As soon as 2024 begins, domestic movies will have a big overturn.
That's right, it's "If It's True, Do Not Disturb 3".
Not only is word-of-mouth hitting the streets, but the box office is even more mushy to the center of the earth.
In fact, this is not the first time Feng Xiaogang has failed.
Since being involved in Fan Bingbing's tax evasion scandal in 2018, "Mobile Phone 2" has been completely aborted.
In the past five years, he seems to have suffered a heavy blow, and he has lost his vitality from his creativity to his daily state.
From movies to TV series, the car has been overturned one after another.
Even in the face of media interviews, the little steel cannon has become "cowardly".
And this new film, even to the point that almost no one cares.
Many people sighed because of this-
"Feng Xiaogang has been abandoned by the times"
Today, let's also talk about why Feng's comedy is not "happy"-
Do Not Disturb 3
The overturn of "Do Not Disturb 3" is not just a horizontal comparison of the same file.
What's more, the value of this IP itself has plunged.
At the end of 2008, not long after the release of "If You Are Honest, Do Not Disturb", it received a box office of 340 million.
This number doesn't seem like much now, but the total box office of movies in the country that year was only more than 4 billion.
And the box office champion of the year is "If You Are Honest, Do Not Disturb".
Two years later, "If You Are the Truth, Do Not Disturb 2" became a hit again, winning 470 million at the box office.
beat "Inception" that year and won the fourth place at the annual box office.
As the third installment in the series, "Do Not Disturb 3" also continues the style and theme of the first two parts.
*Spoilers included below*
The protagonists of the story are, of course, Qin Fen (played by Ge You) and Liang Xiaoxiao (played by Shu Qi).
It's just that because Xiaoxiao joined a global environmental organization, the two haven't seen each other for 10 years.
In the past 10 years, Xiaoxiao has always contacted Qin Fen unilaterally, and only in the way of postcards.
In 2031, artificial intelligence has advanced to the point where it can be faked and real.
Lao Fan (played by Fan Wei) has also become the owner of a technology company that develops artificial intelligence.
As a friend for many years, Lao Fan gave Qin Fen a gift before his 70th birthday: AI Xiaoxiao.
In order to relieve Qin Fen's lovesickness.
Because the AI smile is too considerate and obedient, it always makes Qin Fen feel that something is wrong.
So he found Lao Fan and put forward suggestions for adjustment.
The upgraded AI smiled and completely met Qin Fen's needs.
In terms of personality, it is the same as the real smile, and in life, it is more considerate and gentle than the real smile.
Qin Fen and AI Xiaoxiao are getting better and better, and he has also regained his enthusiasm for life.
Until one day, Zhen Xiaoxiao suddenly returned, and the life of two people was no longer peaceful after becoming three people.
It stands to reason that between his lover who has been thinking about him for ten years and the dummy of artificial intelligence, how Qin Fen should choose is not a difficult problem.
But the sense of alienation brought about by ten years of parting, and under the contrast of feelings generated by long-term companionship, Qin Fen was in a dilemma.
What's even worse is that Qin Fen realized that the real smile may be a fake smile, and the fake smile may be the real smile.
It is impossible to distinguish between the true and the false.
It can be seen that "If You Are the Truth, Do Not Disturb 3" is still the mode of Feng's comedy.
Ge You is still a serious poor amusement.
Moreover, you can also clearly feel Feng Xiaogang's efforts (or reluctance) to cater to the current market.
For example, the near-future background setting of the explosion of technology, the visual style of the most popular dopamine color last year, and the use of traffic actors......
It's a pity that the final result is that new and old audiences are not willing to buy it.
As of now, the box office of "If You Are the Truth, Do Not Disturb 3" has just exceeded 60 million.
If you want to ask, why did "If You Are Honest Do Not Disturb 3" fight so badly?
In my opinion, first of all, times have changed, and so have the audience.
In fact, although the first two "If You Are Honest, Do Not Disturb" did well at the box office, their word-of-mouth was also very average.
Not to mention the peak of Feng Xiaogang's career.
Back then, Feng Xiaogang was able to suddenly rise and dominate the mainland for more than ten years.
The background of the times is one of the most important driving forces.
The mainland film market in the early 90s can only be described as sluggish.
The Hollywood movie "The End of the World", which was introduced in 1994, gave a heavy blow to domestic films.
Although the film was only released in 6 cities, it easily won 25 million at the box office.
After that, more Hollywood blockbusters were introduced into the country.
At the same time, Hong Kong films have also begun to occupy a place in the mainland.
As a result, mainland local films have been squeezed to the point that they have almost lost their living space.
It was in this context that Feng Xiaogang gave it a go.
In 1997, Zhang Heping, the general manager of Forbidden City Pictures, decided to invest in Feng Xiaogang's "Party A and Party B".
But the premise is that Feng Xiaogang can't get paid, so he can only divide the account.
In other words, if the box office is not good, Feng Xiaogang will do it for nothing.
But unexpectedly, "Party A and Party B" became popular all of a sudden.
The cost of 3 million in exchange for a box office of 36 million.
Fung's comedy has changed the "top-down" decent atmosphere of previous domestic films.
With a cynical "citizen film" and Beijing, a very representative cultural symbol, it has injected a new breath into domestic films.
This immediately poked the hearts of the audience, and also filled the public's thirst for domestic comedy.
But at the moment, domestic films are by no means the ones they were able to be bullied back then.
The bigger and bigger the market plate, the richer and richer movie genres are made, so that Feng's comedy is no longer a special one.
In the category of comedy alone, Feng Xiaogang is no longer the sole proponent of the overall situation.
And the "citizen" audience that Feng Xiaogang faced at the beginning has also been updated.
The younger and younger audience and the wider and wider audience range have made the distance between Feng Xiaogang and him farther and farther.
Not to mention, "Beijing culture" is no longer a new taste.
But Feng Xiaogang has always remained the same.
Even in 2031, jokes still make fun of regional culture and gender differences.
It is full of stereotypes about sexual minorities.
The core of the story is still full of daddy perspectives, telling how an old man has the perfect wife.
Even if you give Uncle Ge and Lao Fan a complete set of dopamine outfits.
They say and do the same things they used to do.
It's no wonder that netizens said that "If You Are Honest Do Not Disturb 3" has an "old manly taste".
After all, who wants to see an old man fall in love with a beautiful woman now?
In fact, it is normal for a generation to be left behind.
Many fifth-generation directors have been said to be "outdated" in the past two years.
It's just that for Feng Xiaogang, it would be biased to completely throw his failure to the changes of the times and the audience.
In the final analysis, it was Feng Xiaogang himself who made Feng's comedy fail.
If you want to talk about why the previous Feng's comedies are good-looking.
I think it's because, behind those paragraphs, what is connected is the pain points in the hearts of ordinary people in the changes and turns of the times.
is like "Party A and Party B", whether it is a lovelorn young man who longs for the love of Princess Ayitula, or Boss You who wants to experience a poor life.
The absurd but warm stories that happened to them actually focus on the psychology of people gradually becoming empty in the rapid development of the city.
It's like all kinds of outrageous and bizarre comedy scenes in "Big Names".
In fact, standing at the moment of the rise of consumerism, a satire on the cultural market that is flooded with piracy and fame and fortune.
Speaking of which, I have to mention a classic clip in "Party A and Party B".
The New Year is approaching, and everyone from the Good Dream Day Tour Company gathers together to imagine all kinds of beautiful ideas for the upcoming future.
At this time, the technician played by Yang Lixin brought sad news.
At that moment, all the previous laughter, scolding, ridicule and poverty turned into an inexplicable force, pushing the audience to achieve an emotional resonance.
The bottom public was once Feng Xiaogang's roots.
But I don't know when Feng Xiaogang has drifted away from the public.
In fact, the first "If You Are Honest, Do Not Disturb" is no longer as good as his previous comedy works.
However, at least it retains a hint of "civic comedy".
And now, the so-called "citizen" in Feng Xiaogang's story has become an extremely self-contained and suspended imagination in his heart.
Not to mention the "Private Custom" that is a clumsy imitation of "Party A and Party B".
Let's talk about the TV series that Feng Xiaogang has filmed in the past two years.
What was once a crowded room full of fireworks has been transformed into a spacious mansion full of mansions.
All the poor mouths in the story are no longer the self-deprecation and ridicule of ordinary people from real life experiences.
It is the self-pity and pretentious literature of the high-ranking "cloud people".
This problem is especially obvious in "Do Not Disturb 3".
The pain point of the times of modern people's "love incompetence" is undoubtedly the core of what this film wants to explore.
But using the long-term relationship between Qin Fen and Liang Xiaoxiao to benchmark the current concept of love is completely misplaced.
Because for people today, the pain points of love are specific and realistic.
House, car, job, hukou...... Everything is the weight that hurts them and makes them powerless to love.
But Qin Fen and Liang Xiaoxiao are completely metaphysical love.
These middle-aged and elderly people who have money and leisure are tired of playing.
After experiencing his own irreversible aging, he began to look back suddenly, praising the love that never gave up and was close to each other.
Of course, I don't mean to deny the emotional needs of the elderly.
Just because this film is not a "down-to-earth" love scene for the elderly, but more like the lust of a rich old man entering his old age.
There is a line in the movie that impresses Uncle Yu:
He is an old artist who is immersed in the sunset of a bygone era and is reluctant to come out.
This "he" is Feng Xiaogang himself.
It's not so much that "If You Are Honest Do Not Disturb 3" is a farewell work.
Rather, it is more like an empty self-retention by Feng Xiaogang.
Immersed in the illusion of the past, unwilling to come out, self-moved, self-pity, self-tribute.
After all, 1997 has been a long time coming.
The audience can relive that classic story over and over again.
But creators can't always shrink into their past glory and stagnate.