Cineverse dropped a first trailer today for the American release of Escape From the 21st Century, Yang Li’s frantic time-travel comedy movie about three hapless teenage nerds who mysteriously gain the ability to jump forward into their future adult bodies whenever they sneeze. The film, released in China in 2024, is the kind of goofy, high-energy, effects-driven mayhem that used to be the specialty of Kung Fu Hustle and Shaolin Soccer producer/director/star Stephen Chow, but with a twist: This movie was more expressly made for a generation that grew up with video games.
That aspect of the story comes across most clearly in a subplot that turns an old Street Fighter II game cartridge into the movie’s central McGuffin. But it plays out on the screen as well, via comic overlays, anime-style splash screens, pop-ups that emphasize the action, and a training montage designed to turn the central threesome into video game characters. The story mostly plays out in live-action, but stylized animation gives the story some texture as well. Here’s Cineverse’s summary:
Escape from the 21st Century is a 2024 action sci-fi film from China that follows three teenage boys — Wang Zha, Chengyong, and Pao Pao — who stumble upon a time-traveling phenomenon after falling into a lake with mysterious colors. With every sneeze, they leap 20 years into the future, only to discover a world under threat by a powerful crime syndicate. As secrets unravel and loyalties are tested, the trio must train for two decades to return stronger and save humanity.