Per Aspera Ad Astra Review: Dylan Wang, Victoria Song Lead Trippy Space Adventure Packed With Dream-World Action

Per Aspera Ad Astra (NC16)

Starring Dylan Wang, Victoria Song, Zu Feng, Wang Duo

Directed by Han Yan

First things first. This totally funky non-Chinese title means “Through difficulties to the stars” in Latin.

There’s no difficulty though in recognising where the CGI-ed fun-fair ideas in this Dylan Wang sci-fi thriller are culled from. In a good way. Because the knock-offs, though choppy, come together for a rousing, rip-roaring mad time. Scenarios keep changing here as if we're playing mobile-phone games.

We’re talking Total Recall, Passengers, those wacky topsy-turvy, colliding-portal fights in Doctor Strange, Hong Kong gangster movies, high-school pics, anime stuff, etc. Heck, including even something from the mainland itself, Moon Man, about a lonely dude in space. At least initially.

Per Aspera Ad Astra, directed and co-written by Han Yan (Go Away Mr Tumour), is an energetic, enjoyable YP (young people) flick about rescue in outer space via inner-space — meaning, inside the mind — action-packed dreamscapes. You know, those anything-goes, upside-down, digital-overkill, sensation-overload scenes from Doctor Strange in which you can practically see the green screen.

This show is powered by Wang’s superstar-up-in-the-heavenly-stars heartthrob power with yet another — yawn — warning about AI taking over humanity. Aka, everybody's fave bogeyman circa now.

Wang plays Xu Tianbiao, a low-level employee who’s the first to wake up, ala Chris Pratt in Passerngers, in an interstellar spaceship in 2058 that’s on a very long trip to colonise a distant planet. He fills us in, writing a diary while inspecting ship-board functions as a maintenance man.

The vessel is, I guess, from Future PRC since its Battlestar Galactica-size population is all Chinese folks comatose in orderly hibernation pods plugged into a central dream system called “Sweet Dreams LM”. Enabling everybody to fantasise about whatever they wish while snoozing in a Total Recall ripoff.

“Wonderlands and galaxies at your will,” goes the sexy computer voice. Comrades, sign me up right now.

"Between junior puppy [Dylan Wang], 27, and senior cougar [Victoria Song], 39, they look just SK-II skin-perfect for each other."

Of course, something goes wrong and Xu, despite the brain damage risk, needs to prematurely wake up the ship’s captain, Li Simeng (My New Sassy Girl’sVictoria Song), by disguising himself as a student to mind-barge into her dream spell set in a high school. She’s about to take an exam as a teenager. He pulls her out of her deep sleep, fleeing a collapsing-school universe looking psychedelic high like classrooms on vape fumes.

FYI. It’s an elder sis-younger bro thing going on here instead of Passengers' love partner Jennifer Lawrence. The real sci-fi is how Song, pushing 40, still passes amazingly for 16. Plus how, although nothing's happening — hey, this is a wholesome mainland film — between junior puppy, 27, and senior cougar, 39, they look just SK-II skin-perfect for each other. Incredible.

The situation escalates, growing more bonkers until our pair needs to rouse the chief engineer, Lao Bai (1921’s Zu Feng), and software expert, Ge Yang (Wang Duo), to help out too. The former’s dream setting locks in a Matrix-style battle fest involving Cantonese-speaking HK thugs, guns, flying knives, forks with absolutely zero cameos from either Andy Lau or Louis Koo. While the latter resides in a weirdo junk-collector world as a genius who’s iffy in a Joker kind of way.

Now, if this was a Korean pic, there’d be emotional pull. If it’s Japanese, the theme would be apocalyptic.

But this is China. Which means good must come out of bad. With twists, turns and predicaments along the way needing long explanations that leave no stone unturned and no matter unclarified. Otherwise, millions of fans would be blowing up the internet.

Suffice to say that there’s a mastermind behind the mastermind here and things, nutty but pacy, won’t leave you bored.

You’ll be swept along entertainingly for this thrill ride.

May give you a headache.

But you can sort that out in your own dreams later. (3.5/5 stars) now in cinemas

Photo: Shaw Organisation