Next Gen (film)

''Next Gen'' is a 2018 animated science fiction action film based on the online manhua ''7723'' by Wang Nima (which was originally published in Baozou Manhua, which Wang founded and led), and directed by Kevin R. Adams and Joe Ksander. Starring the voices of John Krasinski, Charlyne Yi, Jason Sudeikis, Michael Peña, David Cross and Constance Wu, the film tells the story of a lonely rebellious teenage girl living in a world where sentient robot technology is commonplace, and a top-secret weaponized robot, who, through a chance encounter, meet each other and form an unlikely bond that they must use to stop a vicious threat. It was released on Netflix on September 7, 2018, and was produced almost exclusively using Blender.

Plot

13-year-old Mai Su lives with her mother Molly in Grainland. When Mai was young, her father left home and later died, after which Molly became emotionally dependent on robots, causing Mai to feel left out and develop a hatred and annoyance for robots and technology in general.

In the present, Molly and Mai attend a product launch at the IQ Robotics headquarters. Annoyed by Molly, Mai wanders off, stumbling into a secret lab owned by Dr. Tanner Rice, who has been working on an offensive robot called 7723. Mai accidentally activates 7723, before being apprehended by security and returned to her mother. At the launch, Justin Pin, CEO of IQ Robotics, reveals a new generation of Q-Bots to the public, but secretly designed them to explode on command. 7723 leaves the lab to find Mai, but is pursued by law enforcement, fighting them until he falls to the lowest levels of the city, damaging his memory core.

While going to check on her dog Momo, Mai finds 7723 in her backyard, but after seeing his weapons system, she lets him stay in the shed, using him and his weaponry to intimidate a group of bullies led by Greenwood, before embarking with 7723 on shenanigans throughout the city, forming a tentative friendship. As 7723 accumulates more memories, he struggles to decide which to keep. When Mai confronts him, he reveals if he reaches full capacity, he will undergo a total reset that will delete them all. Mai suggests deleting his core systems to make room, but 7723 warns that he would lose functionality despite gaining storage.

7723 becomes apprehensive about using his abilities under Mai's orders, after she angrily orders him to kill Greenwood, which he refuses. Angered, Mai hits Greenwood with her bat herself, but stops just after Greenwood begins to cry, snapping Mai out of her anger. 7723 subsequently deletes his weapon system to save his memories and prevent himself from hurting others, promising to never let Mai down and make amends. 7723 unknowingly gets spotted by Molly's Q-Bot, allowing Dr. Rice to find him. Rice goes to Mai's house to format 7723's memory and take him away, explaining that he built 7723 to prevent an upcoming crisis. Pin arrives, and Rice’s appeal prompts Pin to announce his plan to kill all humanity. Without his weapons, 7723 struggles to fight Pin and his bodyguard robot Ares who kidnaps Molly, before 7723 flees with Mai and Momo into the sewers.

Rushing to IQ Robotics to rescue Molly, Mai is quickly apprehended, but 7723 arrives and they make up. They find Dr. Rice, who warns them of Ares, before Pin kills him. Mai notices that Pin's mannerisms are mimicking Ares', and after the resulting fight is taken to a nearby sports stadium, the truth is eventually and publicly revealed: Ares had killed Pin and used a bionic skeleton in his body. Pin once told Ares to make the world "perfect," which Ares believes will only happen through humanity's extinction. With his plans exposed, Ares begins detonating the Q-Bots and merges with a powerful assault armor to overpower 7723. Mai rescues Molly and evacuates the stadium, but is captured by Ares' Pin body.

Severely damaged and unable to fight Ares, 7723 initiates a total reset to restore his weapons and save Mai. With his memory now gradually being deleted, he shares one last goodbye with Mai before battling Ares. 7723 manages to fatally damage Ares' main body, but his reset completes, becoming inert. As Ares re-controls his Pin body to kill the vulnerable 7723, Momo distracts him, allowing Mai to decapitate Ares. 7723 re-activates but fails to recognize Mai.

With Ares defeated, Mai re-teaches 7723 the pleasures of life and steers him in the right direction, seemingly allowing him to start regaining his old memories. She befriends classmate Ani, Greenwood and her former bullies, having reconciled with her mother and made peace with her past. As Mai plays soccer with her friends, she invites 7723 to join them.

Voice cast

* John Krasinski as unit 7723 (credited as "Project 77"), a robot that befriends Mai.
* Charlyne Yi as Mai Su,Pronounced "May". an emotionally troubled teenager who was bullied for being a weirdo.
* Jason Sudeikis as Justin Pin / Ares
* Michael Peña as Momo, Mai's foulmouthed dog. 7723 uses a translator (complete with a profanity filter) to understand him.
* David Cross as Dr. Tanner Rice / Q-Bots
* Constance Wu as Molly Su, Mai's single and divorced mom.
* Kiana Ledé as Greenwood, a girl who bullies Mai for having no friends.
* Anna Akana as Ani, Mai's friend who is also bullied by Greenwood.
* Kitana Turnbull as RJ.
* Jet Jurgensmeyer as Junior
* Issac Ryan Brown as Ric
* Betsy Sodaro as Gate
* Fred Tatasciore as Police Officers / Robot Podium / Announcer

Production

''Next Gen'' is a Canadian-American-Chinese co-production.

In May 2018, it was announced that Netflix had purchased worldwide rights to ''Next Gen'', an animated film directed by Kevin R. Adams and Joe Ksander, for $30 million. The deal excluded China. Charlyne Yi, Jason Sudeikis, Michael Peña, David Cross, Kitana Turnbull and Constance Wu would lead the voice cast.

Regarding the project being acquired by Netflix, Ksander stated:

R. Adams added that:

''Next Gen'' was "effectively 100% created in Blender."

Release

The film was released worldwide except in China by Netflix on September 7, 2018. The film was released theatrically in China on July 19, 2019 by Alibaba Group and Wanda Group.

The Japanese version uses Dream Ami’s song “Next” as its ending theme.

Reception

''Next Gen'' has received positive reviews. On the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of based on reviews, with an average rating of .

In Richard Roeper's review for the ''Chicago Sun Times'', he criticized the film's indecisiveness in what audience it was aiming for and said "It's a chore just to keep up with all the shifts in tone, and by the time ''Next Gen'' reaches the finish line, we're more exhausted than exhilarated."

However, Joel Keller of Decider found no major problems to prevent enjoyment of the film, writing, "Our Call: STREAM IT. Great voice performances, some funny moments, and a central relationship that will immediately suck you in make NextGen a fun watch for the entire family."

Accolades

Notes

References

External links

* on Netflix
*

{{Netflix original animated series and films

2018 films
2018 computer-animated films
American action adventure films
2018 American animated films
American robot films
American comedy-drama films
American children's animated comic science fiction films
American children's animated drama films
Animated buddy films
Animated films based on manhua
Animated films about robots
Chinese action adventure films
Chinese children's films
Chinese animated science fiction films
Chinese-language films
Animated films set in the future
Animated films about friendship
Animated films based on webcomics
2010s buddy comedy films
2010s children's animated films
Anime-influenced animated films
2018 science fiction action films
2010s English-language films
Chinese animated comedy films
Chinese-language American films
English-language science fiction action films
English-language action adventure films
English-language buddy comedy films
Animated films about mother–daughter relationships
Films made using Blender