Little girl Shenxiu has felt empty and sad since her mum walked out on her and her dad, blaming herself for her leaving. The sadness she feels weighs heavy on her, and she seems more and more in a daze, a constant dream like state of mind. Longing and dreaming of the day that she will be united with her mother. Shenxiu`s Dad has a new wife and child, and wants to take them all on a family cruise. This is a dream come true for Shenxiu, she has been fascinated with the sea her whole life. One night on the cruise a storm throws her overboard, and she is soon faced with the Hijinx who seems to have been calling her to the sea all along. Joined by Nanhe who is the chef and boss of the Deep Sea restaurant, he also says that he too can get her to her mum Soon, they`re all drawn in a journey into the depths of the sea, but in this dreamlike world of colours and bizarre sea life, will Shenxiu find her way to her Mum, before the Red Phantom hones in on her sadness!
Writer director Tian Xiao Pang (Monkey King: Hero is back) creates an emotionally involving journey, where every frame is not just vibrant with colours but also motion. Each scene has so much going on in it that you can`t help but admire how stunning it looks, and also how wonderfully pleasing it is to the eye to watch. The dialogue is really down to the minimum and it`s about the motion and spectacle of the animated sea and it strange characters within the deep that our heroine meets on her quest,. This is not to say that there is no depth or intrigue to the story, but the dialogue is there when needed and they say what they mean giving hints as to what is going on from start to finish. Deep Sea is both bizarrely captivating with its impressive animation; it also contains an appealing well told story. Where all these characters are mainly trying to teach her to be happy within herself, and her happiness is her choice. By the end of the film you might feel exhausted as it literally does not stop moving until the final shot, by then you will have clarity as to what is going on and the hypnotic daze you are in while watching this clever film will be lifted.
All in all Deep Sea is such a wildly entertaining emotional rollercoaster of a journey that you`ll just want to watch again straightaway, after it finishes. Or was that just me?
