The Wandering Earth (Liu Lang Di Qiu)

The characters remain archetypes, but the film eventually earns its syrupy sentimentality.

It certainly proves that the Chinese film industry can hold its own at the multiplex: It is just as awash in murky computer imagery, stupefying exposition and manipulative sentimentality as the average Hollywood tentpole.

I can't think of another recent computer-graphics-driven blockbuster that left me feeling this giddy because of its creators' consummate attention to detail and infectious can-do spirit.

It makes absolutely zero sense at times, especially in the frantic and bonkers third act.

The Wandering Earth is a marvel of imagination, inspiration, execution, and excitement

If you have any palate for big over-the-top scifi blockbusters I think you will really enjoy The Wandering Earth. Who knows? You might even find yourself cheering the Chinese on as they save the Earth

Director Frant Gwo gives the film a surprising stateliness, especially in the scenes of the mobile Earth wandering the cosmos, wreathed in tiny blue jets that leave eerie space-contrails behind.

It's worth a look if you're curious about the future of tentpole cinema.

Even before it concludes in a bombastic manner that is more Michael Bay than Christopher Nolan, it's apparent that The Wandering Earth has made a giant leap for China's science fiction cinema but not for the genre itself.