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Big Fish & Begonia Movie Review

Big Fish & Begonia is a 2016 Chinese animated fantasy film directed by Liang Xuan and Zhang Chun. It is a confusing, but gorgeous flick.

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“I’m saying I pity you.

Besides, resurrecting someone from the dead doesn’t come cheap“

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Chun, a young girl from a mystical world, transforms into a red dolphin and travels to the human realm. However, her life takes an unexpected turn when she meets Kun, who dies while saving her. This environmental tale has a great ecological message and likable characters, but the problem here lies in the structure with bad pacing and narrative that is both convoluted and very difficult to get into at times.

Some sections I adored, but others I found very hard to understand. I guess for Chinese viewers this may not be an issue due to the movie using many famous tales from the country and mixing them into one storyline, but for Western audiences this story is overly complicated and confusing.

With that being said, the imagery of the red dolphin was so striking and the movie is very epic in the fantastical sequences, especially those set underwater. Whenever the movie was concerned with these fantastical creatures, it was a joy to sit through.

Well, the human characters are also solid, just not as well developed as I would have liked. Still, Chun is very likable and her relationship with Kun is wonderful. The voice acting is quite strong and the character animation is excellent.

Speaking of animation, Big Fish & Begonia features an incredible visual style. Apparently, the movie was filmed for many years due to a problematic production, but it all paid off thanks to this impressively crafted animation, especially in the character design, colorful palette and stunning effects.

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The movie is epic because of the animation and this is a great example of how animation is better suited for fantasy than live-action. The score is also beautiful and the film’s tone is quite moving at times, but I just wish that in the script department and in the editing it were better handled.

Big Fish & Begonia is a Chinese epic fantasy animated movie that looks gorgeous due to stunning animation and character design. The fantastical elements are very intriguing and the film’s environmental elements are so well realized. The issue here is that the core storyline is overly convoluted and at times downright confusing with way too many plot points and characters thrown into the mix, making for a muddled effect.

My Rating – 3.5