I thought it was a bad film, but I didn't expect it to be really good, and "The Origin of the Journey to the West" can be regarded as a stunning work in the follow-up of the "Journey to the West" series.
It not only completed the first two parts of "Journey to the West", but also gave Uncle Wu Mengda the most perfect screen farewell ceremony. Even Ma Xinrui, the actor of Zixia Fairy, was called the person closest to Zhu Yin's version of Zixia by netizens.
But in fact, "The Origin of the Journey to the West" is not the third part after "The Moonlight Treasure Box of the Journey to the West" and "The Journey to the West of the Great Saint Marrying Relatives". The other film, directed by Liu Zhenwei and starring Han Geng and Tang Yan, is the final version of the authentic third after the "Moonlight Treasure Box" and "The Great Saint Marries".
But why did everyone refuse to accept "Journey to the West 3", but praised the unknown "Journey to the West"?
1. The plot of the magic change
The "Journey to the West" series itself is a magically modified "Journey to the West", which was rejected by the loyal fans of the original at the beginning, and it relied on a touching plot to impress everyone. "Journey to the West 3" is the first two parts of the magic change of "Journey to the West".
In "Journey to the West 3", Zixia, who has crossed again, avoids the occurrence of tragedy, so she strives to match the Supreme Treasure and Bai Jingjing, and it turns out that Bai Jingjing and Chun Thirteen Niang are a pair.
The person who did all the bad things was not Sun Wukong but the six-eared macaque, and this six-eared macaque actually gave birth to a child with Qingxia's original body, and this child was Tang Monk.
It turned out that the appearance of the six-eared macaque was caused by a bug when the Jade Emperor wrote the Book of Heaven. In his Book of Heaven, Sun Wukong was born 500 years later than Tang Monk, so the Jade Emperor arranged for the six-eared macaque to impersonate Sun Wukong.
The Jade Emperor explained the real situation to the six-eared macaque, and the bad man, the six-eared macaque, immediately flooded with fatherly love and went to the netherworld to sabotage the wedding of the Bull Demon King and Zixia in order to rescue his son Tang Monk.
In the end, the six-eared macaque held the dying Qingxia confession, and then escorted his son to the Western Heavens with the name of Sun Wukong. After returning from the scriptures, he and Qingxia became a wick together, hugging each other every day, and watching their son copy the scriptures. Zixia and the Supreme Treasure lived a mortal life.
This "Journey to the West 3" is also painstaking in order to let Zixia and the Supreme Treasure get a happy ending, and this plot change is really brain-burning and lame. After so many circles, I was able to come up with the line of six-eared macaques.
It's just that Zixia and Supreme Treasure, who were originally the protagonists and have distinct personalities, suddenly became supporting roles, while the six-eared macaque and Qingxia became the protagonists in the play, which made people feel awkward.
In fact, whether a drama continues to be written successfully or not, the criteria for judging it are very simple. If the audience, after watching it, suddenly realizes, "Oh! It turned out to be so! "Then the play continues to be written as a success.
What if the audience, after watching it, strangely says, "Huh? How is this so? "Then the continuation of the play is a failure.
All of us in the audience have accepted the CP of Stephen Chow and Zhu Yin, and accepted the poignant love between Zixia and Supreme Treasure. Suddenly a wave of people changed, a face changed, the original name was topped, and then all the original settings were overturned, then they were bound to fail.
2. The rationality of "dependent arising"
The cleverness of "The Origin of journey to the West" is that it acknowledges all the settings of the first two parts, and only completes and does not change. So on this basis, it is already a bit higher than "Journey to the West 3".
For example, the Moonlight Treasure Box, which plays an important role in the "Moonlight Treasure Box" and the "Great Saint Marrying Relatives", where does it come from.
It is well explained in "The Origin of the Journey to the West", which is originally a magic weapon in the Heavenly Machine Cabinet, which can see the past and the future, and can travel through time and space. Zixia, one of the wicks, is destined to burn out, so she steals the Moonlight Treasure Box and wants to change her life against the sky.
Another example is why Qingxia and Zixia are one body and two souls.
"The Origin of the Journey to the West" also gives a full explanation, Zixia fell in love with the Supreme Treasure, and forcibly crossed in order to save the Supreme Treasure, resulting in the exhaustion of mana and about to disappear.
Although her sister Qingxia and Zixia often had discord, she could not bear to see her sister disappear from then on. So he and Zixia merged into one and took their sister back to the Buddha for help.
Then there is the love affair between Zixia and the Supreme Treasure.
In the "Origin of the Journey to the West", the earth city gate where Zixia and the Supreme Treasure Originate are fixed also appear. There was a fortune teller known as the "Marriage Master" under the Tucheng Gate, who said that the marriage between Zixia and the Supreme Treasure was three lives and three lifetimes, saying: "After the third life, you will meet here today." ”
"The Origin of the Journey to the West" can explain some of the doubts that arise in the "Moonlight Treasure Box" and "The Great Saint Marrying Relatives", and more importantly, it can also be taken out as a separate movie, and the plot is also very complete.
3. Imitation and reinvention of characters
Some people say that the lineup of "The Origin of the Journey to the West" is strong, but the only one who can really be called a wrist level is Uncle Wu Mengda.
Compared with "The Origin of the Journey to the West", "Journey to the West 3" can be regarded as a strong lineup, and the participants are: Han Geng, Tang Yan, Wu Jing, Xie Nan, Huang Zheng, Wang Yibo, Karen Mok, Hu Jing, Ah Jiao, Zhang Yao, He Jiong, etc., which can not be described as luxurious, it is super super luxury.
However, "Journey to the West 3" is based on the first two parts, and its characters are also forcibly imitated on the basis of the original copy. Except for Bai Jingjing or Karen Mok, all the roles have changed almost repeatedly.
So we see that Han Geng is imitating Zhou Xingchi's nonsense, Tang Yan is imitating Zhu Yin's liveliness and cuteness, Wu Jing is imitating Luo Jiaying's words, and Ah Jiao is imitating Lan Jieying's style...
But the movie is not cosplay, so even if the super super luxury star cast is played, it has not saved its failed ending.
In addition to retaining the important roles of Supreme Treasure, Zixia and Qingxia, other supporting roles are almost no repetition, which is more conducive to character shaping and innovation.
For example, the Su Mo Immortal Master played by Jiu Kong, who looks like a righteous gentleman in front of him, and the villain who tries to replace Sun Wukong as the great villain of Qi Tian Dasheng in the back, form a sharp contrast.
This role is not in the first two films, so it appears here, and how to interpret it will not have a sense of abruptness.
There is also Uncle Da, it is said that when he participated in "The Origin of the Journey to the West", Uncle Da's physical condition was already very bad, which was also the last movie he participated in.
Uncle Da is a very important second boss in the role of "Moonlight Treasure Box", and in "The Great Sage Marrying Relatives", he plays the Eight Precepts of the Pig and the Yuanlang. But in "The Origin of the Journey to the West", he plays a brand new character - the adoptive father of the Supreme Treasure.
Like all ordinary parents, he likes to fight against his son's unrealistic ideas, but when his son decides to chase his dreams, he, like all parents, spares no effort to support.
At the end of the film, he married the ugly-looking Miss Niu family instead of his son, and when he was taken away by the Niu family, he sang with a righteous and awe-inspiring appearance: "Love and righteousness, worth thousands of gold..." (Accidentally, he paid tribute to "God Eater")
Even the protagonists Zixia and Supreme Treasure are not completely imitated.
This version of the Supreme Treasure is not so nonsensical, nor is it deliberately funny, and even a little dull, some silly, and some cute.
Although Zixia is as lively and clever as Zhu Yin's version of Zixia, she dares to love and dare to hate, but she is not like Zhu Yin's version of Zixia, from the beginning like a moth to put out fire.
This version of the new Zixia also hesitated, and also struggled between life and love, and finally chose to give up life to become the supreme treasure.
When she exhausted her mana and went back to the past, watched the Supreme Treasure go to grab the hydrangea ball, and then turned away with tears, she really felt that she and the original Zixia were one.
4. Write at the end
The most successful part of "The Origin of the Journey to the West" is that it can evoke everyone's memories, and to put it in layman's terms, it is very "nostalgic".
It's not like Journey to the West 3, where you copy the original and make it old for you to see. All it needs is an earthen wall, a swarm of reeds, and a string of small bells.
The Supreme Treasure was still the man who lived like a dog, so stupid that he could only watch the person he loved the most leave him. Zixia is still the stupid girl who clings to love, and Qingxia is still the bad girl with a knife mouth and a tofu heart.
The ending of the film continues the essence of the original work", "the most touching thing is to miss", everything seems to have changed, everything seems to have changed again.
Liu Zhenwei said that filming "Journey to the West 3" is out of the desire to answer questions for the audience and give more people an expected happy ending. However, the "Journey to the West" series does not need a happy ending, it seems to be timeless because of regrets.
Just like our lives, it's never that perfect. Because Zhang Ailing said: "A life without regrets is by no means a perfect life." ”
I am @ Instant Constant, like to read strange books, like to chase classic dramas, like to write love to write, like to share with you what you see and hear bit by bit.