There has always been a magical genre in domestic dramas, and I call them "Journey to the West".
More than 400 years ago, when Wu Chengen wrote "Journey to the West", he must not have known that one day his works would become endless wool and become the existence that refreshed the lower limits of TV series and movies.
According to incomplete statistics, there are more than 100 works adapted, derived and created according to the IP of "Journey to the West", among which there are only a handful of classic high-reputation works, the original version has 86 versions of "Journey to the West", the movie has "Journey to the West", and the animation has "The Return of the Great Sage".
But for the IP of "Journey to the West", there will always be only one or two head movies, and except for the spire of the pyramid, what we see downward is a black pressed, shoddy film, regardless of logic and basic creative principles, just a bad film that blindly rubs the "Journey to the West" IP.
For example: this "Wukong: Little Saint Biography" released in theaters nationwide on February 24.
I understand the thoughts of the main creator of this "Wukong", after all, as long as there are films under the banner of "Journey to the West" before, the results after release will not be too bad.
Stephen Chow's two films, "Demon" and "Fu Demon", won 1.2 billion and 1.6 billion box office, almost creating the box office ceiling of "Journey to the West" movies.
Gong Li's "Three Dozen White Bone Essences" won 1.2 billion box office, followed by 1 billion "Trouble in the Heavenly Palace", 900 million "The Return of the Great Sage", 700 million "The Legend of Wukong", nearly 400 million "Westward Journey 3", and nearly 200 million "The Great Saint Marries"...
It seems that no matter who the participating stars are, no matter how big the plate is, as long as there is the word "Journey to the West", the box office will at least start with "100 million yuan".
This has created an illusion for many directors, as long as they rub "Journey to the West", the box office is guaranteed.
Subsequently, in the three years of the prosperity of the domestic network, the "Journey to the West" series began to grow wildly, chaos brewed disorderly, the characters, stories and plots of the Westward Journey were repeatedly changed in these networks, and a bunch of "four unlike" movies were put on the online streaming media platform.
And this "Wukong: Little Saint Biography" is the master of such a large network.
The audience's eyes are snowy, when everyone's viewing experience is crushed countless times, it will form a protection mechanism, but everyone who hears the word "Journey to the West", must think about whether this film is under the banner of "Journey to the West", using other stories to "fish" the real fans of Journey to the West.
Obviously, the abacus of "Wukong" has failed, the film has been released for 4 days now, and the box office has broken through the sky - 6410 yuan!
You read it right, the box office has not broken 10,000, "Wukong" was released in theaters nationwide for 4 days, only 246 people watched, and only 5 people watched on the first day of release, with a box office of 129 yuan.
Embarrassing, extremely embarrassing.
Of the 6,410 yuan, 5,135 yuan was contributed by the Guangzhou audience.
At this point, "Wukong" may have created a "floor" record, and it is likely to be the lowest-grossing Westward Journey theatrical film in history.
But that's just part of the film's "Operation Riot."
I don't know if there is enough confidence in the IP itself, "Wukong" is almost 0 publicity release, that is, there is no pre-announcement before the release, and there is no publicity action after the release, all relying on natural growth and divergence.
According to the general theatrical film law, theatrical films are released first, and after the release period expires, the copyright is sold and the webcast begins.
But "Wukong" is the opposite, it was first released on the Internet on May 9, 2022, and after getting 650,000 points at the box office, it was converted into a theatrical film, which flashed the audience's old waist.
Of course, we don't know what twists and turns are in a movie that was originally scheduled to be released in 2021, webcast online in 2022, and released in theaters in 2023; But as an audience, we still have a basic judgment on the quality of the film.
For today's article, Tomato Jun still watched the 85-minute movie steadily.
After reading it, the intuitive feeling is only four words: "work injury".
"Wukong" is a magical realist work closely combined with the 86th version of "Journey to the West", which is the pinnacle of the Journey to the West online movie, and also a fantasy god film that integrates idol dramas twenty years ago, special effects ten years ago, and current Internet pop culture.
The feeling of watching the movie is very direct, that is, the words have not yet been spoken, and the eyes have suffered 10,000 critical hits; When you are ready to complain because of one plot, you will find that the next plot is even more outrageous than the current one.
First of all, in terms of character modeling, the film has an aesthetic that combines avant-garde and quaint.
Zhu Longguang and Wang Weiguo, who starred in the 86th version of "Journey to the West", played Rulai and the Jade Emperor again in "Wukong", but their faces were a little more old, and they also painted thick lipstick and foundation.
Under the banner of paying tribute to the old version of "Journey to the West", the Tang monk Wang Yue of that year played the Tang monk again, and in just a few shots, it did not have the taste of the 86th version of "Journey to the West" at all.
The starring role in the film is sketch actor Wang Ning, who gives full play to his stare and funny sketch performance style.
In the movie, his anger is angry eyes, anger is scratching his ears and cheeks, unhappiness is making little nature, the only thing like Sun Wukong is that he holds a slightly curved golden hoop rod in his hand.
The other starring actor is the film's director Wang Liang, who plays Jin Xiaopeng in the play.
Speaking of this, I have to spit a few words on the name of the character, the descendant of Sun Wukong in the play is called "Sun Xiaosheng", and the son of Golden-winged Dapeng is called "Jin Xiaopeng", who knows that "Journey to the West" is a movie, and those who don't know may think that this is a "children's musical".
Tomato Jun does not comment on the artistic level of "Journey to the West", but the fact is that it has a very bad start, that is, since "Journey to the West", all the monkeys who appear in the movie have to talk about a sadomasochistic love that cannot be loved.
The same is true of "Wukong", and in "Wukong", Sun Xiaosheng is in love with Jin Xiaopeng's sister Little Crow (who later became Little Phoenix).
If we take a closer look, we will find that this is a long-term sadomasochistic relationship that integrates multiple classic IPs.
Sun Xiaosheng is Sun Wukong's grandson, and Jin Xiaopeng is the son of Golden-winged Dapeng, that is, in terms of generation, Jin Xiaopeng is Sun Xiaosheng's uncle, so Sun Xiaosheng should call the little crow his aunt.
Let's leave it alone, Sun Wukong is a stone monkey, where is the descendant, the aunt and nephew of Guangsun Xiaosheng and Little Crow, Tomato Jun has seen the shadow of "The Condor Heroes".
Not only that, the film does not explain why the daughter of Golden-winged Dapeng is a phoenix, but from the perspective of the play, good is a phoenix, and evil is a crow... From my point of view, it really doesn't make sense.
In addition to the love that shocked the ancient and shining, "Wukong" also has a very paradoxical plot with no logic.
Sun Xiaosheng and Jin Xiaopeng were originally a pair of good brothers who slashed demons and expelled demons, until one day, a demon star named "Tianxiao" appeared, and Jin Xiaopeng realized that he was the descendant of Golden-winged Dapeng, so he wanted to slaughter the world and avenge his father.
Although slaughtering the human world is a regular operation of ordinary villains, we are saying that the Golden-winged Dapeng was subdued by Sun Wukong, what is hindering the world, why should mortals carry the pot?
Even if the target of revenge is not accurate, Sun Wukong also began to be confused.
At the important moment of the final battle, Sun Wukong appeared in a robe in the posture of defeating the Buddha, originally thinking that as long as the monkey slammed a stick, Yuyu would clarify and everything would be fine.
As a result, Sun Wukong took the most perverse approach to deal with the matter: suicide.
The purpose of Sun Wukong's suicide is to influence Jin Xiaopeng so that he will no longer do evil, and sure enough, the only person who can kill Wukong in this world is himself.
What's even more ridiculous is that Sun Wukong committed suicide, and Little Phoenix also committed suicide, both of them persuaded Jin Xiaopeng with death, but Jin Xiaopeng was not reformed, but more blackened.
At this time, the only remaining messenger of justice was Sun Xiaosheng, and after a fight, he fell behind, and at another critical moment, Sun Wukong was suddenly resurrected and helped Sun Xiaosheng successfully persuade Jin Xiaopeng.
The world of immortals is good, life and death are so casual, Sun Wukong seems to have committed suicide, and behind his back, he may have run to Yan Wang to walk around the book of life and death.
In the end, everyone was happy, just such a logic-inviant, family-like movie, but also refreshed Tomato Jun's cognition.
As for the special effects, it's even more blind (below)...
In fact, in terms of Huo Ho's "journey to the west", the chaos has never stopped.
As early as 1978, Japan filmed a version of "Journey to the West".
It's a pity that although they belong to the same East Asian cultural circle, the Japanese understanding of "Journey to the West" is simple and obscene, and in this drama, Rulai and Tang Monk have become women, which is shocking.
It is precisely because of seeing their classics being ruined in this way that CCTV made up its mind to shoot our own "Journey to the West".
Subsequently, Vietnam and Thailand have filmed their own "Journey to the West", but the appearance is more out of line than the other, and the appearance is more obscene.
In the face of such a big IP, Hollywood has also tested the water several times, whether it is the TV movie "Qi Tian Dashen" or "Wasteland", or "The Legend of the Monkey" and "Heroic Journey to the West", it is the Western magic reform of "Journey to the West", in addition to borrowing the shell of the four masters and apprentices, it is almost impossible to see the taste of "Journey to the West".
The adaptation and reproduction of the IP of "Journey to the West" in China is basically divided into two categories, one is the continuous remake according to the original work.
There are currently five versions of this remake, namely the 86 version of CCTV's "Journey to the West", the 10 Zhejiang version, the 11th Zhang Jizhong version, and the TVB version of "Journey to the West" in 1996 and 1998.
The other category is the adaptation and second creation based on the "Journey to the West" story.
Among the two creations, there are many good works that move people's hearts, such as the earliest drama "Journey to the West", "Spring Splendid Pig Bajie", the movie "Journey to the West", etc., to the later "The Return of the Great Sage" and "Journey to the West", etc., are relatively excellent works.
But bad films also abound, such as "Three Dozen White Bone Essences" in 2016, "Journey to the West 3", "Daughter's Country" in 2018 and so on.
Later, after the rise of the Internet University and the rush of capital, the only remaining respect for the IP of "Journey to the West" was all Huo Huoguang.
Taking the lead, several old actors of the 86th version of "Journey to the West", six-year-old children defended the culture of Journey to the West, and filmed "Big Trouble" and "My Rich Dad" in a blink of an eye.
Chi Chongrui re-enacts as a Tang monk, but "Big Dream Westward Journey to the Five Elements Mountain" only has 3.5 points.
This "Wukong", although it brings together the actors of Rulai and the Jade Emperor, it is still a star brushing the screen.
In addition to some old actors who go to the cave to attract money, the Internet University can rub on "Journey to the West", and there is no lower limit.
Semyon's "Journey to the West" scored less than 4 points on average, and he filmed 4 films in one breath, which shows that the first three did not lose money.
In "Little Wukong", Bajie turned over and became a master, and Goku was able to make a big fuss in New York City.
Chen Haoming's "Qi Tian Dasheng Ten Thousand Demon City", Fan Shaohuang's "Qi Tian Dashen's Dragon Palace", Xie Miao's "Qi Tian Dashen", and Zhang Yishan's "Qi Tian Dasheng Prequel", can be said to toss the name of Sun Wukong's "Qi Tian Great Sage".
And "Great Saint Fu Demon", "Great Sage Demon", "Great Sage Demon" and other names are almost unchanged, and Netda, which has made a lot of money in online streaming media.
If these are only filmed in the original setting of "Journey to the West", then some movies even change the "Journey to the West" without any lower limit, such as Lin Feng's "Big Monkey", Sun Wukong and the Three Virgin fall in love; In "Great Sage Matchless", Sun Wukong falls in love with the fox spirit...
On the Internet, if you want to watch a big movie about "Journey to the West", just search for the keywords "Journey to the West", "Great Sage", "Fighting Buddha", "Wukong", and you can come up with more than 100 films.
Can achieve a full-coverage shooting of all the names of Sun Wukong, it can be seen that the domestic network is really hollowed out of the mind of "Journey to the West".
It's a pity that our own classics, if they don't respect it, then no one will respect it, and Hollywood has brewed a lot of "Westward Journey" IP derivative works in recent years, which have come later.
There is nothing wrong with capital pursuing profits, but such a remake of the magic change "Journey to the West" will only poison the classics and mislead the next generation to understand and recognize our own culture.
Just like a game that is popular at the moment, all classic historical and mythological characters have become game characters, and if the "Journey to the West" IP is remade, no one will remember what the real Monkey King looks like and what the real "Journey to the West" has in the end.
In fact, in the past three years of the popularity of the Internet, the magic reform of the "Journey to the West" is only the embodiment of the barbaric growth of the Net, and it is only the tip of the iceberg.
Opening the brain hole is not a problem, the adaptation is not impossible, the audience is just disgusted with those insincere money-making bad films, giving the audience mental torture at the same time, but also pulling down the quality of Chinese films and disrupting the market.
Such a bottomless bad film should be managed, stopped and stopped, and the same should be stopped, and there are creators who are wrapped in traffic, bent on chasing interests, but forgetting the basic ethics and original intention of film and television people.
Urgent success, may be left behind for 10,000 years; Respect for the audience is the basic guarantee of high box office, high revenue and high reputation.
(Movie Rotten Tomatoes Editorial Office: One by One)