Escape from the 21st Century

2024 [CHINESE]

Action / Adventure / Drama / Sci-Fi

6
IMDb Rating 6.4/10 10 1074 1.1K

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Plot summary

Three friends discover that they have the power to travel back and forth 20 years with a sneeze. However, the future is not as good as they hope, and they need to take on the responsibility of saving the world.

Director

Yang Li Photo
Yang Li

Top cast

Zhengrong Wen Photo
Zhengrong Wen as Boss
Yichen Chen Photo
Yichen Chen as young Wang Zha
Qixuan Kang Photo
Qixuan Kang as young Paopao
Xiaoliang Wu Photo
Xiaoliang Wu as Han Guang
720p.BLU 1080p.BLU
902.03 MB
1280*536
Chinese 2.0
NR
Subtitles cn  us  
24 fps
1 hr 38 min
Seeds 24
1.81 GB
1920*804
Chinese 5.1
NR
Subtitles cn  us  
24 fps
1 hr 38 min
Seeds 65

Movie Reviews

Reviewed by TheVictoriousV 6 / 10

Doesn't always succeed, yet I'm glad it tries

Escape From the 21st Century is certainly a sight to behold; an unrelentingly wacky and stylized Chinese sci-fi comedy that owes its existence to the same Stephen Chow classics that, along with other Hong Kong legends, were lovingly referenced in 2022's Everything Everywhere All At Once. People aren't unjustified in comparing Escape From the 21st Century (whose wacky captions and animated emphases have also yielded comparison to Scott Pilgrim vs. The World) to EEAAO, though I would urge them to check out the Chow titles that inspired both works.In this film, we meet three friends who discover that sneezing -- yes, sneezing -- causes their consciousnesses to travel 20 years into the future, where they remain until they sneeze once again and return to their young bodies. They decide to meet up in their future bodies and discover what sort of lives they lead, and all manner of cartoonish hilarity and high-speed action ensue, especially when our heroes start trying to influence fate. And yes, in EEAAO fashion, it winds up being a sincerely poignant tale about life, destiny, and what-could-have-been that escalates in one humdinger of a climax.The film does get a bit exhausting at points, and it probably throws too much at us, not just in terms of style (the aforementioned captions, the cartoon physics, the random animations, the aspect ratio shifts that sometimes denote a jump through time but other times seem haphazard), but also in terms of its sci-fi premise.I haven't yet mentioned that the film actually takes place on another planet, which adds little save for lore about the various pop culture figures and wildlife our heroes are familiar with. It mostly looks like Earth, so what's the point, you may wonder? Was this done because audiences wouldn't buy that a magical frog, whose toxins are what imbue the heroes with their time-travel powers, and killer androids could exist on our planet? Well, as it turns out, it was done to circumvent censorship from the Chinese government, as the film doesn't really depict modern China, but rather Planet K.The set pieces and presentation choices are ambitious, but sometimes awkwardly executed/edited. Often things move too quickly, especially by the start. Regardless, this is the sort of filmmaking we ought to cherish. To quote a Letterboxd review: "Genres, frame shapes, effects, styles, pacing. All played with. It's a breakneck bombardment of hodgepodge ideas and stimulation. And you know what, it kind of works. And even when it doesn't, it's fun to still see them try."
Reviewed by Blue-Grotto 1 / 10

"Your pain is only temporary," I wish this was true

"If you are in pain, it is only temporary" said the director via a video prior to the start of the film screening at the Toronto International Film Festival. If this was true, then the film would have been over in a minute or two."The greatest lie we tell ourselves is that things will get better when we grow up."This theme seemed enticing, and it helped lead me to see this film. Also the comparison to a Stephen Chow film (whose films I love). However, the film didn't follow the premise or compare to Chow. It didn't follow any premise except trying to look cool. No depth, and no purpose. And really, falling into a chemical spill gives the characters the ability to time travel?! I don't mind giving a story line the benefit of the doubt, but this isn't brilliant or creative, it's just dumb.
Reviewed by ricky_martin_ 6 / 10

New-gen Comical Film - Tarantino style

This is definitely one of the new generation films that wants to integrate quirky 2D, 3D graphics with a instagram style Punk Post-heavy film. The use of aspect ratios and color grading were brilliant and goes well with differentiating and understanding different non-linear timelines. But I felt like somewhere the Director wanted to convey too many things in a flashy way and it backfired on the excellent technical work otherwise. The story was hard to keep up especially at the final 20-30mins and It was too much to take in with that many visual disturbances and storyline intertwining. It would have been a great success if it was kept simple, like in the first 30 minutes. The humor and Dark elements have worked out good in many scenes.Definitely a one time watch if you don't see logic and like quirky action films that resembles TikTok/Reels era. I could also see that the makers wanted to create something like Kill-Bill from the technical end and it has worked out.
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