The Legend of Hei | Rotten Tomatoes (2025)

Audience Reviews

darren j I have been an ANIME SuperFan since leaving mama's womb LoL but I don't leave many reviews... This movie was absolutely Felinominal!!! 😸 It's almost too cute at the beginning you ll be all OHHHH SO CUDLY 😍 and then the story just grabs you! Magic, Spirits, Powers, Fellings and Felines! A coming of age story... who's good who's bad?... We're left wondering like Hei. The journey is like a road trip and the animation is excuisite, at times reminding me of Naruto and Bleach... Just watch it you'll be transported and a few tears may fall it's that Good! Definite 10/10 ⭐ Rated 5/5 Stars • Rated 5 out of 5 stars 07/02/24 Full Review Logan D A cat spirit and his friends are attacked. He's captured by the enemy and begins to question his allies.Unlike many anime movies, this is actually a prequel, thankfully. I wasn't confused by not having viewed the series. Question: Is it anime if it's Chinese? Although it follows familiar paths the film does it well. The main attraction are the action scenes. Fluid and constantly moving the viewer around as part of the action. Some of the most dynamic animation I've ever seen.Recommended. Rated 4/5 Stars • Rated 4 out of 5 stars 03/03/24 Full Review Tristan M An amazing story, the animation may look simple at first, but the movement is crisp and breathtaking, the backgrounds are beautiful and so eye catching. Overall an absolute treat of a movie. Rated 5/5 Stars • Rated 5 out of 5 stars 05/21/23 Full Review Late R Like China's version of a Ghibli film if it was skewered more towards the action genre, ‘The Legend of Hei' has a surprisingly mature core to its story that deals with nature vs. man, the balance between the two, and the grey areas within the morals of those who push for one extreme or the other. There's some clever writing in the way that characters are introduced and their journeys that slowly reveal hidden motives. The backgrounds are visually lovely to look at, and the action scenes are pretty impressively animated, even if they're not quite up to the standard of the aforementioned iconic, Japanese studio. A pretty solid effort that has some great moments. Rated 3.5/5 Stars • Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 04/04/22 Full Review Audience Member one of the best films of its kind, love it Rated 5/5 Stars • Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/08/23 Full Review matthew d The cuteness of Ghibli with the fluid action of The Last Airbender.MTJJ's Chinese fantasy animated film The Legend of Hei (2021) is quite unique. Utilizing adorable hand drawn designs with skillful fast animation, Hei is very fun and exciting. I am pleasantly surprised that MTJJ's direction is so playful and funny for the comedic adventure and gripping with lightning fast movements for all the fight sequences. I adored the beautiful musical score throughout The Legend of Hei. The delicate piano and melodies were a thoughtful choice for this cute animated feature.Beijing's Chinese animation for The Legend of Hei borrows from the sleek Japanese anime look of Hayao Miyazaki fantasy features with the fluid motions of Korean animated shows like Avatar: The Last Airbender. I found The Legend of Hei to be compelling and full of surprises. MTJJ captivates you with the cute story of a forest cat spirit and turns it into an engaging story of magical spirits fighting for peaceful coexistence with the human world. Writers MTJJ and Kexin Peng's script is stuffed with quick jokes and intriguing lore with a fascinating amount of world building to let you believe in powerful spirits living among us. I appreciated how the story is essentially a parable on respecting spirits and being explicitly anti-deforestation. I like how it's in favor of environmental protection. The editing is so quick in pace and sharply cut that you'll never feel the 102 minute length. Liang Sou's cinematography moves the animated camera perspective as fastly as the characters' speedy movements. Gu Jie's visual effects are cool for explosions and magic powers of all manners.Shan Xin's playful voice acting for Luo Xiao Hei in the Chinese original voice cast is great fun to listen to in The Legend of Hei. She captures the catlike personality and youthful curiosity of Hei. The serious dramatic voice actors Zhen Wang and Hao Xianghai for Infinity and Stormend respectively are excellent as well. They all give an emotionally real vocal performance that adds gravitas to The Legend of Hei.In short, I actually loved The Legend of Hei and look forward to new and exciting hand animated films from China. It's worth a watch. Rated 5/5 Stars • Rated 5 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Read all reviews

The Legend of Hei

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