White Snake (film)

Did You Know?

• The film won the Golden Angel for Best Chinese & American Co-Production Animation Film at the Chinese American Film Festival in Los Angeles.
• A sequel titled White Snake 2: The Tribulation of the Green Snake was released on July 23, 2021, in China and later on Netflix internationally as Green Snake.
• Another sequel, White Snake: Afloat, was released in China on August 10, 2024.

Plot

The story opens with two sisters in a traditional Chinese bath discussing immortality. The mysterious woman, Blanca, is on a mission to assassinate a Tang general but is caught in a magical battle, submerges into water, and loses her memories. She is rescued by a man named Xuan, who takes her to Snake Catcher village, where villagers catch snakes for the general, believing snakes aid immortality. Initially skeptical, Blanca warms to Xuan after spending time with him and discovering she has magic powers.

They find a magical jade hairpin that restores some memories; its inscription leads them to a special jade workshop. Meanwhile, a cavern of snake-demon people is oppressed by the general. Blanca's sister Verta, a soldier for the Snake master, argues that Blanca is not a traitor for being with a snake-catcher and sets out to find her, with a three-day deadline before Death Scales embedded in her explode. On their sea journey, Blanca reveals her demon form to Xuan, who accepts her.

At the Special Jade Workshop, owned by a fox-demon, it is explained that Blanca was warned using the jade wand could cause memory loss. Returning to Snake Catcher village, Verta confronts them and attacks Xuan; Blanca defends him, and the sisters fight, causing Xuan and Blanca to fall into a hidden underground temple.

Release

White Snake opened across China on January 11, 2019, and stayed in theaters through the Lunar New Year holiday. It debuted in France at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival. GKIDS secured the film for a fall release in the U.S. and Canada, offering both the original Mandarin with English subtitles and an English dub. In Japan, the movie arrived in 2021 with a Japanese dub, and its theme song was performed by Snow Man.

Reception

On Rotten Tomatoes, a percentage of critics gave the film a positive review based on a number of reviews, with an average rating. Metacritic reported a weighted average score of 60 out of 100 based on 6 critic reviews, indicating mixed or average reviews. Variety noted that the film strikes a pleasing balance between thunderous action scenes and appealing romance. One of Us praised the visual style but stated that the story does not live up to the spectacular animation.