Bound: What Ne Zha 2 Can Teach About Christianity

Ne Zha 2 by Enlight Pictures, 2025

I know, I know. Ne Zha 2 has nothing to do with Christianity. It takes a lot more from Chinese religions and folklore than anything Western. However, as the Parable of the Good Samaritan shows, “outsiders” can sometimes be closer to God than “insiders,” even if they aren’t trying to.

If you haven’t heard of it, Ne Zha 2 is a Chinese animated action movie that is so full of awesome sauce, it’s practically bursting. Easy 9 out of 10 for me. It’s exciting, funny, and full of more heart than most family films these days.

But while the film has dozens of awesome scenes, one of the most powerful for me, personally, filled about 2 seconds of runtime. It’s a quick decision the main character makes, almost a throwaway moment, and yet it says so much about him. And it speaks deeply, in our heated cultural moment, on how to be a true follower of God.

A Brief Background (No Spoilers!)

In the first film, the young Ne Zha is born under the influence of the Demon Pill, a supernatural force of chaos and destruction. As a result, Ne Zha is born with incredible strength, but he’s impulsive, reckless, and selfish. Through the sacrificial love of his parents who chose to see the best in him, Ne Zha decides to use his powers to protect, rather than destroy.

Now, in the sequel, Ne Zha wants to help a friend, so he tries to attain immortality, growing more powerful than ever. Without spoiling anything, I’ll just say this plan goes terribly wrong. Like most movies, Ne Zha hits a low point where he’s suffered great losses. And like most
movies, he rallies himself to become even stronger, and leads a charge against the enemy.

But right then, he does something incredible.

The Ring

In the first film, Ne Zha was bound by a magic ring that kept the worst of his powers controlled. Ne Zha later learned how to unbind this ring, and unleashed horrendous destruction. As his character grew, Ne Zha later re-bound himself with the ring in a new way so that he could access his powers and save the day, without losing control of his temper.

During a critical moment in the second film, Ne Zha ends up sacrificing his body, and forging a new one through supernatural shenanigans. He’s all amped-up and ready to go. But what’s the first thing he does with his new body and power? Ne Zha wills the magic ring to bind him once again.

Think about this. Ne Zha needs all the power he can get. His enemies are massively powerful, and our hero has already lost many times.

And yet he chooses to limit his power.

Why should he? He’s right to fight these enemies! They are cruel, demanding overlords who pretend to be loving. They’ve cost him some personal losses that cut him deeper than anything in either movie.

And yet he chooses to limit his rage.

Like I said this takes up maybe 2 seconds of the film, but it says everything about Ne Zha. Even with his back to the wall, and his heart in a thousand pieces, Ne Zha chooses to block his most powerful features. Why?

Because if he doesn’t, Ne Zha would unleash the full, chaotic destruction of his powers. That price is too high for our hero to pay. Ne Zha needs to stop his foes, but he binds himself with the magic ring so that he won’t forget why he’s fighting. Ne Zha wants to stop evil. And he starts with himself.

It’s Time to Choose

I’m afraid for our world.

Not because of the problems, but because of our supposed solutions.

Christianity is supposed to be the answer for all the suffering and horror in the world, but far too often, I see Christians surrendering their faith for the sake of effectiveness. But if Jesus is not effective, why are we even Christians?

I remember talking to a Christian who was pro-torture. Her reasoning was that it’s okay to torture terrorists because “that’s what they’ll do to us.” What happened to doing unto others what you would have them do unto you? (Luke 6:31)

So many Christians in America are scrambling to gain power in Washington because they feel they need to make our country more Christlike—at any cost. Have they forgotten that Jesus said his kingdom is not of this world? (John 18:36)

A Christian couple broke contact with me and my wife because I am a counselor who works with sex offenders. Why? When Jesus said that God so loved “the world,” (John 3:16) was there an asterisk I missed? Am I supposed to leave certain people behind?

How do we, as Christians, say that Christianity is the answer to the world, and then do the same stuff the world does?

When Ne Zha chose to bind himself, to choose goodness over power, I was reminded of Mathew 26:53, where Jesus was being arrested. Peter tried to save him by attacking with a sword, but Jesus told him to stand down. “Or do you think that I cannot now pray to My Father, and He will provide Me with more than twelve legions of angels?” Jesus had all the power in the universe at his fingertips.

But power was never the point. Goodness was the point. Death and loss were preferable to success with a cost.

One Last Thing

We have one advantage over Ne Zha. Ne Zha had friends a-plenty, and supernatural strength, but he didn’t have a God who could hold the universe in his hands. If Ne Zha failed, the world would perish.

But if we fail, if we die, God keeps going. Saving the world is his job, not ours. So we don’t have to be afraid to die. We know where we’re going, and we know God will win in the end.

So, my fellow Christians, what then shall we do? Will we destroy our enemies by acting like them? Or will we choose death before we join those fell ranks?

Choose.