In 2017, "Wolf Warrior 2", directed and starred by Wu Jing, created a box office miracle in the history of Chinese films.
The film broke the box office record previously set by "The Mermaid" in a very short period of time, and then occupied the top spot in the total box office list of Chinese films for 4 years with a box office of 5.681 billion.
The patriotism and national self-confidence embodied in the film became the key factors that ignited the market.
The plot of Leng Feng holding the national flag and leading everyone through the war zone safely, although it is not deliberately sensational, still makes people tear up.
The miracle created by "Wolf Warrior 2" was not broken until 2021, when "Chosin Lake" starring the same Wu Jing was also broken.
Set against the backdrop of the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, the film tells the story of the eastern front combat units of the Chinese People's Volunteer Army who made important contributions to the victory of the Chosin Lake Campaign with their iron will and heroic and fearless fighting spirit under extremely cold and harsh conditions.
In the movie, the soldiers of our army can only get one frozen potato, while the enemy soldiers are big fish and big meat, and the plot contrast puts the hardships of our army's battle naked in front of the audience.
Especially at the end of the movie, many soldiers are frozen into ice sculptures in order to perform their tasks, so that many viewers directly break through the defense.
The success of Wolf Warrior 2 and Chosin Lake seems to confirm the recognition of military-themed films in the market.
Subsequently, a large number of works with similar themes began to appear in the field of online movies.
In April last year, "Bloody Nameless River", starring Li Dongxue, also took the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea as the background, telling the story of the battle of the three platoons of the mainland volunteer army who were in danger and rescued the reconnaissance platoon trapped behind the enemy.
The film eventually grossed 33.55 million, ranking fourth in the online movie box office list that year, only 80,000 less than the second place " Endless Storm" .
Du Chuan, played by Li Xuedong, is nicknamed Du Shengun.
In the end, his duel with the enemy sniper was thrilling and exciting.
It is estimated that the success of "Blood Unknown River" has allowed investors to see the potential of "snipers".
So this year launched another "Ice Sniper".
Only this time, word of mouth box office is very broken.
The film only grossed 2.76 million in the three days of release, which is no comparison with the 4.57 million on the opening day of "Blood and No Name".
Word of mouth is a large number of one-star and two-star bad reviews.
Especially in editing, it has been complained about a lot.
The story of Ice Sniper is simple.
Young Huazhi was originally a soldier of the Northeast Army, but after the fall of the Northeast, he returned to the mountains and forests to make a living hunting.
Ten years later, Hua Zhi rescued the anti-league detachment that was ambushed by the Japanese Kou, but this behavior also led to the Japanese Taking revenge and killing his wife, children and villagers.
In order to avenge the hatred of the country and the family, Hua Zhi joined the Anti-Japanese League and engaged in a life-and-death duel with two snipers of the Japanese Kou.
In the end, Hua Zhi and the Anti-Japanese Coalition detachment went deep into the enemy's arsenal, preventing the Purpose of the Japanese Kou transporting arms to the south.
From the plot point of view, "Ice Sniper" is not outstanding compared to other movies.
The climactic part of the final bombing of the arsenal is not a level with the major battles in other films.
In order to highlight the plot, the film deliberately introduces the concept of a sniper.
At the beginning of the movie, a "memory + battlefield + narration" method is used to explain the protagonist Huazhi and the background of the war very clearly.
Plus the perfect combination of bullets and special effects titles.
Such a beginning is actually better than most online movies.
For example, the "Bright Sword: Decisive Battle ghost crying valley" released a few days ago also began with a fierce battle for positions.
But in terms of backstory and fluency, it is far inferior to "Ice Sniper".
But then "Ice Sniper" came with a wave of riot operations.
Hua Zhi, who had just fought a decisive battle against the Japanese Kou as the Northeast Army, instantly jumped to save the Anti-Japanese Coalition Squad ten years later.
Then the effect is that in less than ten minutes, the three plot spans of teaching children to practice guns, the Northeast Army resisting the Japanese army, and saving the anti-coalition squad were completed.
Such a rapid progress is actually inappropriate in an online movie.
Online movies are different from cinema movies.
Instead of sitting in the cinema and devoting themselves to the plot, the audience watches the film more relaxedly at home and on other occasions.
"Ice Sniper" cuts such a short plot to pieces, which is particularly unfriendly to the audience.
And the pace of the movie is obviously fast in front and slow in the back.
After the film eagerly explains the background of the story, it begins to slowly tell the main plot.
In the process of narrating the main line, the portrayal of the characters in the film follows the simple line of "the devil killed my whole family".
Such as the male protagonist Hua Zhi, the political commissar, Luo Mei...
Whenever these people mention the devil, it's all for the same reason.
It is well known that the devil is cruel, but it seems that the director is too lazy to reflect it in the movie.
For example, in "Bright Sword: Decisive Battle ghost crying valley", some of the family's grain was robbed, and some of their relatives were killed...
Everyone is a victim, but all are different.
"Ice Sniper" uses the same reason of "the devil killed my whole family", which not only exposed the director's laziness, but also did not show the cruelty of the devil in all aspects.
The most speechless thing is that the movie obviously uses "sniper" as a selling point, but it is a failure to portray the character.
In the movie, the portrayal of Hua Zhi, a sniper, is mainly placed in the first half, one is in the northeast battlefield, and the other is that his family was killed alone to avenge.
In the second half, the movie seems to forget the sniper and begins to talk about the plot of the anti-coalition fight devil.
At this point, Hua Zhi's sense of existence became very weak.
By the end of the movie, when the high captain and soldiers of the Anti-League blew up the arsenal, Hua Zhi's role was even smaller.
The second half of the design is clearly a review concern, such as not highlighting individual heroism too much, but emphasizing the importance of teamwork.
From the perspective of viewing experience, the tearing feeling of the plot before and after is a little too strong.
In addition, the director's emotional shaping of Huazhi actually only stayed on the two things of "memory + pistol".
Seeing his wife and son killed, Hua Zhi began to recall the previous family reunion.
When assassinating a senior Japanese official, Hua Zhi began to reminisce about playing with his son.
The assassination was exposed, and Hua Zhi took out a toy pistol in a daze.
The female warrior changed her clothes, and Hua Zhi took out a toy gun in a daze.
The film uses this repetitive but nothing new way to shape the protagonist, but it makes the plot look particularly awkward.
In the movie "Alive" starring Ge You, the shadow puppet scene is also a prop that runs through the front and back of the movie.
But the places where it appears are cleverly designed.
For example, in the early days, it was only Fugui's hobby, and it was used to support the family in the middle, and finally it was almost destroyed in a special period.
It can be said that shadow puppetry not only witnesses the transformation of Fugui but also hints at the changes of the times, and plays an irreplaceable role.
"Ice Sniper" repeatedly shoots with a toy pistol, and there is no information increment, which especially affects the perception.
It is not difficult to see here that although "Ice Sniper" is also a military and patriotic theme, it can be really perfunctory in terms of performance methods.
In the end, the word-of-mouth box office double collapse, not a grievance.
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