Time Contributor | Fumi Minamino
Cult movie gluttony.
Not long after the popularity of "Fast Pursuit 4", Netflix's new work "Shocking Rescue 2" took over the throne of action movies, and even in the eyes of some fans, the latter is better in the smoothness and vigor of action scenes. The actor Taylor Rick will replace John Wick and become a new generation of "God Killers".
"Shocking Rescue 2"
Although this conclusion is still premature, the number of views and popularity of "Shocking Rescue 2" on Netflix cannot be underestimated, with a freshness rating of 78% on Rotten Tomatoes, with an average score of 6.6, which is better than the first word-of-mouth.
The mercenary played by "Hammer Brother" Chris Hemsworth in this film has a world-weary roughness, and he is different from the killer played by Keanu Reeves, walking in decency and coolness.
When the old generation of "God Killers" is about to retire, people naturally look forward to the new generation of "God Killers" dominating the big screen.
Fight for the son
The story of "Shocking Rescue 2" follows the end of the first part.
The main plot of the first part tells the story of Taylor Rick, an Australian mercenary who temporarily takes over the work, and has to go to a gangster's lair in India to rescue the son of a drug lord. In the process of the operation, although there was also the betrayal of his former friends and the intervention of third-party forces, Rick finally rescued the drug lord's son without money and only for mercy.
Of course, at the end of the film, Rick also fell into the river with serious injuries and almost died.
So, at the beginning of "Shocking Rescue 2", Rick's teammate Nicole dragged him out of the ghost door and settled in a wild wooden house in Austria, intending to let Rick retire and live a leisurely life.
Rick went through this, Ben did not want to muddy the waters, helpless to find him to help is his ex-wife, and in urgent need of rescue are his former sister-in-law and two children.
Similar to the plot structure of the first film, the main mission of "Shocking Rescue 2" is still that the male protagonist needs to go to a prison in Georgia to perform rescue. In the first part, the drug lord's son is more similar to a psychotherapist, who evokes Rick's guilt for his deceased beloved son and releases Rick's long-suppressed pain. But in the second part, Rick's nephew Sandro, although he also evokes his sad memories of the past, is more of a provocation of dramatic conflict.
Sandro grew up in the evil gang of his father and uncle, and gradually lost his heart, even when he heard his father punch and kick his mother. Especially after learning that his mother and Rick had killed his father, Sandro became hostile, not only revealing his location to his uncle, but also eventually returning to the latter.
It can be said that the story of "Shocking Rescue 2" actually tells the grudge between Rick and his ex-wife's family.
But compared to the length of the first part, the sequel has been further cut, which is of course to promote the strengths and avoid the weaknesses, so that the audience can see more weighty action scenes.
It is worth mentioning that Nicole, played by Gershfi Farahani, has appeared in more scenes this time and undertakes more exciting fighting scenes, not dispensable like in the first part.
The performance and charm of this Iranian beauty are no less than Brother Hammer, which has become a major attraction of this film.
Make long shots longer!
Since it is an action movie, Time Jun will carefully analyze the action design and fight scenes of "Shocking Rescue 2".
Many people are impressed by the first one, because more than half an hour after its opening, Rick staged a long-shot action scene that lasted more than ten minutes in the process of rescuing the drug lord's son. Car chases in Indian city alleys, hiding and dodging between residential buildings, and the use of blind spots to cause sudden encounters all make this scene the best in the whole film.
The most representative of the shooting method of capturing action scenes with long shots emerged after the new century is the Indonesian action film "Raid 2", and later David Leitch also introduced this technique into his "Extremely Cold City". You know, even the pseudo-long shots caused by special editing are made up of several long shots that are extremely difficult. Under this visual effect, we naturally follow the protagonist's perspective, rushing left and right in the chaotic and dangerous Longtan Tiger's Den, as if on the scene, feeling the tension and panic in the character's heart.
In "Shocking Rescue 2", as the toy alarms all the prisoners and causes a riot, the length of the long shot doubles from the first part, reaching more than twenty minutes.
Among them, Rick single-handedly escorted his sister-in-law's family of three, against hundreds of prisoners and prison guards; There is also a car chase scene that highlights the encirclement, the camera moves silky inside and outside the car, and as the viewpoint floats, you can see the fighting and danger of the two warring sides. Of course, layer by layer to the end, there was even a scene where Rick stood on top of the train, holding a heavy machine gun and destroying the helicopter, which was extremely hot.
It is said that whether it was in a prison fight, Rick's arm was on fire, making a stunning "fire fist", or the thrilling scene of destroying a helicopter, CG special effects were not used, but real shots.
Compared with those A-grade blockbusters, which often use fast editing to cover up the actors' lack of level in the fight bridges, or use CG effects to complete those monotonous and uncreative action scenes, "Shocking Rescue 2" does an excellent job at this level.
And in the second action scene, director Sam Hargrave is undoubtedly "stealing" from the idol Jackie Chan.
In a series of action scenes in the gym of the building, Rick first kicks the barbell equipment, making his opponent whimper; After that, he used the rope on the gantry to tighten the opponent's neck and hit the opponent hard with pulling force. Finally, he did not forget to use the speeding running belt on the treadmill as a weapon in the fight, causing the opponent to fall and be seriously injured.
A little familiar with Jackie Chan's classic action movies of the 80s and 90s, it is not difficult to find that these action designs are similar to the bridges in "Plan A" and "Red Fan District". It's just that Hargrave is different from Jackie Chan, the latter uses the contrast of daily props to create humorous jokes, while the former mixes blood through the sense of danger of conventional equipment.
The third and climactic action scene, although the scene arrangement and action effect are not as good as the first two, but with the ruined church as the decisive battle, coupled with the grudge between Rick, Sandro and the villain, it can't help but remind people of John Woo's "Two Heroes of Blood". To some extent, this is also a tribute to Hong Kong action films.
"Dragon and Tiger Warriors" New Wave?
After watching "Shocking Rescue 2", many people compare it with the "Fast Pursuit" series, on the one hand, because both are action movies with high "content", and on the other hand, because the setting of the protagonist has a decadent and tragic side.
But in Time's view, their more important similarity is their respective directors - both are transformed from action stuntmen.
Whether it is David Leitch and Chad Stahsky, the director of the "Fast Pursuit" series, or Sam Hargrave, the director of the "Shocking Rescue" series, their early film careers served as action stand-ins for Brad Pitt, Keanu Reeves or Chris Evans on the set, and then gradually rose to the position of action director.
This is quite similar to the Hong Kong film industry in the late seventies.
At that time, Liu Jialiang ran away from Zhang Che's team and directed out "The Thirty-Six Rooms of Shaolin"; Sammo Hung was promoted from Wuzhi under Huang Feng to director and filmed "Miscellaneous Boy". Yuan Heping became famous in the film world with "Serpentine Executioner", and Jackie Chan became famous for "Junior Brother Out of the Horse", but both were dragon and tiger martial artists who used as stand-ins for others.
This "big four" class later became half of the Hong Kong film industry in the 80s, concocting a large number of classic action movies. Leitch, Stachsky and Hargrave and others, although compared with their idols, are far behind, but with the successive success of films such as "Bullet Train", "Fast Pursuit" and "Shocking Rescue", kung fu movie fans are still full of expectations for them.
Among them, Leitch's "Extremely Cold City" and "Bullet Train" tend to be comic book style, but they draw on the elements of previous excellent films in terms of action.
The "Fast Pursuit" series is full of Hong Kong martial arts flavor, not only the masculinity and morality of Zhang Che's martial arts films, but also the beauty and charm of Chu Yuan's martial arts films. Furthermore, Stachsky admired classical formal beauty and wanted to create a sense of danger in order.
The "Shocking Rescue" series is more like the hybrid style of Jackie Chan superimposing Donnie Yen, director Hargrave appreciates Jackie Chan's ingenuity and smoothness in action design, but obviously "steals the master" in modern fighting films such as "The Fuse" and "Kill the Wolf", so that the protagonist Rick has a ruthless and fierce skill and a fragile inner world.
This stylistic distinction is a good thing for fans. This means that these three creators have no intention of being lazy and perfunctory, and they are eager to break the shackles of Hollywood's current action movies and open up their own new paths.
Perhaps these movies are discounted compared to "Plan A", "The Fuse" and "The Raid", but at the very least, action movies are still thriving. -END-
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