Directed by Frant Gwo, the film is based on Liu Cixin’s short story of the same name.

Liu’s original is a fable-like short story. The sun is dying faster than experts anticipated*, and Earth’s only chance of survival is to literally pack its bags and move to the next available solar system.

The film adopts a disaster-movie structure, with a cast of dozens, including astronaut Liu Peijiang (Wu Jing) and his son Liu Qi (Qu Chuxiao). When Earth embarks on* the first phase of its journey, Peijiang is sent to an international satellite just outside orbit to run point* for the planet during its voyage out of the solar system.

Liu Qi, on the other hand, is left behind on Earth at an early age. Bitter about his mother’s death (forced to select a limited number of family members who would be allowed to live safely underground, Peijiang let his already-stricken wife die), he’s now a hothead teen with a knack for finding trouble, and a yearning* to visit Earth’s now-uninhabitable surface.

When Liu Qi, his adopted sister Doudou (Zhao Jinmai), and their grandfather Chen (Ng Man Tat) end up topside and land themselves in trouble with the local authorities, all looks bleak* — and then things get bleaker for all humankind when Jupiter’s gravitational pull knocks out a good chunk of* the mammoth engines propelling* Earth on its journey, sending it on a deadly collision course with the gas giant.

It’s a race against the clock as Peijiang attempts to override* the satellite’s central computer and defense system MOSS (which has its own evil Plan B agenda), and organize rescue efforts on Earth, while Liu Qi is recruited by an army unit to take the dangerous trip from northern China to Shanghai, and then to Indonesia, to repair and restart the Earth engines needed to get the globe back on course.

The film has an endearing spirit, depicting humanity recovering from one setback after another. It routinely brings its characters close to success and then rips it away again, making them work harder and harder to ensure their own survival. (SD-Agencies)