Eye candy popular plot sweetener

THE WANDERING EARTH, a Chinese science fiction film, has reaped 1.6 billion yuan ($237 million) at the box office since it premiered on Tuesday. China Daily reporter Li Yang comments:

The movie has been widely praised as breaking new ground for Chinese science fiction films, which remain largely unknown to the rest of the world.

But it is not the film itself - which is lumbered with a strained plot and sentimental gimmicks - that caught my attention, but the uniformity of its trumpeters at home. They unanimously speak highly of the film's "fabulous" visuals as if special effects are all it takes to make a world-class film.