The Spring Festival dark horse "This killer is not too calm" is not applauded

Yangcheng Evening News all-media reporter Li Li

"This Killer Is Not Calm", which only ranked fourth in the Spring Festival pre-sale, eventually became one of the first films in the Spring Festival file after "The Watergate Bridge of Chosin Lake" in the Spring Festival file. After the end of the Spring Festival, the film's box office continued to remain hot - as of 12:00 on February 10, the cumulative box office had exceeded 1.7 billion yuan.

Although the Douban score of 6.6 points is far lower than the 8.2 points of the original "Magic Moment", the success of "This Killer Is Not Calm" in the Spring Festival file once again proves that comedy will always be one of the most beloved movie genres of the people. The low score and high box office show that comedy creators who shoulder the love of the audience still need to redouble their efforts to improve the quality of their works.

Localization adaptation? Funny is the original old terrier

"This Killer Is Not Too Calm" is supervised by Yan Fei and Peng Damo, directors of "Charlotte Troubles" and "The Richest Man in Xihong", and the screenwriter and director is Xing Wenxiong, who has many years of experience in comedy screenwriting. Unfortunately, people who write good comedies may not be able to lead good comedies.

The film is a remake of Yuki Mitani's well-known comedy "Magic Moment" and has undergone a certain degree of localization. The story begins with the miscarriage of the feared killer Carl, whose target of assassination, the gangster boss Harvey, does not know that Carl has accidentally been lying in the hospital and is still looking for him all over the world. The actress Milan and his younger brother Miller, who are favored by Harvey, have a clever move and find a group of actors to play Carl successfully, trying to buy time for the two to escape the clutches of the magic. Wei Chenggong, who wanted to prove his acting skills, did not know the danger, and thought that he was participating in a "invisible camera" drama... In the dangerous "shooting", Wei Chenggong repeatedly turned the danger into a disaster with his "superb" acting skills and excellent luck in the yin and yang mistakes.

In terms of overall structure and specific jokes, the film refers to the original "Magic Moment". For example, when Wei Chenggong first met Harvey as the killer Carl, he thought that he had "not acted well" for the first time, so he repeated the whole meeting twice. At the beginning of each meeting, he would leap over Harvey's boss's desk and lick the dagger with an exaggerated expression. These melodies, based on exquisite dramatic structures, can always make Harvey in the play "unconscious", and the audience outside the play laughs. Unfortunately, as a remake, "This Killer Is Not Calm" did not improve the comedy of the original version in the process of localization, but the film was slightly jerky and crotch-pulling in terms of camera and rhythm, resulting in many viewers expressing "embarrassment" and "can't laugh".

Elevate the little ones? It's digging a "pit" for yourself.

The biggest change to the original version of "This Killer Is Not Calm" is the character relationship. The stealing man and woman in "Magic Moment" became brothers and sisters in the remake version, which is obviously clearing the way for the secret life of the love affair between Wei Chenggong and Milan. However, the film does not lay enough groundwork for this suddenly added love line, resulting in the emotional drama between the two becoming abrupt and awkward.

In Magic Moments, the protagonist's ridiculousness and respectability stem from his love of acting. This love is almost paranoid, resulting in his inhumanity, and he is even more unable to distinguish between reality and deception, which also matches the surreal tone of the entire film. In "This Killer Is Not Too Calm", the protagonist's "enlightenment" to love makes him appear smarter, but not so cute. The same problem is also reflected in the handling of characters such as Milan. The heroine of Magic Moment is as selfish as the other characters and is not a positive character. In "This Killer Is Not Too Cold", Milan, played by Ma Li, not only has its role been greatly aggravated, but its attributes of "rich and noble cannot be obscene" and "mighty and unyielding" have also improved linearly, but it also makes it less funny.

Many viewers said that they could not fall in love with Wei Chenggong, a small person, nor could they feel the "CP feeling" between him and Milan. Some viewers pointed out that the most touching thing about the whole film was the end of the film shooting tidbits - Wei Xiang, the successful actor of Wei Xiang, cried that this was his "first male protagonist in life". The acting career of this "green leaf" in the film and television circle has formed a moving echo with Wei Chenggong's life in the film.

How can I improve my creations? Replenishing talent is key

Audiences love comedy. This is especially evident in the Spring Festival stall market, where the nature of family fun is prominent. Statistics show that in recent years, the comedy elements in the Spring Festival movies have been riding the dust. Before 2022, among the top five works in the Spring Festival box office, only "Red Sea Action" does not contain comedy genes at all.

But comedy is also really difficult to shoot, with the reduction of Chow Sing Chi's works and the frequent Waterloo of Wang Jing's works, Hong Kong-style comedies have gradually declined in the mainland market. And Feng Xiaogang's New Year comedy has not appeared in the audience's eyes for many years. In recent years, mainland directors and teams such as Ning Hao, Xu Zheng, Chen Sicheng, and Happy Twist have gradually opened up more diversified comedy styles, but many pure comedy works with high-quality box offices are still difficult to find.

In contrast, "comedy +" has become the secret of many works to impact the blockbuster. For example, the 2021 Spring Festival dark horse "Hello, Li Huanying" is a work that integrates three types of drama, comedy and fantasy, and the temperament belongs to "mixed tragedies and joys"; this year's Spring Festival "Miracle Stupid Child" also integrates light comedy elements on the basis of drama films, opening up a path for the release of realistic themes in the Spring Festival file.

How to improve the quantity and quality of pure comedy creation? Discovering more comedy talent may be a new path. For example, the previous fire comedy variety show "Annual Comedy Competition" has allowed the audience to see a large number of outstanding comedians "raw faces", and these actors and the creative team behind them may join the creative army of comedy films in the future. Xu Zheng, one of the judges of the variety show, as a famous comedy film director, has repeatedly issued "filming" invitations to these actors and screenwriters behind the scenes in the show.

Editor: Wang Yu