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Text: A K
豆瓣5.9分,烂番茄33%,IMDb 5.3分,CinemaScore给出漫改史低的D级;
After 10 days of release in North America, the box office just exceeded 50 million US dollars, far lower than the previous work, and the loss was a foregone conclusion
Both at the box office and word of mouth, Todd · Phillips, starring Joaquin· Phoenix and Lady Gaga, "Joker 2: Double Delusion" fell far short of expectations.
12 days after its release in North America, mainland audiences have finally waited for this long-awaited sequel.
Although there are gimmicks such as "minors watch movies cautiously" and "super British big IP", the film still performs mediocre, with less than 10 million on the first day (Wednesday), and the total box office is expected to be around 70 million, and the Douban score has also failed, continuing the overall decline.
Thinking back to 5 years ago, the first part of "Joker" was born, which won numerous awards, and received both word-of-mouth and box office.
The sequel 5 years later, the original cast and higher production costs cannot replicate the glory of the past.
Why did "Joker 2: Double Delusion" fail to satisfy most viewers? How difficult is it to make a sequel to "Masterpiece"?
PART
01 "Explosive Change" clowns, the audience doesn't buy it
The sequel to the god fell from the altar?
"I don't know what I would be like without movies. The most important gift that the film has left me and all of you here is the opportunity to give us the opportunity to speak up for those who can't speak. ”
At the 92nd Academy Awards in 2020, "Phoenix" Joaquin · Phoenix won the Golden Man for the first time for his superb performance in "Joker", he said in his acceptance speech.
In order to play this personality "villain" well, Phoenix lost nearly 47 pounds, and showed god-level control accurate to every muscle, creating an image of a "marginal man" who suppressed and sickly and finally awakened to resist, and also made him a clown actor who can compete with Heath · Ledger.
The film brought him and director Todd · Phillips far more than just the Golden Man, the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival, and the 1.079 billion global box office that exceeded the cost ($60 million) by 17 times.
The sequel is also a logical one. But compared to the first part with a complete structure, in the second part, the director does not seem to have thought clearly about what he wants to say.
From the story to the theme, it is largely a "repetition" of the first part, and through the process of Arthur's trial, the "highlight" moments in the previous work are reviewed, but it does not play a substantial role in promoting the characters and plot.
Even Phoenix's performance is a self-"replica", although it is still accurate online, but it lacks breakthroughs and surprises. No wonder IGN wrote directly in the review: "'Joker 2' is dragged down by lengthy courtroom scenes, completely revolving around its predecessor and nothing new. ”
At the same time, the first part of "Joker" can be applauded and acclaimed, largely because it is both artistic and deeply thematic expression and humanistic care, and the clown's transformation from a marginal person to a rebellious "idol" caters to the social mood of the time. In short, it gives the audience a "cool feeling".
But everyone overlooks that this series is not a traditional comic book movie from the beginning, and it is more like a work inspired by DC's clowns.
Just when the audience was looking forward to the second Joker's rise to become the crime leader of Gotham and join forces with "Harley Harleyn" to bring more exciting and crazy action scenes, the director wanted to do the opposite, making Arthur more passive and depressed, and using an alternative way to present the struggle and struggle of his inner "dual personality".
The ending gave the audience a "fatal blow", directly causing the clown to fall from the "altar". This is not only an explosion and disenchantment of the traditional clown character, but also subverts the previous work to a certain extent, this sense of "the goods are not right", the audience failed to get the expected emotional catharsis, which is the reason for many people's bad reviews.
There are also new singing and dancing elements that are also full of controversy, and the addition of Lady Gaga has undoubtedly become a highlight of the film, and it also shows off her musical and acting talents well.
But on the whole, many critics felt that the song and dance passages were abrupt, lengthy and repetitive, and failed to help the film take the film to the next level in terms of audiovisual and narrative.
Of course, "Joker 2" did not receive one-sided bad reviews, "Movie Manual" gave a high score of four stars, and 8 foreign media on Metacritic also gave a high score of more than 80 points.
The film still maintains a high standard in terms of cinematography, art, scheduling and actors' performances, and through the "speculative" analysis of clown fanaticism, it also reveals the vanity of "idolatry" and the meaninglessness of "entertainment to death", which has a deeper irony and practical significance. Some film critics even see the shadow of current United States politics in it.
The famous director Coppola praised it even more: Todd · Phillips will never play by the rules, and his films are always one step ahead of the audience!
Now, the failure of "Joker 2" at the box office is a foregone conclusion, but in terms of word-of-mouth, "bullets" can fly for a while.
PART
02 Dogtail continues to mink or feelings upgraded
How hard is it for a sequel to surpass its predecessor?
Among the many foreign media evaluations of "Joker 2", there is one that is particularly interesting: "This film seems to have spent 200 million US dollars to announce: some movies should not make a sequel!" To complete this irony with a feature film, who exactly is the Joker? ”
Director Todd · Phillips has repeatedly said that this is an independent and complete film, with no sequel planned, but in the end it still "broke its promise". Delving into the reasons behind it, I can't help but think of the main creator's "face to the face" in "The Matrix 4": "Warner decided to make a sequel to the trilogy, and they told me that they would shoot it with or without us." ”
There are not a few similar cases, just because the previous work was a box office success, the sequel was put on the agenda, forcibly "continuing" the story, selling feelings, and fried cold rice. Even if the main creator is still the original team, it is still difficult to escape the criticism of "dogtail continuation mink" without the support of a solid and good script.
"Train to Busan 2", "Knives Out 2", "Kung Fu Panda 4", "Despicable Me 4" and many Hollywood sequels are like this.
Admittedly, it has not been easy for a sequel to surpass its predecessor, especially when the previous work has been "canonized".
It is necessary to balance the relationship between feelings and innovation, and also take into account old fans and new audiences, and at the same time complete the upgrade of production and creativity to bring freshness to the audience.
Even a great god like James · Cameron cried at his desk all day because of the pressure when creating "Avatar 2". In the end, "Avatar: The Way of Water" won the audience's recognition with visual effects upgrades, but it was difficult to reach the height of its predecessor in terms of global box office and film history.
Of course, the "sequel curse" is not an iron law, as far as "The Lord of the Rings 2, 3", "Toy Story 3", "Batman: The Dark Knight" and "Dune 2", as well as domestic films "The Wandering Earth 2", "Flying Life 2", "Volunteers: Survival Battle", are all cases of sequels surpassing their predecessors.
They are partly because there was a complete series of movies planned from the beginning, and as the plot progressed, the climax really came; The other part is also because the creators have summarized the experience and lessons of the previous work well, and have really upgraded the story and production.
The overturn of "Joker 2" is largely due to the director's excessive pursuit of innovation, not only the character design is subverted, but the song and dance elements added by innovation have not played a good role in the addition, which deviates from the audience's expectations.
Next, there will be "Gladiator 2", "The Lion King: The Legend of Mufasa" (prequel) will meet the audience within the year, and domestic and foreign sequels such as "The Wandering Earth 3", "Fengshen Part 2", "Zootopia 2", "Frozen 3" and "Toy Story 5" are also on the agenda.
I hope that these sequels can tell a new story while continuing their feelings, and don't become the next "clown".
What's your favorite version of the Joker? Get a chance to get a Joker 2: Double Delusion voucher!
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