6 years ago, Wang Baoqiang won the Golden Broom with his amazing directing talent and became a man on a par with Bi Zhifei, which can be said to be the peak of his debut.
After 6 years of precipitation, Baoqiang seems to have a lot of Buddhism, and the second work "In the Octagon Cage" obviously no longer has the hope of impacting the golden broom.
Many directors will choose to shoot their own experiences in their first works, or the things they are most familiar with, and Wang Baoqiang did not begin to do this until the second part.
"In the Octagon Cage" is based on the Liangshan Fighting Orphan Incident, in which the children in the mountains go to the public, which is somewhat similar to his experience, of course, he still has more choices than the children in the mountains, and he is more active.
In the film, director Li Yanglai was specially invited to make a cameo appearance. 20 years ago, Wang Baoqiang had a character in his "Blind Well" that was not a dragon set.
From "Big Trouble" to "In the Octagon Cage", the span is very large, and it is not clear whether the behind-the-scenes team has changed significantly, but at least it reflects Wang Baoqiang's route choice.
"In the Octagon Cage" is indeed better than "Big Trouble". But since Director Wang personally went to receive the golden broom, it shows that he values the opinions of the audience. So as an ordinary viewer who has bought tickets, I will also make some immature small opinions.
The first is the problem of dialects, which are originally a good choice, more suitable for the prototype, and more realistic. But it always feels weird to execute. I can also hear the same word as a Cantonese, and Wang Baoqiang has two pronunciations.
For example, sometimes it is "grid (gie) dou", sometimes it is "grid (ge) dou". Of course, the issue of whether it is standard or not, Sichuanese people have more right to speak, for me this is just a small flaw, not yet to the level of disaster.
In addition, in terms of performance, I personally think that the performance of small actors is better than that of large actors. In addition to talent, pre-preparation and on-site tuning are also essential, and it is necessary to obtain the absolute trust of young actors to allow them to realize their talent.
The first appearance of the two main characters after growing up was in the airport pick-up section, and the two played with Xiang Tenghui in the car, and the performance traces were a little heavier, but they were not as natural as the young actors.
Then there's the structural problem, and there's a sense of fragmentation throughout the film. Probably because the film is mixed with many different genre elements. For example, the beginning is a sports theme similar to "Shaolin Football".
The characters are also a bit similar, "Shaolin Football" is a golden right-footed match-fixing and was abolished, and then became a coach, "In the Octagon Cage" is Xiang Tenghui was tricked into taking banned drugs, and then went to jail for hitting the coach, and then also became a coach.
It's all a person who has a highlight moment and then falls to guide the new generation. In the past six years, Wang Baoqiang has collaborated with Stephen Chow in "The New King of Comedy", and may have learned a lot from Xingye.
After the team was completed, there was a long period in between, and the film turned to the social theme of "I Am Not the God of Medicine". Xiang Tenghui is simply Cheng Yong, doing things that are not so bright, but at the same time can improve the lives of children.
This is obviously for high word of mouth. The box office performance of "Big Trouble" is actually not bad, mainly in word of mouth. Wang Baoqiang tried to do something in word of mouth, whether successful or not, this attitude is more correct than some rotten directors who can make money.
But one yard to one yard, I personally think that the performance of this film on social issues is still lacking in fire, and the positive rendering of the character of Xiang Tenhui is a bit much.
This may be where the reality of the genre clashes with the type of business. The film not only wants to portray Xiang Tenghui as a controversial character, but also fears that the protagonist will not please the audience, so he dare not let him cross the line too much.
Of course, there is still a review level to pass. In the end, the character of Xiang Tenhui is basically a good guy pretending to be a bad person. The depth of discussion is more limited.
What is lacking is the performance method of the main creator. The handling of a realistic theme is not calm enough, and the sensationalism is a little too much, and the idea of Lu Yuchuan Opera Troupe is actually not bad.
But before that, it is still necessary to arrange for Wang Feng to say the keyword "change face", and then they will appear again, making this paragraph more deliberate.
Next, Xiang Tenhui participated in the interview program, the motive was actually not very clear, after this period, there should have been a bigger climax, but the result was not.
Su Mu went to the prison to watch sloppy, and used the lines to tell the high-energy plot again, this effect is actually not much different from direct subtitles.
I don't know if the main creator also felt that it was difficult to end without high energy, so he added another Su Mu fight ring. In this way, the film changed from a social theme back to a sports theme, and it was separated again.
Let's Wrestle! Dad" Although I don't agree with the concept very much, the screenwriter has always done the plot around the relationship between the characters of father and daughter, and it is logical to push it to a climax through the competition,
A large part of "In the Octagon Cage" is actually about Xiang Tenghui's relationship with society. His relationship with the child is only auxiliary. So the final ring can only play a seditious role.
Although black and white tones are used, the sound effects of bone friction are also done in detail, and it looks very stylized, but this stylization is only for incitement.
The final is not closely related to the middle section. It belongs to the sudden starting style, and the subtitles will be released after the end. The entire third act is a total collapse, both in structure and rhythm.
Finally, compared with the previous work, "In the Octagon" has been greatly improved, Wang Baoqiang's directorial career has just begun, and it is currently in the exploration stage.
I personally hope to see him continue to explore in the direction of "Octagon Cage" in the future, as for Tianzhu or something, don't make trouble.
And with the current box office growth trend of "Octagon Cage", the final result should not be worse than the previous work. Wang Baoqiang, who took the gold broom, has begun to bottom out, and now the pressure is on Bi Zhifei's side.