrow” elements, turning clichés on their head. As a comedy, it demonstrates skillful execution and solid pacing, delivering plenty of sharp laughs. Yet overall, it lacks that cathartic release that truly satisfies the audience.
By any measure, Crazy Alien performs admirably. The final product is solid, but falls short of excellence. So what exactly went wrong?
[Friendly reminder: Spoilers ahead.]
I didn’t read much Science Fiction World in my youth, but I happened to come across the issue featuring “The Village Teacher”—Liu Cixin’s story left a profound impression on me. The stark contrast between the insignificance of an obscure teacher in a remote village and the colossal grandeur of the Carbon-Based Federation’s super fleet remains vivid in my memory to this day.
So, even though the plot of Crazy Alien bears little resemblance to the original story of The Country Teacher, I believe this adaptation captures about a third of the original’s essence:
The arrogant alien, the “great” Country C, the fantastical yet perilous interstellar diplomacy—these represent the film’s grand elements. Meanwhile, the park featuring knockoff world landmarks, the hardworking Geng Hao and Da Fei scraping by, and the interspersed monkey shows embody the film’s intimate details… The latter, with its unique ordinariness and vulgarity, cleverly deflates the former’s pretentiousness.
First, a disclaimer: if you’re expecting a Guy Ritchie-style narrative like Crazy Stone or Crazy Racer, Crazy Alien will likely disappoint—this time, Ning Hao has boldly pared things down, retaining only two main storylines. One follows the back-and-forth torment between Geng Hao, Da Fei, and the alien, and the other involving Country C’s attempts to monopolize diplomatic relations with the aliens. These threads later intertwine, ensuring the plot remains accessible to all.
Thus, the film’s true appeal lies in its pervasive sense of contrast.
The opening scene sets the tone with a classic “high-to-low” contrast: Chinese astronauts spouting nonstop banter, obsessed with filming TikTok videos, radiating humor and superiority with their arrogant demeanor—a sight all too familiar to us (Hollywood-savvy) viewers. Captain Zack’s subsequent questioning of the alien’s name only infuriates him further… Yet after the “fall from grace,” the alien finds himself trapped in an incomprehensible dimension.
He recognizes space stations and spacesuits, but chains, whips, and monkey shows are alien to him. He might attempt to annihilate Earth’s civilization in response to human rudeness and arrogance, yet he becomes helpless and grovels when confronted with the most primitive, brutal methods of discipline…
This utterly “primitive” way of coexisting completely defied the alien’s conceptual framework. Even after reclaiming the “energy headband,” he didn’t kill Geng Hao and Da Fei in a fit of rage. Instead, he turned their own methods against them—riding bicycles, wearing neck chains, having guns pressed to his throat—and thoroughly enjoyed every moment of it.
Most of the film’s comedic moments stem from this contrast: an alien capable of deciding human life and death is treated by a lowly monkey trainer as “a Congolese monkey from South America.” This stark contrast creates ample room for comedy, especially when juxtaposed with their “colleagues”—the human elite, epitomized by Agent John from Country C, who serve as the perfect straight men to the trio of protagonists.
This mockery and satire reach their peak during the “Gene Ball Ceremony” sequence. Despite resorting to some lowbrow “fart and pee” gags, the comedic payoff is genuinely hilarious.
If it merely deconstructed and tore apart the sci-fi setting, it would be nothing more than a second-rate comedy. What makes Crazy Alien stand out is its wealth of unique creativity, with many ideas being quite ingenious.
For instance, my favorite gag in the entire film is the rendition of the theme from 2001: A Space Odyssey (Richard Strauss’s symphonic poem “Thus Spake Zarathustra”) performed in the style of Chinese folk music. In both these vastly different sci-fi films, this BGM accompanies scenes depicting the “monkey + civilization” theme, serving as both homage and uniquely localized interpretation. Thus Spake Zarathustra”). In both these vastly different sci-fi films, this BGM accompanies scenes depicting the “monkey-to-civilization” theme. It’s both a homage and a uniquely localized twist—absolutely brilliant, undeniably impressive!
Another standout moment is when Geng Hao, John, and Da Fei team up to subdue the aliens—equally hilarious and packed with thrilling climaxes.
Since the alien possesses the monkey Huanhuan through an “energy headband,” this battle is essentially humans versus an “alien monkey”—set on “Flower Fruit Mountain,” facing a talking dwarf monkey wielding an iron rod. Any Chinese viewer instantly thinks of Sun Wukong (Sixth-Generation scholars would collectively scream “Double Blossom” in ecstasy). Geng Hao and his crew later exploit its half-monkey weakness to subdue it. The performance music and gong sounds become the magic band, the headband transforms into the golden headband, and cycling into the sky while wearing a balloon dragon circling overhead perfectly achieves Geng Hao’s earlier envisioned performance effect…
With clever puns, ready-made jokes, and East-meets-West gags, this transcends mere reliance on “cute contrast” for laughs.
It’s fair to say “Crazy Alien” doesn’t pack jokes too densely, but each one hits above average. Combined with some masterful finishing touches, it achieves a rare “sophistication” in this genre of comedy.
However, what left me both chilled and in awe was the film’s slyly concealed “anti-traditional, anti-science fiction” stance.
In the original “The Village Teacher,” the Carbon-Based Federation spared Earth’s civilization because children recited the three laws of mechanics—essentially still relying on and believing in science. Yet in “Crazy Alien,” the alien’s change of heart stems from monkey shows and, crucially, China’s unique drinking culture. I find it more fitting to interpret this as “mysticism.”
When the thoroughly “soaked” alien, drunk as a skunk, carries off a roomful of baijiu and bids farewell with the line “It’s all in the liquor,” anti-traditionalism and anti-science fiction achieve an organic fusion with the most traditional and most science-fictional elements—Ning’s absurd comedy truly lives up to its reputation.
At this point, we must commend Huang Bo and Shen Teng, whose brilliant performances brought all of the above to life.
Huang Bo and Ning Hao exemplify a mutually beneficial creative partnership. Huang Bo once again portrays the archetypal everyman Geng Hao—a character mired in hardship, embarrassment, misfortune, and stubbornness. He sets the tone for the entire film and ultimately becomes the catalyst for its reversal. Shen Teng, a comedy heavyweight who has rarely missed a beat in recent years, injects a breath of fresh air into the film. Da Fei’s shrewdness, loyalty, and blend of foolishness masking wisdom enrich the film’s grassroots spirit while preventing conflicts from devolving into simplistic binary oppositions. He serves as an exceptionally effective balancing agent.
Upon closer inspection, Crazy Alien appears to be flawless. So why does it receive mixed reviews from some critics and audiences? After much reflection, I suspect its strengths are too straightforward and overwhelming.
To be fair, comedies built on contrast and unexpected charm aren’t rare, and many are familiar with the formula. This film’s strength lies in its meticulous details and fresh punchlines. While audiences might marvel at the ingenuity of certain scenes, the transitional segments between them can feel rather dull…
When strengths are too pronounced, they tend to highlight weaknesses—a principle equally applicable to acting. Huang Bo and Shen Teng are fully capable of handling more complex, dramatic plots, but the film doesn’t give them much room to shine. This indirectly dilutes the impact of their strong performances. Xu Zheng, who plays the alien via motion capture, doesn’t fully leverage his acting potential. His contributions to the “trio” scenes are merely adequate, failing to “balance or elevate” the other two actors… Thus, this time, 1+1+1 is less than 3.
Overall, “Crazy Alien” falls short of being a universally acclaimed “classic,” but it remains a delightful comedy suitable for all ages. If you’re looking to unwind, it’s definitely a quality choice.
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