Film Name: 時間之子 / Endless Journey of Love
I just watched the newly released Chinese animated film “Endless Journey of Love,” and my feelings are quite complex.
This feeling isn’t something that can be easily categorized as “like or dislike” or “good or bad.” Instead, it’s a mix of conflicting emotions that swing back and forth in many ambiguous areas, making it hard to reach a conclusion… The film is definitely worth watching, but I can’t wholeheartedly recommend it.
Overall, the visuals and audiovisual effects of “Endless Journey of Love” are solid and visually appealing, and the story logic is generally coherent and complete. However, the film incorporates too many elements, to the point of overwhelming, and there’s also an issue of “strong branches but weak trunk” in terms of narrative structure. This leaves the film a step (or several steps) short of being a true masterpiece.
Based on the points mentioned above, let me share my own feelings.
When I first saw the trailer and promotional video for “Endless Journey of Love,” I was quite excited about the film’s scene design and visual style. After watching the actual film, I acknowledged its actual quality. However, as I watched, I gradually began to feel something was off…
What was off? It was the inability to find a coherent backdrop for the story, even though it was set in a fictional world.
The metropolis meticulously crafted in the film is clearly modeled after old Shanghai. Beyond that, you’ll find an overwhelming array of genre elements from modern adventure, fantasy, gangster, musical, and other works: the steam-age frontier spirit, the golden age’s glitz and glamour, the dark age’s chaos… the list goes on.
It sounds great, doesn’t it? And in recent years, mixing elements has been a very popular creative trend. However, “Endless Journey of Love” clearly takes it too far, to the point where, after being overwhelmed by the visuals, when you try to briefly recall or summarize the plot, you find it difficult to find a reliable anchor point.
Take the scene where Qian Xiao, Shi Qi, A Mu going to confront Wan Boss, it’s indeed lively, but it feels a bit nonsensical: the fact that they go through so much trouble just to deliver a message is already somewhat forced, and then they go through a series of stages with vastly different styles, such as the outer henchmen, the eunuch master, and the candy girl, before casually leaving after delivering the message.
From a purely aesthetic perspective, I actually enjoyed this sequence… but in a film that aims to tell a story, it feels more like a series of animated shorts designed to showcase technical prowess.
“Endless Journey of Love” left me with the impression, for a long time, that it was less “complex with diverse elements” and more “a chaotic mishmash of unrelated elements.”
At this point, I can’t help but think, “It would have been better if they had used 2D animation”—after all, 3D-modeled characters have relatively fixed appearances, and if they had used 2D animation with its greater expressive range, it might have reduced some of the film’s overly fantastical discomfort and dissonance.
However, the narrative pace of “Endless Journey of Love” somewhat mitigates this “chaos.” The dialogue is fast-paced, transitions are swift, and plot twists are executed without拖泥带水, avoiding the emergence of more bizarre visual sensations.
At the same time, such a narrative weakens the already fragile main plot. I feel that the main plot accounts for only about 30-40% of the film, and a large portion of it is concentrated toward the end. This cannot be glossed over with a single “twist,” as a good twist plot would have laid the groundwork and provided enough substance in the first half, rather than being as self-indulgent as “Endless Journey of Love.”
Additionally, I would like to mention that the setting of the Time Wheel and Qian Xiao’s use of it, as well as the main plot points, are strikingly similar to the 2017 film “The Flash,” amounting to direct borrowing. As for other homages to classics like “Interstellar,” I won’t elaborate further.
I understand that it is impossible to create a purely original story in today’s world, and among works with the “playing with time” theme, “Endless Journey of Love” is above average in terms of story quality… However, considering that it incorporates so many existing elements, I find it difficult to give it a high score in terms of “content creativity.”
Of course, there are many aspects of “Endless Journey of Love” that I find satisfying, such as the character designs of Qian Xiao and A Mu, the design of the ice cream-eating boy, and the smoothness of the animations—these are all commendable strengths.
So, should I say that the flaws do not overshadow the merits, or that the merits do not overshadow the flaws? Never mind, I’ll refrain from drawing a hasty conclusion. Original animation is no easy feat, so regardless of the flaws, we should acknowledge the progress made and look forward to future works that may surpass this one.
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