The Legend of Hei Movie Review (2024)

Common Sense Media Review

The Legend of Hei Movie Review (1) By Brian Costello , based on child development research. How do we rate?

age 10+

Violence, some drinking in Chinese animated fantasy.

Parents Need to Know

Why Age 10+?

Any Positive Content?

  • Violence & Scariness

    some

    Animated fantasy violence throughout. The lead character, who is sometimes a small cat, is pursued by three thugs who throw bottles and metal drums at it while cornered in an alley. A shootout between a robber and police. Fighting with punches, kicks, swords, spells, explosions. Some demonic imagery, particularly when Hei transforms into a giant demon cat.

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  • Language

    a little

    Infrequent mild profanity: "damn," "ass," "bastard."

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  • Drinking, Drugs & Smoking

    a little

    While a young boy, Hei is offered a cup of booze by a tiger-spirit. Background smoking.

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  • Positive Messages

    very little

    One of the themes is on humankind's centuries of environmental destruction, and the distrust that has grown among a group of spirits who wish to get revenge.

  • Positive Role Models

    very little

    No real role models emerge in fantasy centered on spirits trying to coexist among humans.

  • Parents Need to Know

    Parents need to know that The Legend of Hei is a 2019 Chinese fantasy movie in which a cat-spirit escapes the destruction of his forest, and must choose which leader to show how to use his powers. There's frequent fantasy animated violence, as the spirit characters do battle with punches, kicks, swords, spells, throwing each other around, and putting humans in a large city in danger. There's a brief shootout between a robber and police. As a small cat, Hei is pursued in the city by three young thugs who throw bottles and then oil drums at Hei, until Hei transforms into a large demonic cat and tosses them away. While a young boy, Hei is offered a cup of booze by a tiger-spirit. Infrequent profanity: "damn," "ass," "bastard." The movie addresses humanity's role in environmental destruction over the centuries, particularly as it pertains to deforestation. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails.

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The Legend of Hei

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What's the Story?

In THE LEGEND OF HEI, Hei is a small cat living peacefully in the forest. But when humans come along and tear down the forest, Hei must flee, and ends up in the big city. While surviving on scraps of food, Hei does his best to hide, but when three thugs corner him in an alley and throw bottles and oil drums at him, Hei transforms into a giant cat demon and tosses the thugs aside. It's there where he's rescued by Stormend, a spirit who takes Hei to a place far from humans, where he meets fellow spirits Bamboo and Sky Tiger. While feeling safe with Stormend and his friends, Hei transforms into a young boy. However, he's soon taken by another spirit named Infinity, who rides away from Stormend on a wooden raft. Thinking him to be a dangerous bad guy, Hei tries to escape and then is hostile towards Infinity, until the audience and Hei begin to learn the truth about Stormend, and Infinity offers to teach Hei how to use his powers to their fullest potential. Infinity tells Hei that Stormend is leading a group of spirits who want to get revenge on humanity for their destructive ways, and to accomplish that, Stormend is starting to steal the spirit-powers of anyone he can, and that could include Hei if Hei isn't careful. Infinity leads a group of spirits who seek to find ways to coexist with humanity. Hei must choose to believe Infinity, or to follow Stormend, as the two face off in a large city.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:

Parents say: Not yet rated

Kids say: Not yet rated

This is a story about right versus wrong, coexistence, and deforestation that's as thoughtful as it is cute. The Legend of Hei is a Chinese animated fantasy movie in which Hei, a young boy/cat/cat-demon, must pick a side in a rapidly-escalating battle between a spirit that rescued Hei from humans and a spirit that's trying to rescue Hei from the spirit that rescued Hei from humans. The movie makes effective use of the blurred lines between "good guy" and "bad guy," and the confusion Hei contends with as he must choose between the two, even as he's learning how to use his spirit powers. There are some moments of levity, as there's something amusing about a tiger-spirit of few words who holds a cup to Hei while he's a young boy and grunts, "Booze?"

It's a movie that combines many serious themes and conflicts with cutesy animation and engaging action. While the story sometimes seems on the verge of veering off into so many tangents and random moments (there's a shootout between cops and a robber while Hei and Infinity are at a table in an outdoor cafe for some reason), it more or less stays on track. The animation, while at times using some of the more familiar aspects of Asian animated fare, has an original style, particularly in scenes involving deforestation. Best of all, it's an animated movie that be enjoyed by both adults and kids as much for the messages and conflicts as for the cute characters and fight scenes.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about environmental themes in The Legend of Hei. What does the movie communicate about deforestation, and how does this lead to the conflict between the two opposing spirit sides?

  • What's an example when the violence seemed gratuitous?

  • How is this similar to and different from other animated fantasy movies, particularly animated fantasies from Asia?

Movie Details

  • In theaters: May 17, 2019
  • On DVD or streaming: May 15, 2021
  • Cast: Youji Wang, June Yoon, Kei Gambit
  • Director: MTJJ Mutou
  • Inclusion Information: Female actors
  • Studio: Shout! Factory
  • Genre: Action/Adventure
  • Topics: Magic and Fantasy
  • Run time: 101 minutes
  • MPAA rating: NR
  • Last updated: April 16, 2024

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