Film Name: 白蛇3：浮生 / White Snake: Afloat

The film I’m most looking forward to this summer is probably 《White Snake: Afloat》, not only because I’m a fan of animated films, but also because I’m a big fan of the series by Chasing Light Animation, and I can’t afford to miss the third instalment of the White Snake series.

After seeing the screening over the weekend, I was completely relieved: this film is watchable, good, and safe to watch.

Although 《White Snake: Afloat》 fails to surprise with its story and is very conservative and cautious in its writing,the film also makes no major mistakes, with a smooth narrative, likable characters, and a very comfortable viewing experience thanks to Chasing Light Animation’s excellent production standards and the beautiful Hangzhou scenery.

I think the best thing that the film did was to even out the relationship between Xu Xian and Xiaobai, and under the premise that the general framework of the ending will remain unchanged, the story is considered to have no regrets.

[Friendly reminder: there will be spoilers below.]

As is my usual habit, I’ll start by praising the film’s production.

《White Snake: Afloat》 made a great first impression on me, as it quickly moves the plot from the ending of 《White Snake》 to 500 years later, when Bai and Qing go to Hangzhou to chase Xu Xian, the reincarnation of Xuan, and the beautiful scenery of West Lake and Hangzhou adds a lot to the relationship.

I have to say, the creators really know what they’re doing, the best West Lake views such as the smoky West Lake and the first snowy West Lake (including the Broken Bridge and the Three Pools and the Moon) are included in the film, in addition to the Dragon Boat races on the Qiantang River and the bridge and water homes in the old city wells, all beautifully painted.

I also noticed that the film references the architectural layout of Hangzhou in the Song Dynasty. When Xiaoqing and Xiaobai chased the rat spirit, they chased it all the way from the west of the city to the Nanxing Bridge in the east of the city ……

I saw a Hangzhou city that was full of human flavour but not too secular, which gave me a feeling of familiarity and freshness being in Hangzhou at the same time.

As a thank you to Zhejiang, Hangzhou and Shangcheng District Culture and Tourism, you guys are really hardworking, “White Snake: Afloat” can be used as a Hangzhou tourism promotional film.

As for the film’s action and special effects scenes, there aren’t a lot of them, but they are used with precision.

White Snake: Afloat, like its protagonist Xiaobai, tries to integrate itself into the mortal world as much as possible,and the overall performance of the film is a “low magic world”, with not many spell casting and fighting scenes, and it serves the plot completely.

While ensuring that the audience is clear that this is first and foremost a “White Snake” story, the film also continues and innovates the animation’s own features, such as the giant snake transformation of Xiaobai and Xiaoqing, the Baoqingfang’s opening of a theatre troupe in Hangzhou, and Fahai’s demon suppressing magic weapon, which is the Golden Hair Roar, the prototype of a rosary bead, and so on.

The above design is both solemn and harmonious, and incorporates many elements of folklore and theatre, which makes for excellent viewing.

To take a step back, at least this time Xu Xian’s modelling is angular enough to be seen, unlike Hsuan’s face in “White Snake” ……

Moving on, let’s talk about a few of the points in the film that I was more impressed with.

After marrying Xu Xian, Xiaobai once resolved to be an ordinary woman and stopped using spells, a move that was scoffed at by Xiaoqing: obviously armed with thousands of years of Taoist skills, she could easily make life better, so wouldn’t it be ridiculous if she didn’t use them?

Afterwards, Xiaobai slowly acquiesces to Xiaoqing, because Xu Xian is a good man who is too kind to protect himself, and if she doesn’t secretly protect her husband, she’s afraid that she won’t be able to make it through the day at all.

And this point also implies that the relationship between the two couples is not equal from the very beginning, no matter how much love they have, the lies are objectively hidden, just like Xiao Qing and Xiao Bai are destined to use spells and sooner or later will attract Fa Hai, which can’t be changed.

Another thing that I found interesting was Xiao Qing’s scene.

Compared to Xiaobai, who must go through the “red dust robbery”, Xiaoqing, who is so swift and free, and who is not willing to get involved in unnecessary relationships, is the kind of character that girls love nowadays – but in White Snake: Afloat, she is still in the red dust after all. But in White Snake: Afloat, she has finally entered the red world.

At first, Xiaoqing puts down her cultivation and plays with the world purely to accompany Xiaobai to fulfil her heart’s desire, and for Xu Xian as well as other people, she holds a kind of indifferent attitude, or rather, she holds a sense of scrutiny and distance.

But as time goes by, Xiaoqing, who does not know the etiquette and the world, gradually integrates into her family and the world around her, teasing Xiao Bai and Xu Xian on a daily basis, and calling her brother-in-law Li Gongfu a brother, everything on earth, though weak and small and fleeting, is far more interesting than the lonely mountains and steep hills of her cultivation.

Because of this change, Xiaoqing will agree to Li Gongfu to matchmaking, do not look at her eyesight is very high, but if it really came to Fa Hai this kind of imposing man, she should also be interested in the matter of marriage …….

Of course, Xiao Qing has always been a trial and error mentality for “entering the red world”, and when Fa Hai made a scene, she immediately retreated back to the comfort zone of being a demon.

Other than that, White Snake: Afloat doesn’t have much more to offer – in terms of story and characters alone, the film is really lacking.

To be honest, the plot of White Snake: Afloat is very much like an upgraded version of White Snake, with no essential changes to the framework, plus the film doesn’t dare to massively alter the basic vein of White Snake, which is why I said at the beginning that it’s conservative and cautious, with no surprises. Surprises.

However, on this basis, the film still tried to add some harmless new things, such as all kinds of business, all kinds of talent Bao Qing Fang master, became the continuation of the fate of Xiaobai and Xu Xian’s key characters.

PS: Although Little Fox asks for a high price for her business, she provides good service, guarantees quality and quantity, and is fair to all, so I would recommend Po Ching Fong for any important deals in the future.

Finally, let’s talk about the performance of the two main characters in the film.

Due to the aforementioned “lack of change”, there really isn’t much to say about the characters of Xiao Bai and Xu Xian, or their relationship ……, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t touching, and in fact, the film manages to live up to its name.

In recent years, there have been more and more voices of dissatisfaction and even malice towards Xu Xian appearing, just because he is a mortal with insufficient ability to protect his maiden and not enough to face up to his feelings for Xiao Bai.

Even if I don’t agree with this viewpoint, it’s hard not to care while watching the film …… The best thing about White Snake: Afloat is that it goes a long way towards making up for this: in dealing with the misunderstandings between the two, the film doesn’t bother to let anyone explain it, but instead lets the people involved come face-to-face with each other to show their actions and their hearts. And they do it well.

There are no more secrets between Xiaobai and Xu Xian, and they are now on equal footing.

Xu Xian’s willingness to use up his own energy to save Niang Zi is enough to honour his bond and oath with Xiaobai in the past and in this life; Xiaobai, who is pregnant, also convinces Fa Hai with a higher “heavenly way”, and after giving birth to her child, she decides to go to the Jinshan Temple to save her husband.

This time, Xu Xian and Xiaobai are not in love, not unrequited love, no stupidity, no betrayal – this time, Xu Xian and Xiaobai are really running towards each other in both directions, and they are not responsible for each other.

There’s really no need to nitpick over such a regret-free ending.

If we were to get to the bottom of it and ask White if the trip was necessary or worth it, she’d have said the same thing at the beginning and end of the film: whatever, I remember it.

《White Snake: Afloat》 comes to an end, having been here, having loved.

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