Film Name: 星游记之风暴法米拉2 / Xing You Ji Zhi Feng Bao Fa Mi La II
The main storyline of “Xing You Ji” follows a young boy named Maidang as he traces his father’s footsteps in search of the “Rainbow Sea.” Along the way, he journeys across diverse planets, levels up, battles monsters, and completes quests, encountering a wide array of characters and forging various bonds. Thus, its secondary plotlines revolve around the peculiar tales of these diverse individuals and planets. In this sense, the Familla Tournament dungeon on Jupiter essentially fulfilled its purpose.
It focused on the eternal theme of fatherhood. Not only did it highlight the father-son relationship of protagonist Maidan through weighty dialogue—emphasizing that while the father may be absent, paternal love endures, expressed through educational words spoken to young Maidan—but it also elaborated on the father-son bond of the dungeon’s protagonist, Aurora. The gesture Aurora and his father ultimately performed together resonated deeply with audiences precisely because this emotional thread felt authentic and plausible. The profound fatherly love born from ordinary moments is something every viewer can relate to.
However, having watched so much of “Xing You Ji,” I must say McDonald has rarely moved me deeply. I often feel he clings to his ideals and actions in a somewhat contrived way, dragging those around him into his adventures. His greatest flaw is that he has no flaws. This is precisely why the Storm Familla storyline needed to inflict upon him the Shadow Bind spell—a slow-acting, mind-and-body-corrupting sorcery. The intent was to use an external force to create a perceived “defect,” then amplify dramatic impact through its resolution or eruption. Yet this artificially imposed “flaw” pales in comparison to the emotional tension born from inherent character flaws.
Beyond the father subplot, the film’s other storylines collectively possess that “Kuiba 1” quality—utterly baffling and nonsensical. A tournament where rules can be arbitrarily changed mid-game feels utterly unserious. The long-awaited appearances of the Galactic Eye’s high-ranking officers, White Eye and Blue Eye, feel like a tease with no payoff—as if viewers aren’t watching a movie but an extended TV series, with no clue when the next episode will air. Red Eye, though a beloved character, has his Pluto mission introduced without any setup, and his betrayal leaves audiences utterly confused. Kamilla, the shadowy mastermind behind the tournament, remains perpetually enigmatic. Yet the film ultimately refuses to reveal his origins, transforming his mystery into mere pretentiousness. The shattering of the crucial Golden Cube prop builds tension, but the revelation that it’s broken and nothing more leaves one with a cold sweat on the forehead. The sudden appearance of Solar System executives from the Interstellar Alliance feels like an assumption the audience should have made beforehand—they appear hastily and depart just as abruptly…
I believe the director and screenwriter envisioned an expansive, mature, and clearly defined world. Yet the story we need allows audiences to examine characters’ personalities from an omniscient perspective, not one where the director manipulates our emotions from that same vantage point. Every character who appears must have a conclusion, whether good or bad, open-ended or resolved. Every action must have a motive, whether briefly stated or elaborately recalled. Every setup must have a payoff, whether subtle or overt, near or far. The director’s assumptions cannot be treated as the audience’s common knowledge. Don’t let bizarre animation concepts become absurd animation plots.
Hollywood blockbusters often label characters as “The [X]er”—Terminator, Seer, Scavenger, Survivor, Destroyer, and so on. “Xing You Ji” names those empowered by the Rainbow Stone as “Freedom Seekers.” This is an excellent title, but it should be more than just a name. People unlock certain abilities through the Rainbow Stone, gaining “freedom,” yet simultaneously facing greater constraints. Freedom and limitations are inseparable—without boundaries, there is no liberty. The Liberators’ mission is to continually break through these constraints, striving for higher levels of freedom, ultimately seeking the ultimate liberation that may await them in the utopian world of the “Rainbow Sea.”
Finally, from an industry perspective, I’d like to raise two points. First, this animation premiering exclusively on iQiyi represents a valuable experiment in internet-distributed animated films. Second, whether this film qualifies as a theatrical release—and if so, why it lacks the mandatory film classification label—raises a significant question: Could future films similarly bypass film bureau censorship by premiering online, relying instead on self-regulation by streaming platforms? This is certainly worth considering.
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