As the "only police film in 2020" "Anti-Riot", from the finalization to the release, it has naturally attracted the attention of many people.
This film focuses on the struggle between gangsters and police in China in the 90s, and the excellent action scenes bring the audience a long-awaited sense of coolness.
In the "bathhouse battle" between Wu Yanzu and Wang Qianyuan, Wu Yanzu picked up a sewer iron cover and beat him up, and Wang Qianyuan even staged a deadly crotch grab, from the inside of the pool to the outside of the pool, fierce enough, tough enough, cool enough!
In addition to the action scenes, what makes a deep impression is naturally the scene at the end where Wu Yanzu is ambushed on the spot.
In the film, Azu, who shaves his hair and is not afraid of exposing his hairline, has a sunken face accompanied by a look of fear and panic, and plays the irrepressible fear of death before a gangster is shot, which is the highlight of Wu Yanzu's acting skills in the whole film.
In fact, from the announcement of the film to the scene, Wu Yanzu's sense of existence is very high, contributing a wave of topicality.
But if you think about it carefully, compared to actors such as Gu Tianle and Zhang Jiahui, who are also Hong Kong stars, it seems that they have not seen Wu Yanzu's new films for a while, and they have not seen him on the hot search .
This man who was once "the dream of thousands of girls", wu Yanzu, who is now 46 years old, has he ever been angry?
You know, red face is easy to grow old, and heroes will always be late, for Wu Yanzu, who has entered the age of confusion, the news about him in recent years is often "old".
From the recognized handsome guy in the eyes of the public to the great sense of contrast brought about by today's "obvious old state", it seems that it can always cause a burst of sighs from the melon-eating masses.
Along with the topic of "old", behind the anxiety of appearance and age, for Wu Yanzu, what is more anxious should be the achievements of his 22-year acting career.
What is there to worry about in Wu Yanzu's acting career?
We can find the answer from his acting history.
The first stage: the "male vase" in the romance film.
Wu Yanzu, who grew up in the United States, was discovered by director Yang Fan in 1997 after graduating from university in 1997 due to a chance trip to Hong Kong, and strongly invited him to star in the movie "Beautiful Teenager's Love".
Wu Yanzu, who played a policeman in the film, was amazing, and he wanted to play a scene to "play", but he did not expect that after his debut, he was nominated for the best new actor at the 18th Hong Kong Film Awards with "City of Glass".
From "Garden Fright" to "New ZaShimei", Wu Yanzu, who is in his 20s, usually plays some handsome and dashing male brothers, because the role is relatively fixed, and even in the eyes of some people, he is like a "male vase".
For him, who is not from the actor class, although he has gradually gained fame, he will feel that he is "not deceiving people".
The second stage: the action movie "opened up".
If Wu Yanzu, who played two roles in the thriller "Demon Night Corridor" in 2003, was nominated for the Golden Horse Award for Best Actor only warm-up, then his cooperation with director Er Dongsheng in 2004 "The Night of Mong Kok" can be regarded as really finding the confidence of some actors.
As an action drama, Wu Yanzu, who has liked Kubrick and Akira Kurosawa since childhood, finally acted in his favorite film genre, coupled with Er Dongsheng's tuning, because of this film he was nominated for the Hong Kong Academy Award for best actor for the first time.
It was also during this period that Wu Yanzu with the famous scene of "Close It, Azu" staged in "New Police Story", it was this role that not only allowed Wu Yanzu to enter the eyes of many people, but also let him pocket his first Golden Horse Award for Best Supporting Actor.
From his self-written and self-directed "Four Heavenly Kings" won the Hong Kong Academy Award for New Director Award, to starring in "Disciple", "Heaven's Mouth", "Shinjuku Incident" and "Eavesdropping" series, creating a series of classic roles, Wu Yanzu has gradually penetrated the hearts of the people.
The third stage: the "march" to the mainland and Hollywood.
Since 2005, when he first collaborated with mainland director Feng Xiaogang on "Night Banquet", the role of Prince Wuluan in the film is also the first time that Wu Yanzu challenged the costume of the ancient costume, and there were not many works he shot in the mainland during this period.
With the pace of Hong Kong directors "going north", after 2010, Wu Yanzu's cooperation with mainland filmmakers has become more, from playing the historical figure Hu Shi for the first time in the tribute film "The Great Undertaking of Party Building" to playing the role of Xiang Yu, the king of Western Chu in "The King's Feast";
In 2015, he starred with Bai Baihe in "Get Out! Tumor Jun", which earned 511 million box office, is one of the representative roles in mainland theaters in recent years.
It was also in this year that Wu Yanzu began to enter hollywood acting, not only appearing in Hollywood blockbusters such as "Warcraft", "Global Storm", "Tomb Raider: Battle of the Origins", but also personally acting as a producer and starring in the American drama "Wasteland".
This story framework is derived from the episode of "Journey to the West", adding a large number of kung fu fight scenes, allowing Chinese actors to interpret Chinese kung fu, filling the gap in the American drama genre, and is a rather ambitious work.
Next, Wu Yanzu will also participate in the movie "Remembrance" starring Rebecca Ferguson and "Uncle Wolf" Hugh Jackman, which can be said that Wu Yanzu's march into Hollywood has not stopped.
It seems that Wu Yanzu's acting career is booming and is very good?
In fact, it is not optimistic.
Looking back on Wu Yanzu's acting career, although he has won the Golden Horse Award for Best Supporting Actor and the Hong Kong Academy Award for New Director, he has never won a "Movie Emperor" trophy in 22 years!
Even if the award is not mentioned, compared with the Hong Kong Academy Awards, which are contracted by Gu Tianle, Andy Lau, Aaron Kwok, Zhang Jiahui and others almost every year, Wu Yanzu's nominations are pitiful.
To be honest, for an actor, of course, winning an award cannot be the goal, but it is also an important criterion for measuring acting skills.
So, why does Wu Yanzu always fail to win the award?
This problem is simple and simple, complex and complex, in addition to external nationality reasons, more important is the acting.
To explore Wu Yanzu's acting skills, you can know one or two through his most out-of-the-loop role - Guan Zu in "New Police Story".
First of all, Guan Zu, who integrates "heart machine" and innocence, is in line with Wu Yanzu's own temperament.
His father is an engineer, his mother is a professor of psychology, and he graduated from the University of Oregon In architecture, Wu Yanzu, who is a proper academic bully, always giving people a very restrained feeling.
Wu Yanzu, who has a small face and a small mouth and a nose with a bit of an eagle hook, gives people a feeling of sullenness and cunning, but his large eyes look very clear and have a sense of innocence and youth.
It is said that the eyes are the windows of the soul, and Wu Yanzu, who has a good family condition, does not seem to have deeply felt the world, from the inland immigrant Lin Laifu in "The Night of Mong Kok" to the undercover drug dealer in "The Disciple", he always carries a detached temperament.
The heart is scheming and innocent, and the two sides of this unity are fused on One face of Wu Yanzu.
And here it goes back to Azu, who is the leader of the super crime group in "New Police Story", who has repeatedly committed major crimes, is bloodthirsty and aggressive, and hates the police to the bone;
Behind him so fierce, there is a childhood shadow of being abused by the policeman's father, coupled with the doting of his mother, the role of Azu is not simply evil, but a complex character who bears the pain of the original family.
(Looking at this shot alone, can you think of him as a villain?
The fierce child who is scared and cries but looks like a helpless child is distressing, and it is completely in line with Wu Yanzu's own temperament, as if this role is born for him.
It can be said that it is not only Wu Yanzu who has achieved Azu, but also Azu who has achieved Wu Yanzu.
Secondly, in terms of acting skills, Wu Yanzu is enough to fight, but he lacks eye drama.
Wu Yanzu, who idolized Jackie Chan, Bruce Lee and Jet Li, learned martial arts from an early age, founded the Chinese Martial Arts Society at the University of Oregon, and participated in the training of the Shichahai Martial Arts School in Beijing.
Because of this, Wu Yanzu filmed the scene, absolutely very hard, very hardworking.
In order to play "Magic Police" in two months, he lost 30 pounds, and once became depressed because he was too involved in the role of filming;
When filming "Wasteland", he broke a rib, not to mention playing an orc in "Warcraft", even the "face" was not wanted, and this time in "Riot Fighting", he also shaved his eyebrows...
It can be said that Wu Yanzu has no idol baggage at all, and has the sense of faith that powerful actors have.
Despite this, he came to the acting profession from an architect, and he has always been skeptical of his acting skills, and he even ran to the United States to study acting courses after filming "Disciple".
To be honest, Wu Yanzu, who revealed that he "will not play a handsome guy", and standing there is enough to make fans climax, the series of movies he starred in in the early days were largely overshadowed by his acting skills, and the fan filter was invincible;
For example, in "SWAT New Human", when playing a role that is far from himself, he always grins his teeth and interprets the role by a larger movement, which is a bit exaggerated.
Here again, back to the character of Guan Zu, have you found that he has an iconic object?
It was his face that covered half of his face!
If you look closely, you will find that Azu always wears this mask when he is fierce, covering his clear black and white eyes, which makes him appear more fierce and personal.
Speaking of this, many wu yanzu fans feel that they are not convinced, and may have to refute that Wu Yanzu's acting skills are not bad!
To be honest, it's not bad, but it's not outstanding enough.
Whether it is playing with Gu Tianle and Liu Qingyun in "Eavesdropping", or "Get Out!" In "Tumor Jun", he became the object of Bai Baihe's flower obsession, playing an introverted role, Wu Yanzu's acting skills were not hierarchical enough, and it was still easier for everyone to see his handsomeness.
Of course, handsome is not a bad thing, like Leonardo, the "little plum" who once had a prosperous beauty, the Oscars have been running with the sky for 22 years or keep the clouds open to see the moon, it can be said that if you want to hold the film emperor, in addition to acting, it is linked to the level of the film itself, the competitors of the same year and other factors.
But 16 years have passed since the "highlight moment" of Wu Yanzu's acting skills created by Guan Zu's role, and for Wu Yanzu, who is now entering middle age, he also needs another "highlight moment".
You can see that Zhang Falcon, played by Wu Yanzu in the new work "Crackdown on Violence", seems to be the wanderer in Hong Kong between talking and laughing, and it seems that there are still some ways out with the mainland bandits in everyone's impression.
In any case, "Crackdown" can also prove that Wu Yanzu, who can obviously rely on his appearance but prefers talent, still has not stopped his steps, whether it is for himself or for his fans.
Wu Yanzu is good, but it can be better.
Bluestone Film Editorial Office | Morning
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