Text | Ling Hu Boguang
Wu Jing's "The Wandering Earth 2" has been released, and the box office has indeed broken records. "The Wandering Earth 2" is still very important for Wu Jing, because simply from domestic films, even without "The Wandering Earth 2", with two "Changjin Lake" close to 10 billion box office, plus Wu Jing's previous "The Wandering Earth" and "Wolf Warrior 2", and then to the middle "Climber" and "King Kong River" and so on.
Wu Jing is a veritable Chinese film first, or is it a single shoulder that is now hot. Among the Chinese actors in this group, except for Shen Teng, the other actors are not on the same level. This much-anticipated situation is already easy to attract the attention of netizens, and it is also because the "epidemic" has led to changes in public opinion in reality for three years.
While Wu Jing's film box office is climbing steadily, it also ushered in the impact of the Golden Rooster Film Festival at the end of 2022 with the wrong mobile phone, and then the "spoof" set off by short videos on its image entertainment deconstruction, if this deconstruction is completely formed, it will replace the impression left by Wu Jing's actors.
As a result, Wu Jing used "The Wandering Earth 2" to sweep up the definition of this network deconstruction in one fell swoop, and once again confirmed the position of the first person in Chinese films in the new era. No superstar in the previous decade could compare with Wu Jing, and the only similar Chinese-speaking superstar before 2000 was still Hong Kong's Jackie Chan.
Wu Jing is difficult to achieve Jackie Chan because of his age, but he will continue to lead and define Chinese films in the future.
Chinese movies, the first Chinese superstar? But where is the difference between Wu Jing and Jackie Chan
I believe that some people don't quite understand why Wu Jing's superstar status is only Jackie Chan who can be compared with him before.
The first decade of 2010 was an era of integration and transition of the cultural and entertainment industries of the two sides of the strait, and the superstars were all from the 8090s, and there were no superstars themselves.
In the 8090s, when the two sides of the strait and three places were at their peak, Taiwan did not produce superstars, and the most outstanding directors in the mainland were directors, such as Zhang Yimou, Chen Kaige, Feng Xiaogang, etc., including Jiang Wen, who was half an actor and half director. The highest achievement of male actors is Ge You, but their attributes as pure actors are completely different.
This pure cast includes top Hong Kong actors like Leslie Cheung, Tony Leung, Leung Ka Fai, etc. Pure actors and superstars are still double Monday cheng, Stephen Chow is a comedy, and Wu Jing's style does not match, Chow Yun-fat is the most heroic actor, not inferior to the Hollywood heroic superstars of the same era, but and Wu Jing is not a style.
To mention more, even if Shen Teng's level status is not as good as Zhou Xingchi, there are comedy superstars in the mainland, right? Until now, the mainland lacks handsome and handsome superstar actors like Leslie Cheung, Tony Leung, and Leung Ka-fai. At the same time, there is a serious lack of heroic actors such as the tall and handsome, handsome and dashing Chow Yun-fat.
In addition to action superstar Wu Jing and comedy superstar Shen Teng, the other Mesozoic Dynasty are Xu Zheng, Huang Bo, Wang Baoqiang, Deng Chao and the rapidly rising Zhang Yi, the latter two are not handsome guys in the usual sense, let alone meet three in advance.
Also an action superstar, Wu Jing is indeed compared to Jackie Chan (not comparable to Bruce Lee). Both have become symbolic representatives of their respective regional images, Jackie Chan is the Hong Kong police force, and the brave image of Hong Kong's internationalization at the peak of its economy; Wu Jing was a Chinese soldier during the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, a modern Chinese soldier, and a future Chinese astronaut.
So, what is the gap between Wu Jing and Jackie Chan's achievements in the film field?
Jackie Chan pioneered action comedy, and because of the times, Hong Kong film technology innovation can also affect the world. Wu Jing and the current Chinese films, even like Korean films, are learning from the United States.
Wu Jing's influence on Chinese films has not had much impact in the world, but he does promote the development of Chinese blockbusters in the new era, even if not counting the two "Changjin Lake", "King Kong River" and "Climber" and other less good, Wu Jing used the "Wolf Warrior" series to create modern Chinese military action films, and used the "Wandering Earth" series to promote Chinese hard science fiction blockbusters.
Wu Jing is the leader of Chinese films in the new era, which is no less significant than Jackie Chan for Chinese films at that time.
However, Wu Jing's biggest problem is that he was out of the Hong Kong film circle in the early stage, and he was 43 years old in 2015 with "Wolf Warrior", and 49 years old in 2023. Jackie Chan's "Plan A" was 29 years old, and the 85-year-old "Police Story" established style was 31 years old, and later the entire "Police Story" series, "Project Flying Eagle" and other classics at the same time, the thickness of the work, the influence is great.
In 2001, "Rush Hour 2" hit its peak in Hollywood, and Jackie Chan was 47 years old, which is Wu Jing's current age.
Wu Jing's most powerful works include the "Wolf Warrior" series and the "Wandering Earth" series, and the "Changjin Lake" series only have commercial achievements, and the number and influence of classic works are too far behind. At present, there is no breakthrough in the theoretical basis of film, unlike the world film industry at that time, Hong Kong films still have a big breakthrough in technology.
Jackie Chan's action design system for kung fu movies is a breakthrough, and the action comedy he founded is the same.
Wu Jing established his position with the "Wolf Warrior" series, became the first of the Mesozoic generation with the "Changjin Lake" series, and established the status of a superstar with "The Wandering Earth", and now no one in the domestic superstar has beaten him, but after all, it is impossible to reach the status of Jackie Chan in the history of world cinema and internationally
"The Wandering Earth 2" was a great success, and the question is, whether Wu Jing's status can be further improved
Wu Jing because of his age, coupled with the current development of films, and the relationship between China and the West. It is almost impossible to reach the status of Jackie Chan, but his upper limit in the country is difficult to say. Because Wu Jing can also shoot "The Wandering Earth 3" and "Wolf Warrior 3", even if there are a few mediocre films in the middle.
In 2030, Wu Jing will not be able to start reducing production at the age of 60, so what is Wu Jing's status at that time?
Now everyone talks about the status of the two subconsciously feels that Wu Jing is far apart, which is nothing more than that the expression of Wu Jing's films, and Wu Jing's superstar image is the main theme, which is impossible to go out, but everyone should be clear that cultural content and cultural awareness change with the changes of the times.
For example, why can "Wolf Warrior 2" and "The Wandering Earth" explode? In addition to the breakthrough of the two films for the Chinese film industry, the genre blockbuster itself, at that time, the domestic film market for the "money laundering traffic films" in the same period of dimensionality reduction blow, let the audience choose to vote with their feet.
The reason is the drastic changes in Sino-US relations at that time, coupled with China's economic development, Chinese audiences' cultural self-confidence, national self-confidence, etc. are rising in an all-round way, which has brought about the rise of traditional cultural programs such as China's "Chang'an Twelve Hours" and Henan Satellite TV. Then brings the rise of the main theme of the revolutionary spirit of New China, the rise of modern Chinese power, and finally the rise of Chinese science fiction blockbusters about the future.
Among these four themes, Wu Jing occupies three, participated in and established two themes, can his status be high?
Do you think the future will change? As long as China's economy continues to develop, the development of the film and television industry will definitely rise rather than regress, when we reach the next stage of richer, more developed and more open. At that time, the construction of Chinese film expression will also change, and it should not be able to save the world every day, but it will be more calm and in-depth to the world.
At this time, as the first person in Chinese films, Wu Jing, what status do you think will be at that time?
"The Wandering Earth 2" exploded, Wu Jing successfully "turned over"? Chinese cinema needs Wu Jing
Chinese films really need Wu Jing, because "Wolf Warrior" and "The Wandering Earth" not only create Chinese genre blockbusters, but also promote the Chinese film industry and Chinese films, these two series of blockbusters are commercial special effects blockbusters shot by the top domestic investment, top industrial scale, and the director team exhausted their time and energy.
This is an outlier in the flood of traffic movies before, and then in various comedy films, and even commercial films where stars are crowded.
Even in terms of cultural export, film companies can only accumulate enough capital by making money in the market. On the one hand, it will continue to invest in such commercial blockbusters, rather than comedies and certain types of films, which will promote the development of China's film industry. On the other hand, you have to learn from Hollywood and lay the pipeline for distribution in the international market.
In recent years, the quality of Hollywood movies has not been great, but the global box office has been very high, a very important reason is that Hollywood films are deeply cultivated in the global film market distribution. Without release, there can be no box office abroad.
The quality of "The Wandering Earth" is by no means lower than most Hollywood movies in recent years, and even better than many cookie-cutter commercial blockbusters, but the global box office is not even a fraction of others, the key reason is that Chinese films do not have a strong distribution force in other countries.
For example, in the United States, you can only find relatively small distribution companies, and the large distribution companies do not take your job at all, and you have to lay your own distribution channels, which is estimated to have Chinese film production companies huddle together to engage in distribution channels.
At present, many domestic filmmakers and fans still admire European films, and even think that Chinese films should follow the example of European films to abandon large-scale commercial films, give up the local market, focus on small-scale productions, literary and artistic films, and improve the quality of Chinese films.
This is self-abolition of martial arts, don't believe look at the current European movies, and how are Japanese movies in the world?
If you think about it, watching Hollywood blockbusters in the past is also an explosion and fighting excitement, "Wolf Warrior 2" and "The Wandering Earth" We can also make such movies? And the protagonist is talking about Chinese, or familiar faces, and the things and cultures that appear are also familiar to us, so naturally choose to look familiar.
This is also the reason why Chinese audiences love to watch domestic movies in recent years, but Hollywood blockbusters have become lower and lower at the box office in the domestic market.
The same action superstar, compare Jackie Chan and Wu Jing, the difference will come out
I feel that the two have different development paths, to be precise, the meaning behind the movie is different. Jackie Chan's peak is the rise of Hong Kong and Taiwan to the world, and it is finally integrated into the West with technology. We all know that it is a confrontation, because of the relationship between the times and the development of movies, Wu Jing cannot take the road of Jackie Chan, nor can he walk.
Wu Jing has been able to lead the rise of modern Chinese military action films and Chinese science fiction blockbusters. As long as the future is stable, if other themes can be created, Wu Jing's status is difficult to say, because sometimes the evaluation of a superstar is not only based on ability, other factors are also very important.
The impact of popular culture on economic development is obvious, and the current economic situation in the world is not very good, so the cultural industry around the world is going downhill, with the only exceptions being China, South Korea and India. As long as the economy continues to develop and the film and television industry has resources for development, there are opportunities for actors to emerge.
I guess some people scoffed and thought that mainland actors were also worthy, and Wu Jing was also worthy. We now feel that there are few superstars in the mainland, and one reason is that Hong Kong's veteran actors still occupy the market, Andy Lau, Tony Leung, Chow Yun-fat, Kwok Fu-shing, Koo Tianle, Cheung Ka-fai, Lau Qingyun and so on.
Hong Kong films will only decline further in the next decade, and it is a foregone fact that Hong Kong's veteran actors will withdraw from the market.
I predict that in the future, mainland middle-generation actors like Zhu Yilong will slowly rise in the film industry and begin to take over the vacancy after the withdrawal of Hong Kong superstars. As long as Chinese films are developing, even at the current market size, there will be about ten or so first-line movie superstars.
At this time, Wu Jing's status will only get higher and higher, or that sentence, if he can shoot "Wolf Warrior 3" and "The Wandering Earth 3", it will be very stable, and if he can also create a blockbuster that is not weaker than these two series. Wu Jing's status in the world is still inferior to Jackie Chan, but it is not impossible to completely match and even surpass Jackie Chan in China.
After all, the era and environment behind the two have really changed.