After Jackie Chan "British Showdown", after 6 years, he seriously filmed an action movie "Dragon Horse Spirit". But unfortunately, half a month has passed, and word of mouth has declined, and the current Douban score is only 6.1 points. In terms of box office, it is only 185 million. Over 100 million looks good, but for such a large-scale film with a cost of more than 300 million, it is undoubtedly bloodless. Not to mention that there are heavy actors such as Wu Jing and Liu Haocun joining, which is even more bleak.
So, "Dragon Horse Spirit" that fell to such an end, is it aggrieved? This article will be interpreted from many aspects.
Let's first take a brief look at the plot.
This movie mainly tells the story of the dragon and tiger martial artist who once made a name for himself in the theater due to an accident, his life was down, he wanted to train his BMW "Chitu" into a kung fu star on the set, but unexpectedly caught in a lawsuit, he could only ask for his daughter Xiaobao, who he had not seen for many years, and her boyfriend lawyer. Xiaobao and Naihua helped Lao Luo fight the lawsuit while persuading him not to continue to take Chitu to do dangerous actions in the crew. But Lao Luo did not heed his daughter's advice, hoping that Chitu could fulfill his unfinished dream, and still secretly trained Chitu.
Let's start a detailed interpretation of "Ryoma Spirit".
1. Salute
"Dragon Horse Spirit" chose action comedy Jackie Chan Big Brother as the starring role to interpret the story of Wuxing Lao Luo about the dragon and tiger martial artist, in fact, this is also a review of Jackie Chan's own career and a tribute to the spirit of the dragon and tiger martial artist.
The so-called dragon and tiger martial artists refer to the special jobs created by Hong Kong movies, and they served as martial arts instructors, stand-insmen, stuntmen, dragon sets and so on in movies during the heyday of kung fu movies.
Dragon and tiger martial artists originated from the northern opera class in the south, and after not singing, the famous characters may have lost their jobs, but the action-oriented martial artists and dragon sets were able to enter the film industry. Initially, they were just martial arts stand-ins, but with the emergence of Bruce Lee's rhythmic format fighting, action guidance and gradual innovation of format, martial arts is no longer just a display of action moves, but also a kind of action aesthetics that can be enjoyed by the audience. Behind the scenes, they also have the opportunity to go to the front of the scenes, creating the era of martial arts action movies, and also pushing kung fu films to a peak era that belongs to them.
However, behind that wonderful and real and exciting kung fu duel scene is the effect of the dragon and tiger martial artists fighting for their lives. Different from other film and television dramas shouting "cut" at the end of filming, the director shouted "save people" in kung fu films at its peak. In that era without film and television special effects, if you want to make your own way in a number of blockbusters with your unique style, you can only continue to innovate and make breakthroughs. They shot in real action one by one, restoring the story scene with the most realistic actions, fists to the flesh, every stroke is the most realistic reaction, and pain has become commonplace. It is this kind of persistence and creation that brings a very ornamental kung fu drama.
This is the case with Lao Luo in "Dragon Horse Spirit", who was originally proud in life and had a place in the theater with his rich martial arts experience and perfect action completion. A chance accident made everything in the past come to naught. After waking up from a coma, he lost everything he once had, the only good thing is that he is still alive. In the film, Xiaobao's mother describes his father Lao Luo's work, action, jump, hospital. Their love for the film industry and their adherence to the spirit of dragon and tiger martial artists are the foundation of China's unique kung fu films.
In and out of the play, whether it is Lao Luo, played by Jackie Chan, or Jackie Chan, who was originally a dragon and tiger martial artist, they dare to fight and fight, and such a fight is a lifetime of them, always adhering to the tenacious spirit of the dragon and tiger martial artist.
In this tribute, "Ryoma Spirit" pays tribute to many classic action movies through the design of styling, storyline, characters and other aspects.
At the beginning of the film, an interesting chase scene is set up, and the besieged Lao Luo takes the red rabbit to escape in the alley, which reminds people of the classic alley bicycle shuttle scene of Jackie Chan in "Plan A". In the narrow theater alley, Lao Luo and Chitu cooperate with each other with years of tacit understanding and adapt to changes in a changeable environment. Such a witty and humorous martial arts action design seems to feel the thrilling scenes mixed with joy in the once classic action movies.
Jackie Chan "Who Am I" stills
In order to make a living, Lao Luo had to dress himself and Chitu as Indians and go to the amusement park to sell art. This paragraph pays tribute to the character in Jackie Chan's "Who I Am", when he was rescued by the Native Americans due to the accidental loss of all his memories and went to New York to find out his identity.
Jackie Chan "Miracle" stills
When Lao Luo saw Chitu regain the opportunity to star, he went from taking off his hat in disappointment to happily putting it back on. It seems that I saw again that I saw the road in "Miracle" and was involved in the struggle between two gangsters, but accidentally did the adventure story of the gangster big brother.
Jackie Chan "Shanghai Noon" stills
The indissoluble relationship between Jackie Chan and the horse also begins with "Shanghai Noon", and in the background of the story of the Qing Dynasty, there are also many good scenes with horses on the way to the United States to rescue the princess. Therefore, in "Dragon Horse Spirit", Ma Er Chitu was chosen to complete this tribute journey with him.
This tribute is not only a review of Jackie Chan's personal kung fu comedy, but also a nostalgia for an outdated martial artist, and the transmission of the spirit of the dragon and tiger martial artist. This group of people, writing a suicide note, walked into the camera, betting with their lives on tomorrow. In that era of immature technology, in order to make up for the lack of technology, choose real shooting to bring better results. At present, film and television special effects technology is becoming more and more mature, and they no longer need their hard-working performance methods, but their passion for movies and love for the film industry are worth remembering in this era.
The tribute scene may be impeccable, but for the meaning of the tribute, the film may only stay in the shallow expression of the sacrifice spirit of the dragon and tiger warrior, and the thrilling action is not the whole of the dragon and tiger warrior, more often through Lao Luo's words to summarize, and does not really integrate the spirit of the dragon and tiger warrior into the film.
In the play, Lao Luo is stubborn and can do whatever it takes to film; He is old-fashioned, insisting on his shooting habits for many years and still unchanged, but he seems to have slowly changed his mind in the midst of the changes of the times, saying the phrase "it's hard to jump down, it's harder to walk down", and gave up the last jump on the high platform. Just like the current dragon and tiger martial artists, they are slowly changing.
II. Theme
"Dragon Horse Spirit" as an action comedy that pays tribute to Hong Kong films, there are also some warm and laughing plots, but on the whole, the themes to be expressed are too many and messy, and there is a lack of a clear main line to present these themes. A good drama needs not only good actors, but also a solid script. Themes can be diversified in expression, but only if they can be clearly expressed and resonate with the audience.
The film lacks key plot in the portrayal of many places, resulting in the viewer's emotional disconnection and disconnection of content.
There is no lack of tears in the family relationship line of reconciliation between father Lao Luo and daughter Xiaobao, but there are also big problems.
Lao Luo was deeply involved in a lawsuit, because he couldn't afford a lawyer because of debt, and in desperation found his daughter Xiaobao, who was studying law. The two have not been in touch for a long time, plus in Xiaobao's opinion, his father is a person who does not care about himself, and naturally he will not agree to him. However, at this time, her boyfriend Naihua proposed that his parents meet, and Xiaobao found Lao Luo again, seeing that his life was not easy, so he took the initiative to find Lao Luo and promised him. There is no logical reason for the resolution of the barrier, it is only developed to advance the plot. Such a lack of detailed expression caused a fault in the logic of the actor's behavior, and Xiaobao and Lao Luo did not enter each other's lives step by step under mutual understanding, but were driven by sudden events. When such a lack of foreshadowing storyline is presented in fragments, the emotions between the two are displayed as a kind of affection that stops on the surface.
From how the initial estrangement arose to how the estrangement was resolved, Xiaobao finally accepted his father, and the plots came one after another, stacked together. The audience seems to have no room for self-reflection, but is constantly receiving the information conveyed on the screen.
In contrast, the emotional lines of Lao Luo and Chitu seem to be expressed more clearly. From the time when Chitu was a foal, Lao Luo began to take care of him, and it was Lao Luo's careful care that allowed Chitu to run like a normal horse and even do some difficult movements. Lao Luo and Chitu are also like each other's relatives in their long-term life and companionship. After losing the final lawsuit, Lao Luo had to send Chitu away, and the muddy grass made Chitu's feet slip and couldn't run normally, although he fell again and again, but still ran in the direction where Lao Luo's car drove away.
Overall, "Ryoma Spirit" is more like a spliced unit series, although the content expressed is not too problematic, but when they are combined and placed in the same film, they lack the coherence and consistency of integration and the plot before and after.
Feelings, in the dictionary, mean the state of mind for a certain feeling. Whether it is the action comedy represented by Jackie Chan or the action martial arts at the peak of Hong Kong, it brings the audience not only visual tension, but also the shock brought by their spirit of daring to fight in the series. They also continue to shape the audience's state of mind through one work after another, and form feelings for kung fu films. "Ryoma Spirit" has no shortage of tribute scenes, but it does not reach the display of feelings. The complexity of the theme, the disconnection of the content, and the mistakes in the selection of actors affect the quality of the entire film in many aspects.
Although feelings can be used as a selling point for movie promotion, they cannot always be used as a gimmick for movie promotion selling points. When feelings become a means of trafficking, trust also fades.