FANTASTIC FEST: Escape From The 21st Century Is What Genre Cinema Is About

At some point, we all wanted to be on a fast track to growing up. Being an adult represents independence and before we know our future, our dreams. But what happens when you oscilate between boyhood and adulthood peaking back and forth through the 20 years of separation and having to navigate them both in tandem—all while surviving and saving a dystopian future? That’s what the science fiction-action-coming-of-age-comedy feature, Escape From The 21st Century explores.

A solo feature debut from Chinese director Yang Li, Escape From The 21st Century, sets its story around three teen boys who wind up in a polluted body of water and get the ability to sneeze themselves to the future. Moving between the present, 1999, and the future, 2019, Wang Chengyong (Zhuozhao Li/Yang Song), Wang Zha (Yichen Chen/Ruoyun Zhang), and Pao Pao (Qixuan Kang/Leon Lee) discover that their futures aren’t the ones they’ve been dreaming of. The jobs aren’t perfect, the romance is off, and even more so, they’re not together.

In 2019, the boys have no idea about what has happened in the 20 years since 1999, making their attempts to craft the futures they want difficult. Then, a gamer-turned-world-ending villain enters the story and gives fighting game baddies a run for their money. The film grounds itself in mechanics, aesthetics, and characters from the iconic Street Fighter II, but it all feels endearing instead of feeling like a gimmick. The joy of an arcade echoes through the film, and it all works to beckon video game fans in the audience.

Costuming, production design, score, animation, and special effects work fire on all cylinders. There isn’t a single scene that doesn’t embody the eclectic borderline cyberpunk vision. Vibrant colors, dystopian filters, and expert lighting all create one of the year’s most gorgeous and exciting films.

Don’t let the high genre stakes, mixed medium effects work, or high sci-fi concepts hide the fact that Escape From The 21st Century is a coming-of-age story. In fact, when all of the genre elements collide through Chengyong, Zha, and Pao Pao’s journey into adulthood, the film becomes unique. Absurd fight sequences, time travel, jealousy, romance, friendship, and a key video game focus don’t obscure its status as a coming-of-age story for three teen boys — it enhances it. For the boys to save the world, they have to trust each other and the people around them. But to do that, the trio needs to process their shortcomings and learn that they can’t do anything completely alone.

The very best genre cinema uses concepts many write off because of their eccentricities to tell universal stories. It’s what makes action, horror, and science fiction genres with depth that often exceeds expectations. That is exactly why Escape From The 21st Century is genre filmmaking at its absolute height. The erratic pacing that follows teenage boys’ stream of consciousness and wonky priorities is perfectly executed without losing the ensemble cast in the heartfelt mayhem.

In the chaotic genre fair, the nostalgia for video games and their place in our world rings out clearly—not to mention the different ways in which each of the teens symbolizes their transformation into an adult, sometimes by giving up their stash of pink manga. Escape From the 21st Century doesn’t capture the process of walking through the liminal space of life from childhood to adulthood, but rather, the omission of the memories and actions in that space makes for fruitful storytelling.

As each of the teens tries to make sense of the life they don’t know or understand in 2019, they also have to process how they view each other, the world, and romance. Working together to defeat a big bad involves slingshotting across time, making ripples into the future that have increasingly funny changes (or none at all, which is its own kind of humor.)

When a rudimentary understanding of sneezing themselves to 2019 or back to 1999 turns expert, the film grabs the concept by the horns and creates something I haven’t seen before. In fact, much of Escape From the 21st Century harkens back and embodies the different genres it explores, but no single act feels derivative. Instead, Escape From the 21st Century is a loud, raucous, and loving film that excels even with some of its rough edges.

Escape From The 21st Century’s comedy is sometimes situational, other times juvenile, but it always fits the tone that the film is passing through. The film’s action goes hard and continuously ramps up the kinetic choreography with excitement at its core. The romance is tender and deeply personal. Escape From The 21st Century’s science fiction foundation is solid, growing with each act as the time travel implications grow more absurd in this bleak dystopian 2019. And of course, Chengyong, Zha, and Pao Pao are a solid center of growth that makes the film and its confrontation of vulnerabilities that develop as we grow stellar.

This is a film with a massive amount of charisma, innovation, heart, and the perfect bit of chaos. Escape From The 21st Century is the very best piece of media fueled by nostalgia I’ve seen, but beyond that, it’s unique take on genre exploration and storytelling is truly unmatched.

Escape From The 21st Century screened as part of Fantastic Fest.