I Am What I Am 2 scores highly on release in China

I Am What I Am 2 (abbr. XS2) has had booming success with its initial release in China over the weekend (Mid Dec 2024). This film is the third collaboration between POW Studios (Wellington, NZ) and Yi Animation (Guangzhou, China).

XS2’s stunning animation is complimented with a full Dolby Atmos™ soundtrack edited and mixed in Wellington, with dialogue recording and finalling done in Shanghai and Beijing.

With initial sales of 500k tickets and ¥20M in revenue pushed XS2 to a current audience score of 8.3 on douban.com (China’s equivalent to IMDB).

XS2 (abbriviated from the original Pinyin title: Xiong Shi Shao Nian 2) tells of the ordeal a young lion dancer must go through to learn kung fu to save his fighting club from the modern demons of capitalism, corruption and classism.

The first I Am What I Am (2021) set a high bar in Chinese animated film, receiving accolades for its fine attention to visual detail, as well as its pointed and poignant social commentary on modern Chinese culture.

And back in 2018, Yi’s Kung Food delighted audiences with its madcap buddy tale about a talking steam bun (Bao) and his adversary-cum-best-friend (Salmon Roll) as they join forces to defeat Lord Octopus from stealing all the world’s delicious spices.