Nearly a year after Uncle Da's death, his posthumous work "Journey to the West: Origins" was released.
In the 8 days of release, the box office has accumulated 6.01 million, which is already a very good result in online movies.
Seeing Uncle Da's works again, especially the films of the Journey to the West series, is undoubtedly a very surprising thing for both uncle Da's fans and fans of the "Journey to the West" series, and it is also the best remembrance of Uncle Da.
Although Uncle Da's role in this film is not much, his words to supreme treasure, "Just walk away, don't go so fast", can always easily poke the audience's laughter and tears.
Until now, I still remember uncle Da's performance in the "Journey to the West" series, under the embellishment of his green leaves, the upper and lower films have entered the top ten of the box office in Hong Kong.
Although it suffered box office Waterloo in the mainland, it completely turned over a few years later, was constantly reconstructed, and has now become a classic in romance films.
Nowadays, although "Journey to the West: Origins" is a big net, although some people think that this is a consumer sentiment, after watching it, it is found that this film actually makes up for the regret of "Journey to the West" that year, telling the past and present lives of the Supreme Treasure and the Purple Xia Fairy, so that the unreasonableness in the original film is also reasonable.
01. Prequel to "Journey to the West"
The film tells the love affair between the Purple Xia Fairy and the Supreme Treasure in their past lives, explaining to the audience why the Supreme Treasure can pull out the sword and who buried the Moonlight Treasure Box.
At the beginning of the film, what breaks into the eye is uncle Da's familiar face, and the familiarity and intimacy of the screen come to the face.
The first story shot echoes the "Great Saint Robbing Relatives", but the difference is that this time it is Zixia robbing relatives.
The Purple Xia Fairy who crossed over split the hydrangea ball with a knife and "saved" the lamplighter who could save her fate.
It turned out that Zixia and Qingxia were the wicks in front of the Buddha's seat 500 years ago, not willing to be burned out, Zixia broke into the Tianji Pavilion, snatched the "Moonlight Treasure Box", spied into the future, and knew that the lamplighter who could save himself was qi tian dasheng who made a big fuss in the Heavenly Palace, so he traveled through time and space to find the lamplighter.
However, at this time, the Supreme Treasure was only a mortal, and he had not yet awakened his true body and had not been able to pull out Zixia's sword. At this time, Zixia's sentence "You pull me" added a senseless color to the whole film, a bit of "star master style".
In the process of finding the lamplighter and fighting with the Heavenly Ji Pavilion Lord who crossed over, Zixia and the Supreme Treasure fell in love. Even though he learned from Guanyin that he was not destined to be Zixia's "lamplighter" in this life, for the sake of Zixia, he resolutely put on the "headband", carried a fifteen-thousand-pound golden hoop stick, and died with the Lord of the Heavenly Ji Pavilion; for the Supreme Treasure, Zixia took the Moonlight Treasure Box back to the moment when they first met, at this time she did not stop the Supreme Treasure from grabbing the hydrangea ball.
Seeing Zixia's sacrifice, Qingxia was moved, and she took the initiative to give up her thousand-year-old Daoist practice and wanted to continue her life for Zixia. So they merged into one, and the two swords merged into one. At the end of the film, the Supreme Treasure easily pulls out the sword, and the reborn Zixia once again begins to look for the person she intends.
This is actually an open-ended ending, giving the audience unlimited possibilities of imagination and giving the audience endless hope. At the end of the film, the familiar song "Love of a Lifetime" sounded, poking at the most cherished memories in the hearts of countless audiences.
02. The good intentions of the creative team
Overall, this is not only Wu Mengda's last "Journey to the West" series of works, but also a work that pays tribute to the Journey to the West and pays tribute to Xingye, and the main creative team has used their hearts in many details.
In terms of music, the main creative team still chose the classic "Love of a Lifetime" and carefully placed it at the beginning and end of the film.
At the beginning of the film, this music leads the audience to re-enter the world of the big talk journey to the west, bringing back to 27 years ago; the music at the end is more like an ode to the love of Zixia and Supreme Treasure in this life.
In terms of filming, the main creative team chose Yinchuan's Western Film and Television City, the iconic loess wall, which seems to be saying to the audience that "everything has not changed".
In terms of casting, although the Supreme Treasure is no longer Zhou Xingchi, Zixia is no longer the agile Zhu Yin, but Uncle Da, Zhang Mei'e, the head of the "Four Beauties of the Wilderness", Yuan Xiangren, the "Beggar Professional Household", "Pork Guy" Yang Neng and other old faces in the Star Ye movie have joined the strong joining, so that the audience can make a dream of "time unchanged" while being nostalgic.
In terms of the presentation effect of the film, it can be seen that the crew really burned money. As a mythological film, special effects are very important for the presentation of the film.
27 years ago, the special effects technology was not developed, and the film "Origins" can be said to make up for some regrets of "Journey to the West" that year.
Whether it is the Tianji Pavilion, or the desert reeds, or the praying mantis essence, as well as the scene of the decisive battle between the Supreme Treasure and the Tianji Pavilion Lord, the special effects are very careful, making the scene very realistic.
03, the surprise brought by the actor
Although "there is no Zixia Fairy after Zhu Yin", although the Star Master's version of the Supreme Treasure is beyond anyone, it has to be admitted that the interpretation of Ma Xinrui and Wu Haochen is indeed wonderful.
The Purple Xia Fairy played by Ma Xinrui somewhat captured Zhu Yin's aura and charm of that year, especially the appearance of the scene of the city wall under the sunset, which was particularly gripping. And Wu Haochen, who has participated in many dramas of the noonday sun, performed the unique generosity and infatuation of the Supreme Treasure.
Judging from the interpretation of the two of them in the film, they are more or less moving closer to the star master version, and want to perform that senseless feeling, but this closeness is not offensive, it is not a simple reproduction without its own characteristics, the acting skills are not embarrassing, but give people a very comfortable feeling.
And Uncle Da, it is still the gold medal green leaf. As in previous films, he is still nagging, still the same tone, still a familiar look, giving the audience in front of the screen a wave of memories to kill.
When his son wanted to go out and say goodbye to him, his interpretation of reluctance and letting go made the audience feel as if they had seen their father, and plucked the strings of affection in the audience's heart, which could not help but cause tears.
04. Seamless connection to "Journey to the West"
This film, on many shots, is in series with the first two films, explaining many of the doubts.
When Zixia and the Supreme Treasure first met, the Supreme Treasure could not pull out the sword, and when the time went back and everything returned to the Supreme Treasure to grab the hydrangea ball, the Supreme Treasure was already able to easily pull out the sword. This also explains that in the "Great Saint Marrying Relatives", the supreme treasure as a mortal can easily pull out the purple and green sword of Zixia.
The combination of Qingxia and Zixia at the end of the film also corresponds to the origin of the name "Ziqing Sword", which explains why in the "Great Saint Marrying Relatives", Zixia and Qingxia are the same body.
In addition, in the "Great Sage Marrying Relatives", Zixia meets the Supreme Treasure for the first time, but does not know him, only remembering that her crush will step on the colorful auspicious clouds to marry her.
This is also well explained in "Origins" - when Zixia woke up again, she lost most of her memories due to the Moonlight Treasure Box, and only remembered that she was going to find the person she wanted to find who could pull out the Purple Green Sword.
27 years ago, Zixia Fairy's crush was unable to step on the colorful clouds to marry her; but 27 years later, Zixia Fairy staged a vigorous, two-way love affair with her beloved Supreme Treasure.
This dream linkage spanning 27 years is the origin, the love affair, and the perfect ending.
If 27 years ago, "Journey to the West" was a classic, then "Origins" 27 years later is to make the classics of the past more complete.
Today, Uncle Da has left us forever, and Xingye is no longer the nonsensical teenager, but the arrival of this "Origin" is the continuation of their friendship and the consummation of our youthful memories.
The origin of the fate is gone, the twilight is coming, and what remains unchanged is always the touch brought to us by the "Journey to the West" series of films. (Author: West Window Snow)