Tickets to Paradise

The best-known story, "The Eight Immortals Crossing the Sea," is detailed in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) novel Dongyouji (Journey to the East) by Wu Yuantai.　

Each is a legend in his own right. Li Tieguai is a beggar with an iron crutch who heals the sick. Bare-bellied Zhongli Quan has a magic fan that can revive the dead. Eccentric Zhang Guolao rides his white mule backward. The group's leader, Lü Dongbin, wields a magic sword that repels evil.　

After attending a grand gathering of immortals on Mount Penglai, the crew decides to return to the mortal world by crossing the East China Sea. To make the trip, each demonstrates their unique magical abilities: Li Tieguai turns his crutch into a boat, Zhongli Quan floats on his fan and Zhang Guolao rides his donkey on the waves.　

The tale spawned the common Chinese idiom, "When the Eight Immortals cross the sea, each displays their own magical powers," which is used to describe people drawing on their individual talents and strengths to accomplish a shared goal.　

Part of the Eight Immortals' appeal comes from their humble origins. Unlike other heavenly deities, they are mortals from different backgrounds who attained immortality through cultivating virtue and overcoming hardship.　

It is this largely unexplored period of their lives that director and screenwriter Mu Zhengyang wanted to bring to the screen.　

"Everyone has heard the story of ‘the Eight Immortals Crossing the Sea,' but very few people know what they actually went through before attaining immortality," Mu wrote in an article published in the People's Daily. "So we want to fill in that missing chapter."　

The film begins with Taoist swordsman Lü Dongbin enlisting Zhongli Quan, a cursed wanderer living as a thief, to break into the divine treasury on Penglai and recover a magical lamp. Along the way, they recruit six more companions who together plan to pull an Ocean's Eleven-style heist while posing as immortals.　

Their change from schemers to celestials is central to Mu's adaptation.　

"In my view, the Eight Immortals are a rare group in Chinese mythology that embodies ‘mortals attaining immortality.' They were not born as deities, nor did they possess innate magical powers," Mu wrote. "They were ordinary people who emerged from the mundane world, each with their own background, trade and flaws."　

The film takes that idea further by giving Penglai a touch of the mundane. Instead of an infinite paradise, Penglai is a sprawling bureaucracy. Heavenly officials deal with complaints, chase quotas and struggle with the trivial frustrations of office life. Interestingly, Taoist traditions themselves often portray the heavens with departments, officials and courts that mirror the earthly realm.　

The joke has landed well with younger audiences, who shared their stories on social media comparing the film's Penglai to their own workplaces.　

"That scene where Cao Guojiu (an administrator in Penglai and one of the Eight Immortals) makes a routine office call and has to fake a polite voice while not smiling was so relatable to an office drone like me," Yvonne commented on RedNote.　

Film critic Chen Tong called it one of the film's most creative elements. "The concept is both funny and an imaginative fusion of mythology and contemporary life," he told NewsChina.

According to Mu, the film's signature iridescent look, from the immortals' outfits to Penglai itself, comes from descriptions in ancient Taoist texts.　

"They often describe immortals as ‘radiant and shimmering with flowing light,' and we translated that imagery into a visual language suited to contemporary audiences," Mu wrote. "The immortals' robes shimmer as the light changes, capturing the ethereal elegance of classical depictions while showcasing modern craftsmanship."　

Mu added that, in designing Penglai, the creative team referenced the colored glaze and gemstone textures of the Malachite Inlaid Jewel Penglai Fairyland Landscape, a Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) artifact housed in the Palace Museum in Beijing.　

"The iridescence is a refined take on traditional folk culture. It preserves the bold colors of New Year paintings and the rustic textures of folk artifacts while reinterpreting them through modern aesthetics and technology," Mu said.　

Combined with the blue-green palette of traditional shanshui landscape painting, Penglai takes on the warm, translucent luster of jade, the director wrote.

Penglai, now a district in the city of Yantai, East China's Shandong Province, has long been associated with the mythical island where the Eight Immortals are said to have gathered before crossing the sea.　

The film appears to be giving that connection a fresh boost. According to travel platform Tongcheng Travel, searches and bookings for scenic attractions in Penglai rose by more than 70 percent year-on-year in July. Visitor numbers and spending on dining, accommodation and cultural products have also increased, according to the platform.　

Local authorities have been quick to capitalize on the interest. The Yantai Bureau of Culture and Tourism announced that moviegoers can receive discounts or free admission at nearly 20 scenic spots across the city by presenting their ticket for the film.　

Among the attractions is Penglai Pavilion, a site built in 1061 and associated with the Eight Immortals' legendary journey.　

The story is also poised to cross even larger seas, with All Wishes Come True! slated for screenings in more than 10 countries and regions in August, from the US, UK and Australia to Papua New Guinea and Luxembourg.

"A fantasy film in appearance, a heist film in structure and a martial arts film in spirit. This time, it moves beyond the familiar rallying cry of ‘I am the master of my own fate' and instead tells a grounded, heartfelt story about human relationships. It's a remarkably successful genre film," wrote Douban user Tianmaxing.　

"What excites me most is that Chinese animation finally has a story worthy of such stunning visuals. The suspense is sustained throughout, and the twists in the middle and at the end are both surprising and satisfying. Although the story is largely original, it captures the essence of the legend: the Eight Immortals are ordinary people from the mortal world, each with a distinct personality," wrote another user Lixiaodiu.　

Nevertheless, some viewers criticized the film for misrepresenting revered figures from Chinese mythology such as Yang Jian, a god known for his truth-seeing third eye.　

"The film portrays Yang Jian as a ruthless villain who wants to use a magical lamp to sacrifice all mortals in an attempt to resurrect his deceased mother. That goes too far. In Chinese mythology, Yang Jian is a hero and a protector of humanity," Yang Xin, a 28-year-old from Hunan Province and an avid Hanfu enthusiast with a strong interest in Chinese mythology, told NewsChina.　

Yang also took issue with the film's rendering of the Three Gods of Fortune, Prosperity and Longevity, which are among the most widely worshipped Taoist deities.　

"Many people still display their statues or portraits at home. But in the film, they are depicted as greedy, selfish and unlikeable. I think that portrayal shows little respect for our traditional culture," Yang said.　

Some of the criticisms have more to do with storytelling. Critic Chen pointed to inconsistencies in the characters and their motivations.　

"The film presents the Eight Immortals as flawed, self-interested people, but it doesn't provide enough key turning points to convincingly explain how they become such a close-knit group. The transformation isn't fully developed," Chen said.　

"Characters such as Li Tieguai begin as selfish swindlers motivated purely by money and treasure. Yet in the second half of the film, they suddenly become willing to sacrifice their lives to save humanity. That shift in motivation feels abrupt and unearned."　

The debate reflects an age-old problem filmmakers face when revisiting ancient myths.　

British director Christopher Nolan's retelling of the ancient Greek epic The Odyssey has drawn criticism for its departures from Homer's text. Released the same weekend as All Wishes Come True!, it similarly stirred controversy for its changes to characters, events and the role of the gods.　

Though different in their approaches, both directors faced the same challenge of choosing what to preserve and how to bring new life to the tale for modern audiences.　

For Mu Zhengyang, the choice was returning to its human core. After all, the Immortals were once ordinary people. "And that is precisely the most fascinating part of their story," Mu wrote. "They each had their own agendas, undermined one another and argued constantly. Yet it was precisely these imperfect people who, at critical moments, chose to stand by one another and turn the impossible into reality."