Escape From The 21st Century, from director and screenwriter Yang Li, is a psychedelic comedy-drama set on Planet K, a world similar to Earth but with only 12 hours per day. The film oscillates between two timelines: 1999 and 2019. Time-travel films are typically wacky, and Yang Li takes them to the next level with stylized visuals inspired by comics, anime, and video games. With an overall inspirational theme, the film is steeped in nostalgia and follows a non-linear narrative that is generally absurd, funny, and definitely not meant to be taken seriously.
Escape From The 21st Century revolves around three best friends: Wang Zha, Wang Chengyong, and Paopao, and the narrative takes place in the summer of 1999. The three high school students looked to the future with great excitement, determined to make their dreams and ambitions a reality. But they soon discovered that they hadn't become the versions of themselves they had hoped to be in the future.
Director: Yang Li
Writer: Yang Li
Stars: Ruoyun Zhang, Elane Zhong, Yang Song
After falling into a lake contaminated with toxic chemicals, Chengyong, Zha, and Paopao discovered they could travel to 2019 with just a sneeze. Chengyong, the school's heartthrob, longed to live like a hero, but was disappointed to discover he was actually a villain. He was involved in an organ trafficking scheme, and his job was to eliminate potential threats. Although his life didn't turn out as he expected, he hoped to at least be married to the love of his life, Yang Yi. But he soon realized he was no longer in contact with his childhood sweetheart. His life had practically become a tragedy, but he hoped the changes in his past actions would be reflected in his future.
When Wang Zha woke up in 2019, he discovered he was a photographer. He learned he was working with journalist Liu Lianzhi, and that his job was to gather evidence against an organ trafficking ring. Since it was Zha's eighteen-year-old soul living in his thirty-eight-year-old body, he had no idea what was expected of him at work. He ended up taking photos with the flash on, and the gangsters quickly realized what was going on. Luckily, Liu was a skilled fighter and managed to dismantle the gang on her own. Zha was instantly attracted to Liu but hesitated to pursue her after discovering she had a boyfriend abroad. When Liu didn't receive credit for his investigative report, Zha ended up trashing the office just to teach his boss a lesson.
At first, Paopao was impressed by his version of the future: he was a muscular man living with his childhood sweetheart—a dream, no less! Paopao was in a relationship with Yang Yi. At first, she couldn't believe it, but slowly she realized that Yang Yi had chosen him after Chengyong distanced himself from her. She always knew Paopao loved her very much, and she assumed choosing him was a safe choice. Although Paopao was initially elated with the outcome of her life, he soon realized that Yang Yi wasn't truly happy with him. She simply settled for him when her relationship with Chenyong didn't work out. And even if he tried, he could never make her feel the way Chenyoung did.
At first, Paopao denied that Yang Yi wasn't truly interested in him. His eighteen-year-old soul surged with joy at the thought of that possibility, but he slowly realized that just because things turned out the way he'd always wanted didn't mean he was happy. Yang Yi turned to drugs after Chengyong left her. She was dealing with grief after losing her father, and Chengyong's decision to distance himself from her plunged her into even deeper depression. She no longer knew how to cope with life, so she popped pills to dull the pain. Chengyong was depressed by the outcome of his life. There was no denying that he was a terrible man who killed people on the orders of his boss. Even if he wanted to leave his life of crime behind, he couldn't. His father was in a persistent vegetative state, and mounting hospital bills left him no choice. He had also realized that he couldn't alter the future, so no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't save his father. Chengyong hoped to do better, but he didn't know how.
At first, Paopao denied that Yang Yi wasn't truly interested in him. Her eighteen-year-old soul was filled with joy at the thought of that possibility, but she slowly began to understand that just because things were going the way she'd always wanted didn't mean she was happy. Yang Yi turned to drugs after Chengyong left. She was dealing with the grief following the loss of her father, and Chengyong's decision to distance himself from her plunged her into even deeper depression. She no longer knew how to face life, so she gorged herself on pills to dull the pain. Chengyong was depressed by the outcome of his life.
It was undeniable that he was a terrible man who killed people on the orders of his boss. Even if he wanted to leave his life of crime behind, he couldn't. His father was in a persistent vegetative state, and the mounting hospital bills left him with no choice. She also realized that she couldn't change the future, so no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't save her father. To take control of his life, Chengyong decided to reconnect with Yang Yi. He had a fight with Paopao because he wasn't ready to accept that his girlfriend was still in love with her childhood sweetheart. Seeing Chengyong's desperation, Yang Yi demanded to know why he had left her. Chengyong stated that he always knew their future would be a disaster, so he didn't want her to break up with him. He also admitted that he feared she had left him over time.
Both Yang Yi and Chengyong had come to accept that they couldn't live without each other. She wanted him to promise her that he would go back in time and try to be a better person so they could be together forever. But Chengyong didn't live up to Yang Yi's expectations. He never truly changed, and they never saw each other again. A few days after confessing his love, Yang Yi took a lethal dose of Glittertracs and committed suicide. The summer of 1999 was the last time Yang Yi felt truly alive. Chengyong's boss, the leader of the illegal organ trafficking network, had been a surgeon. One mistake got her fired. Everyone around her expressed hatred for her, but her son always told her everything would be okay. Twenty years later, she was running a thriving, albeit illegal and corrupt, business, so her son decided to distance himself from her. In a desperate attempt to get her son to speak to her again, she decided to work on a project.
She believed that a toxic chemical capable of delaying the lifespan of the human brain by twenty years could help her achieve her mission. She conducted an experiment on Chengyong after he lost consciousness and discovered a special component in his blood that could be used to achieve her goal, and used it to produce a large quantity of serum. This possibly explains why we never saw the thirty-eight-year-old Chengyong. That version had been destroyed or perhaps replaced entirely, and only the eighteen-year-old version remained. Chengyong wasn't the only one chosen for the experiment; His father also underwent the serum treatment, and his 1999 self returned to his 2019 body. He was no longer in a persistent vegetative state, and although his boss had already decided to kill his specimen, Chengyong was determined to protect his father. He did everything he could, but his father eventually succumbed to his gunshot wounds.
Chengyong, Zha, and Paopao were determined to get revenge on the boss, but Liu Lianzhi reminded them how ill-prepared they were. She stated that she had hacked the boss's phone and found an audio recording where he mentioned that his son was 27 years old, and after injecting him with the serum, she knew his 7-year-old soul would take over his body. His assistant, Han Guang, had warned him that the world would not be kind to him. The boss added that he planned to send the entire world back 20 years so that his son wouldn't be bullied or made to feel different.
His plan was to disperse the chemical (he called it 'Chengyong 1') within a week. This meant that the souls from 1999 would be transported to 2019, and as a result, the reality of 1999 would be forever altered as human souls would disappear and only their bodies would remain as empty shells. Their desperation for their son's affection was on the verge of completely distorting everyone's memories. The summer of 1999 was nostalgic and perhaps the most memorable time of their lives, and Chengyong, Zha, and Paopao refused to watch it be erased only to be forced to live in a world where they felt completely lost.
The boys not only trained hard, but they also traveled back in time (1999) and drank a vial of Glittertrancs. The tiny holes in the vial helped them metabolize the toxins, which accelerated their muscle development, and over time, they became visibly stronger and more defined. Their punches were immense, and they were ready to defeat the boss and her gang. They reached the offshore ship where the chemical was mass-produced. Chengyong, Zha, and Paopao had managed to eliminate all the mercenaries on the ship, and it was time to kill Han Guang. They were offered money to abandon ship, but they refused to budge.
Han Guang warned them that if they refused, they would be held captive, and their blood would be used to generate more serum. They thought it was impossible for Han Guang to defeat them alone. But the three friends soon realized that they had underestimated him. To win what seemed like an impossible challenge, Zha went back in time with a sneeze and ensured that Han Guang wouldn't be inspired by the Street Fighter II tape and develop a video game addiction. They met as young men, and Han Guang wasn't the macho man he became. It didn't take much for Zha to snatch the Street Fighter II tape away, and he left Han Guang video game tapes and manga. Since the past had changed, the future also changed drastically.
Han Guang had gained weight due to his addiction and no longer posed a threat to them. They easily defeated him, and all they had to worry about were the bomb-wielding crows. We learn that in 1945, when Country V ran out of fighter planes, bombs were attached to the crows, and their movement was controlled with special instruments. Although the instruments were never found, a scientist managed to crack the code and deduced that the crows could be controlled with a game interface. Boss had gained access to the game's interface and used the crows to partially disperse the serum. By the time they defeated Han Guang, the crows had caused quite a bit of damage, and possibly more than 20% of the human shells created in 1999 as a result of their experiment (their souls were transported to 2019). But even after the crows' attack, Boss's son didn't receive his call.
Towards the end of Escape From the 21st Century, only Boss's phone remained, suggesting that, after his son chose not to answer his calls, Boss decided to take his own life. Given that she was stranded on a ship in the middle of the sea, there's possibly no other explanation for her disappearance. But before giving up her life, she chose to be the ultimate villain and revealed the secret of the serum.
Chengyong, Zha, and Paopao threw the barrels full of chemicals into the sea and managed to redirect the crows toward the ship, putting an end to the madness. Liu Lianzhi announced that the ship would sink in five minutes and that they should quickly board the lifeboat. Zha explained that since the chief had revealed the truth about the serum formula, they would always be hunted down to obtain blood so they could produce more serum. They believed her death was the only way to ensure the world order would not be disrupted (except for the damage already done). They had decided to perish with the ship. Zha expressed no regrets, as she hated the adult world, and only Liu Lianzhi made it bearable.
In the ending of Escape From The 21st Century, Liu mentioned all the things she loved about 1999 and begged Zha to find her. She didn't want to waste her life with anyone else and hoped they could be together, at least in the past. After witnessing her death in 2019, their souls returned to 1999. They realized their time was limited, and since they couldn't change fate, they should live their lives to the fullest and make memories together. They had experienced the pain of their future and knew how fleeting every feeling was, so they decided to embrace the life they had been given and try to be better human beings in every way.
Comments
Post a Comment