The Legend of Hei (2019)

The Legend of Hei (2019)

7/10

Starring the voices of

 Emi Lo

Aleks Le

Howard Wang

 

Directed by: MTJJ (Ping Zhang)

One thing I can tell you is this, the first few minutes of this animation are very captivating. This Chinese animated film has a wonderful English voice cast that captures every moment, and the animation art style fits the feel of the story perfectly. It was only after seeing this movie that I realized it is actually a prequel to the Chinese animated series, The Legend of Luo Xiaohei.

The fight animation is very well crafted, and the movie keeps you at arm’s length when it comes to what is really happening, allowing curiosity to slowly get the best of you. The film does not play around when it comes to excitement from the very beginning, and because of that, there is a slight point of letdown later on.

After the introduction, we move into a chase centered around rescuing Hei, a spirit cat who is captured by Infinity, a human with spirit-like powers. During this capture, Hei begins bonding with Infinity, and we reach a point where the movie wants us to question which side is good and which side is bad. This is where the pacing starts to drop, as there is a lot of dialogue about Stormend, his goals, and the goals of the guild.

To put all this into a clearer narrative, here is the plot. Set in a modern world where humans and spirits secretly coexist, this Chinese animated fantasy follows Hei, a young cat spirit whose forest home is destroyed by human expansion, forcing him into the human world. He is lost, alone, and angry over his loss when he encounters Stormend, another spirit who takes him in and introduces him to a group of spirits living together.

Their home is later attacked by Infinity, which leads to Hei being captured and placed at the center of a much larger conflict involving territory, balance, and coexistence. Hei meets other spirits who belong to Infinity’s guild, a group that believes strict rules are necessary to maintain peace between humans and spirits. This belief clashes directly with Stormend’s views, which lean in the opposite direction.

The film blends gentle slice-of-life moments with bursts of fluid action, which works well with its soft visual style. However, during the calmer sections, the pacing can slow to a crawl before the action pulls it back up again. And then, the lack of full knowledge of everyone’s intent, even when you are more than an hour in, can be a disappointment, as the curiosity withers.

Overall, the movie explores themes of displacement, moral complexity, and finding where you belong. It is a good film and worth watching if you have not seen it already, especially with part two released in mid 2025, which makes it easy to continue the story right after.