The most crucial battle of the summer season is today

The summer file is, of course, explosive. But whether it is a small explosion or a big explosion depends on today's war.

Let's take a look at the summer prequel first.

"Disappearing Her" won a box office of 3.4 billion+, unexpectedly heating up the entire market.

"In the Octagon Cage" followed, with a box office of more than 1.6 billion, and finally 2 billion; "Chang'an 30,000 Li" finally justified the pursuit of light, and in the case of the length of the film against the sky, it still exceeded 800 million with a reputation of 8.2 points, and 1 billion is no longer a problem.

In contrast, Hollywood blockbusters such as "Mission Impossible 7" have all been "cut down" by domestic films.

But the summer seeded player, which is really the most anticipated by the industry, has only officially appeared today.

Of course, it is "The First Part of Fengsheng".

But the evaluation of the movie's audience is full of controversy.

Whether it can explode or not, the decisive factor is whether "Fengsheng" can reverse the audience's magical feelings about domestic magical blockbusters in the past decade.

Prejudice has long blocked the way for the film to seal God.

Even when most people only read the trailer, the quarrel has already begun:

Some people say that "the film is completely transformed, like the Lord of the Rings." ”

Some people say that the casting of the movie is a mess, Daji is not charming, Huang Bo's version of Jiang Ziya is not fairy, and Fei Xiang's version is not powerful.

In short, director Wuershan is doing something.

But after watching the premiere for the first time, I have 2 suggestions for everyone, first of all, be sure to choose an IMAX theater. Such a blockbuster film must be enjoyed by watching it in a top theater. There is also the first Easter egg do not go, there are two more exciting later.

Don't believe it, I share a wave of feedback from netizens -

"Exceeded expectations."

"Looking forward to two or three."

"Domestic military films have Operation Red Sea, domestic sci-fi films have wandering earth, domestic suspense films have heart mazes, and now the field of costume fantasy is also ready to usher in a bull's ear."

To briefly summarize a sentence, those who have seen the screening are basically boasting.

Those who are busy complaining, basically haven't seen the point screening.

But why is the reputation so good, but the criticism is so fierce?

To put it bluntly, the film is paying for the magical performance of domestic magic films in the past decade. The audience's skepticism is not out of thin air, but empirical.

But to ask, what was my first feeling after watching "Fengsheng"? Two words, break the game.

In a word, director Wu Ershan, director Bi Jiu, did something that domestic blockbusters were not good at in the past: making mythical blockbusters that cost a lot of money.

Or simply and rudely: the door of the blockbuster Chinese mythology was kicked open by Wuershan's best efforts.

01, pay for ten years of domestic magic blockbusters, "Feng Shen" is an "unlucky egg"

From the first seminar of "Fengshen " in 2014 to its release in the summer of 2023, nine years.

Why Does It Take So Long?

Because Wuershan picked the most difficult bowl of rice.

Originally, there would not have been a Fengshen trilogy, but back then he wanted to see a Chinese mythological epic movie, and no one made it, so he made it himself.

Others just think about it. But, this man is Urshan.

The hottest young commercial film director in China that year.

"Painted Skin 2" sold 700 million in 2012, proving his ability to control magical blockbusters;

In 2015, "Finding the Dragon" won 1.6 billion box office, not only ranking third at the box office that year, but also the ceiling of the IP adaptation of "Ghost Blowing Lights".

Wu Ershan is an ambitious, capable, understand what the audience wants to see and can shoot a director, in 2015 he was in the limelight just finished filming a popular work, if he took the limelight to shoot "Dragon Hunting" 234, or shoot other blockbuster types, it is not a dream to become a box office director of tens of billions before Chen Sicheng.

But he chose "Feng Shen" and worked for nine years.

Who would have thought that in nine years, the market environment would be turned upside down.

When the filming of "Fengshen " began, it was the best time for domestic magic blockbusters, "Finding the Dragon" was sold, a large amount of hot money poured into the market, and because of chance, "Fengshen " became one of the most ambitious projects in the history of domestic films.

Legend has it that 3 billion yuan was invested only to create a trilogy.

a huge crew of more than 8,000 people participating at the same time;

The cast is gorgeous, Fei Xiang, Li Xuejian, Huang Bo, Yuan Quan, Xia Yu, Chen Kun...

Detailed preparations: China lacks actors who can ride horses, so train a group of actors who can ride horses.

Production spares no cost: more than 20 provinces to shoot, tens of thousands of square meters of studio construction.

In a word, the "banknote ability" of domestic films was brought to the extreme.

But in January 2020, when "Fengshen ended" and turned to post-production, the epidemic suddenly broke out.

No one could have imagined that the Chinese film market would usher in several turns in the future.

Domestic entertainment once entered the cold winter period, the market declined, investment broke, the audience did not come out, only waited.

What's worse, during this period, various "oriental magic blockbusters" appeared one after another, consuming the few trust of the audience.

In the eyes of many people, magic blockbusters ≈ bad movies.

Although the market after the epidemic has gradually recovered, it has never returned to its original state.

But the play that should be sung, always sung.

Heaven and earth work together, and heroes are not free.

The good times of Chinese films made it catch up, but in recent years, the bad problems and the stereotypes of the audience have made Wuershan and his "son" catch up.

You say, is the movie a "bad luck"?

For director Wu Ershan, to create the mythological epic of Chinese films themselves, the first thing is to let audiences who have lost their appetites in magical blockbusters re-enter the theater.

But this can actually be said the other way around: whether the audience can be re-entered into the theater depends first on whether Wuershan has really made a domestic mythological blockbuster.

But it's not easy.

02, "mythological blockbusters" are not easy to shoot, and "God Sealing List" is even more difficult to shoot

This time, Wuer Shantou Iron shot a particularly tricky subject.

As we all know, the original story of "Romance of the Gods" belongs to the "Immortal Smash Bros".

The author Xu Zhonglin takes "King Wu" as the background of the story, and uses the form of "list of gods" to integrate the myths and legends and classic gods and demons circulated by the people during the Ming Dynasty into it, and build a huge mythological genealogy.

The imagination is amazing, but when it is really written, it is inevitable that it will be missed.

The past few adaptations have actually lost more than victory.

However, the trilogy directed by Wuershan must be adapted for release.

In the end, the film is based on "Romance of the Gods" and the Song Yuan script "King Wu Fa Ping Dialect", and is divided into three stories: "Song of the Dynasty", "Battle of the Demon Road", and "Sealing the World of Gods".

But there are still a lot of questions, there are always people who say how to dress like this in the movie, respect history?

But "Feng Shen" is a mythological blockbuster.

What did the people of the Shang Dynasty wear, what kind of shape did this group of gods and demons look like, what should Daji look like...

How is it possible to follow history all?

A "Romance of the Gods", each played in later generations, can we say who is right and who is wrong?

Hard.

How to balance the real and the unreal.

The answer is to extract elements from history that are familiar to the audience, and to satisfy the audience's curiosity with a wild imagination.

It is necessary to use top-notch visual effects technology, but also to draw a line with the Hollywood, European and American styles familiar to the audience.

In a word, "Immortal Smash Bros." sounds like a very lively concept, and it is likely to be absurd when filmed.

After all, there are too many magical blockbusters that have failed in the past.

But Urshan wants to give it a try.

Not only to shoot, but also to shoot the pattern, to shoot the grandeur of domestic mythological blockbusters.

First of all, if it is testable, then do it realistically.

The film set and service road refer to a large number of real unearthed Yin Shang historical relics, as close to the era as possible.

In the director's words: comparable to cultural relics.

For example, Nezha is fictional, but the lotus shape on Nezha Qiankun's circle is taken from the Shang Zhou pattern.

Each of the main characters in the film, King Shang, Daji, Xibohou, Bigan, Jifa, Yin Jiao... Whether it is the costume shape of the characters, or the utensils they use every day, the bowls they eat, the cups they drink, or the blades they fight, try to find the source.

Also, the historical atmosphere of mythical blockbusters.

Yin Shang Shangwu.

So let young actors spend a lot of time exercising, shaping muscle lines, training horsemanship from scratch, learning to ride horses, and learning to move right away.

Yin Shang has unique music and aesthetics.

He asked someone to restore and arrange a set of "Heavenly Destiny Xuanxiao" Yin Shang epic ceremony, reproducing the grandeur and heaviness of a dynasty.

At the end of the day, myths and stories are false, but traditional culture is true.

The so-called domestic mythological blockbuster, spending so much money, is not to show up, but to build a story logic that comes from real history and can also make the audience believe.

The most difficult thing about mythological blockbusters is not to make the audience happy, but to make the audience believe.

03. This time, Urshan did it

In the end, judging from the reaction of the audience at the end of the film and the screening, a story that was not easy to shoot, an impossible task, and a mythological epic was filmed by Wuershan.

The film first succeeds in choosing the right protagonist.

The film did not choose Jiang Ziya, the protagonist of the traditional God Sealing List, as the protagonist of the first part, but chose King Yin Shou and King Wu Jifa as the protagonists of the first part.

What's so good about this change?

Fortunately, the angle of the story was innovated at the beginning.

It is not to tell the story from the perspective of the winner, but to take the audience to truly appreciate the core contradiction of this "Fengshen "- the "co-master of the world" and the conflict between father and son.

Although Yin Shou is brave and martial, he has a tyrannical temperament, and he has joined forces with the fox demon to kill his brother and father, and it is not enough to get the throne, but also to eradicate the four great princes of the east, west, south and north, and even let their son do it.

And Ji Fa, who recognized Yin Shou as his righteous father as the prince "Proton", was the son of King Wen Ji Chang.

Ji Fa is defined as "Hamlet" by the director in the movie, and the entire movie is also a history of Ji Fa's growth.

At the same time, Jiang Ziya went down the mountain with the list of gods to find the co-lord of the world, but the first part was more of a supporting role as an auxiliary.

The most surprising thing for me is also here, although I came for special effects like many audiences, I didn't expect that the adapted story was actually very good, and the further I looked at it, the more intense the drama was.

For example, the king of Jun in the original work has always been led by Su Daji by the nose.

In "Feng Shen", King Feng is closer to the historical King of Fen, a king with great martial arts, how can he just be seduced by fox demons to self-destruct?

Yin Shou in the film after appreciating the magical demon power of the fox demon Su Daji, with the help of Su Daji, killed his father and killed his brother, and father and son killed each other. But his nature is like this, whether there is a fox demon or not, the king is the king of the fox.

At the same time, step by step, he also inadvertently forced Ji Fa, who was originally loyal to him, onto the road of returning to his hometown and anti-business.

The further back you look, the more complete the story of the movie and the more flavorful the characters.

And the protagonist stands, and the film stands.

Secondly, the actors' acting skills are collectively wonderful, Li Xuejian reproduces the actor-level acting skills, Huang Bo exceeds expectations, and the young actors are not bad.

The best scene played by Li Xuejian is the most controversial "King Wen's Meat Eater".

In the novel, Ji Changbu discovers that the meatloaf is made of his son's meat, but he still endures the pain to eat it to eliminate King Jun's suspicion of him.

The story is very dramatic, but in fact, it does not fit the character of King Wen at all, King Wen is Renjun, not Qixiong, how can he calmly eat his son's meat?

When Ji Chang in the movie eats meatloaf, he doesn't know that it is his son's meat.

After learning the truth, he completely collapsed, lying on the ground and crying. Li Xuejian safely played his acting skills in this paragraph, especially the scene where he carefully wiped off the straw on the meatloaf and put his son's meat back in the bowl at the end, which is even more moving.

Li Xuejian played too well, he completely performed the tragic temperament of King Zhou Wenwang, whether it was stoicism or despair and pain, it was empathetic, although the voice was slightly affected, but the shock brought by the moment of emotional outburst was enough to move people.

Huang Bo's performance is also far better than what netizens complained about before.

Audiences who have seen the Blue Sky Ye version will preconceive that Huang Bo does not have the slightest fairy wind Dao bone on his body.

But Jiang Ziya in the original work is an ordinary person, not a god, so he was beaten by his wife until he was old.

In the movie, Jiang Ziya gave up immortality and 40 years of mana in order to go down the mountain, and did such a big thing as finding the co-master of the world. It is equivalent to the boss giving a super difficult KPI, and there are no conditions.

Which immortal would be so unlucky?

Therefore, the white-haired Jiang Ziya played by Huang Bo is the most suitable version of the movie.

He also did play the characters well, and the humor was a little playful, adding a lot of laughter to the film in addition to the tension and depression.

As for Fei Xiang, which audience who has seen the screening will think that he plays the aura of a weak scholar?

In the film, Fei Xiang is one meter ninety-one meters tall, broad shoulders and long hands, as the original book wrote, "excellent material strength, fierce beasts", when standing with several other young actors, my eyes did not notice others at all.

That kind of aura that gives up others is even more domineering, watching the movie I can fully understand that Yin Fa was loyal to him, and Daji really loves him.

Fei Xiang is so charming, who looks at such a king head is not confused?

Na Ran's Daji is also really beautiful and beautiful in the main film, and has a fox-like unique fox attitude, which may be different from the original work, but it is another version of Su Daji.

Third, the film shot momentum in the special effects scene.

A large part of the audience's expectations for "Feng Shen" before lies in what kind of magnificent scene it will present, including the fighting methods of the two camps.

Although the scene of the immortal war has not yet appeared in the first part, all kinds of fairy arts, magic weapons, and exotic beasts have appeared in turn, flying into the sky, and the fantasy is gorgeous...

At present, the special effects are relatively bad, the part of Kunlun Mountain Wonderland, especially the dragon under the Yuan Shi Tianzun seat played by Chen Kun.

The wonderful thing is Nezha's Hot Wheel, and the stone beast that came to life at the end was driven by Shengong Leopard's spell,

There is also a passage where Lei Zhenzi saves Ji Chang.

From the visual presentation, the two big scenes before and after the film have reached the top level of domestic mythological blockbusters.

Especially in the opening scene, Yin Shou leads the Yin Shang army to attack the city of Jizhou, the ice field is blazing, the sky is raining arrows, the war horses are galloping, and the blood and fire are fighting.

There is a sense of déjà vu of the desperate Great Wall battle in "Game of Thrones".

Whether it is the use of special effects, scene scheduling or sound effects, they are worthy of the name of mythological blockbusters.

And after Ji Fa fell off the cliff, he returned to Xiqi by the sunset, and the scenery along the way was magnificent, making people feel refreshed, it was really a strong man who returned home, full of oriental classical romanticism.

It can be said that the oriental charm in the special effects scene has completely distinguished the film from Hollywood visual blockbusters, and the shocking effect of the film is undoubtedly a city for the domestic magic blockbusters that have been pulled across in the past few years.

04, whether there are two or three films, it depends on whether "The First Part of Fengshen " can win back the reputation of mythological blockbusters

Of course, the film will inevitably encounter controversy.

In particular, the movie has made certain adaptations and integrations for the first 30 times of the original work.

For example, classic passages such as "Daji Woe to the Government" and "Bigan's Heart" have been adapted.

In the film, in order to expose Su Daji's true face, Bi Gan voluntarily cut his chest and took out the seven tricks of exquisite heart, forcing Su Daji to eat it, so that he showed his fox demon nature.

But instead of killing the nine-tailed fox, King Shun said that she was "Xiangrui".

The original plot of Empress Jiang being tortured to death by eye-cutting was also changed to wanting to assassinate Su Daji and being counter-killed.

There will definitely be audiences who insist that shooting according to the original work is a classic, but "Feng Shen" is constantly evolving.

It does not have a standard template and cannot have a standard template. Different era aesthetics will give birth to different "Fengshen "Fengsheng".

Judging from the story, the "Song of the Dynasty" in the first part is only the prologue of the grand story of the trilogy.

In the Easter egg, Wu Zhiguo's Emperor Wen Zhong appeared, he mounted Mo Qilin, followed by the four generals of the Demon Family and Deng Cicada Yu.

The appearance of the four heavenly kings is cool and shocking.

There is no doubt that the next "Battle of the Demon Road" is the god and demon battle between Ji Fa, Jiang Ziya, Wen Zhong and Shen Gongbao, and the big drama is behind.

The story of the first part has established a mythological world of Shang Zhou, and also established the dramatic conflict between King Yin Shou and King Wu Jifa, the story starts and turns wonderfully, the characters are full, and the special effects are also above the level, no matter what angle, it is enough to counter many inexplicable Internet doubts before.

But in the face of the rumored huge investment of 3 billion in the trilogy, "The First Part of Fengshen " must at least reach 3 billion at the box office to be considered capital preservation.

Only when "The First Part of Fengshen recovers" will there be a second or third part.

Putting the perspective a little farther away, the success or failure of the "Fengsheng" trilogy has long been more than just a movie.

When the "The Wandering Earth" series, it has defined the ceiling of China's science fiction film heavy industry.

The success or failure of "Feng Shen" has been closely linked to the fate of Chinese mythological blockbusters.

Eastern mythology = burning money bad films?

Don't rush to question, don't rush to deny.

Regardless of the success or failure of "Fengsheng", it definitely deserves to be seen.

To boast or to scold, after watching the movie, and then make a decision.