How to remake a classic film and television drama has always been a small problem, and it has retained the classicity of the story but lost its innovation, and the audience will be tired of watching it. So every time there is a remake, there will always be some innovative adaptations based on the original story. But this is a double-edged sword, changed well, everyone sees a bright light, change it badly, there will be all kinds of embarrassing shots.
"The Legend of the White Snake" is one of the four major folk love legends in China, originating from the Luoyang Giant Snake Incident in the Tang Dynasty, fixed in the Ming Dynasty Feng Menglong's "Cautionary Tales", popular in the Qing Dynasty, and is a model of Chinese folk collective creation.
As early as 1981, the Shanghai Film Studio made this folklore into the Peking Opera film "The Legend of the White Snake".
In 1992, "The Legend of the New White Lady", starring Zhao Yazhi, Ye Tong, Chen Meiqi and others, became a classic in the hearts of a generation, and until now, the word of mouth is still as high as 9.1 points.
In 2019, the "Legend of the New White Lady", which was remade by Ju Jingyi, Yu Hazy, Pei Zitian and others, was criticized by netizens for casting, filtering, acting and other issues, and the word of mouth only had a score of 4.4.
The so-called remake is not embarrassing, and who has the low score is embarrassed.
In the same year, "White Snake: Origins", which was also adapted from "The Legend of the White Snake", was praised as "the hope of the rise of national comics" with its strong national style, tense story emotion, and textured picture frames.
The live-action TV series that invested 300 million yuan and consumed a lot of manpower and material resources lost to the domestic animation with an investment of only 80 million yuan, and I have to say that it has to be slapped in the face of capital.
This year, "White Snake 2: Green Snake Robbery" was released, surpassing "White Snake: Origins" with a box office performance of 576 million.
Like the previous work, "White Snake 2: Green Snake Robbery" still maintains a high-quality creative level under the premise of jumping out of the original story, and even adds crossing elements to it.
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After the white snake was sealed by Fahai, Xiao Qing, who had lost his mind, wanted to die with Fahai, but was easily defeated. Seeing that Xiao Qing was about to die, the sudden black mist vortex swept her into another time and space.
When Xiao Qing woke up, he found that his mana was gone, and the world around him was completely different from before, with towering buildings, cars parked on the side of the road, empty streets... It's like a thousand years in a flash.
Hidden only beneath modern industry is the rampant monsters.
The setting of "White Snake 2: The Rise of the Green Snake" is neither modern nor ancient, but the city of Shura where people, demons, and things from multiple dynasties come together. This unique setting, on the one hand, provides background support for jumping out of the original storyline of the White Snake Legend, and on the other hand, various strange settings in the alternate world make the audience feel the novelty.
Just before Xiao Qing could figure out where he was now, a minotaur rushed over with a stick. During the escape, Xiaoqing was rescued by a girl surnamed Sun, who explained to her the ins and outs of Shuluo City and the survival rules of the weak and the strong. During this period, a masked man appeared briefly, but did not have in-depth contact with Xiaoqing.
Shura City is a place where supplies are scarce and bigger than anyone's fist, and only those who are obsessed have the opportunity to come here before they die. Here, the difference between man and demon is not so concerned, after all, in the face of survival, the difference between ethnic groups is not important at all.
Over time, Shuluo City was divided into two major gangs, the Luochamen and the Minotaur Gang. Xiao Qing's novice guide, Miss Sun, died in the conflict between the two major gangs.
In order to find a way to leave Shuluo City, Xiao Qing and Sima The Master of the Luocha Gate visited the little fox Bao Qingfang, who knew everything. During this period, Xiao Qing and Sima developed an inexplicable affection.
Xiao Qing's love affair did not last long, and when the water robbery in Shuluo City appeared, Sima Who was anxious to escape left Xiao Qing, who wanted to ask for help from the masked man. This made Xiaoqing realize that men, whether strong or weak, are ultimately unreliable.
When the disheartened Xiaoqing was about to commit suicide, the masked man took off his mask to reveal a face exactly like Xiao Bai, which made Xiaoqing regain his desire to live.
If you want to leave Shura City, you only need to drop your attachments and devote yourself to a pool called "nothingness" and you can be reincarnated. But those who come to Shuluo City are all people who are extremely obsessed, which is like making people who are addicted to alcohol give up drinking, and people who love money like life give up money.
In order to retain his obsession and leave Shuluo City again, Xiao Qing and Male Xiao Bai found the little fox again. As soon as Xiao Qing learned the way to leave, the Minotaur Gang attacked the doorstep.
Just when everyone was desperate, the mask of the male xiaobai was torn off, and it turned out that he was an undercover agent of the minotaur gang leader. Although the little fox appeared to be the true body of the nine-tailed fox and defeated the Minotaur Gang, there was a gap between Xiao Qing and the male Xiao Bai that was difficult to heal.
Later, Xiao Qing came to the Batu Cave according to the instructions, and fought with the avatar of Fahai here for twenty years, losing countless times before winning a difficult victory. Just when Xiao Qing and Male Xiao Bai were about to successfully leave, the monster transformed into the Bull Head Gang wanted to die with them.
At the moment of the first attack, the male Xiaobai sent Xiaoqing to the import and export, but he himself turned into fly ash.
Many years later, Xiao Qing, who came to Hangzhou, found a broken hairpin in the Leifeng Pagoda, and the missing piece was exactly the same as the male Xiaobai's obsession. When all the fragments were put back together, Xiao Qing understood that the male Xiao Bai was the white snake after many reincarnations.
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From the plot point of view, "White Snake 2: Green Snake Robbery" boldly abandons the love line between White Snake and Xu Xian, and instead tells the sisterly love between White Snake and Green Snake. Coupled with the thinking about the awakening of women's thoughts, the overall quality level exceeds most theatrical films, and 220,000 people give a rating of 7.1, which also proves the recognition of the market.
But how bold the adaptation is, how bold it must be when scolded.
Some netizens believe that "White Snake 2: Green Snake Robbery" only borrows the gimmick of the legend of white snake, and actually tells an unrelated story.
Xiao Qing was defeated by Fahai and trapped in Shuluo City, and made various efforts to return to the human world. Such a plot is indeed no longer related to the legend of the white snake, but the core of the story is derived from the sisterly love between the white snake and the green snake.
This feeling is not effectively explained in the play, nor is it emphasized with more ink, but in the audience's cognition, it is recognized. Why?
Previous works derived from the legend of the white snake are all focused on poignant love stories, rarely emphasizing the depth of sisterhood, and even some works have the intention of adapting the green snake into the role of the little three, but no matter how to change, the white snake and the green snake have always been inseparable, so subtly we recognize this feeling.
"White Snake 2: Green Snake Robbery" separates this emotional line, which actually shows that the main creative team has studied this folk story very deeply, and at the same time added its own unique ideas. From an innovative point of view, this is very encouraging.
This provides a new way of thinking for other creative teams - there are always overlooked clues in classic stories, and these clues contain emotions and character motivations that have been formed in the audience's mind and do not need to be explained, which reduces the difficulty of creation while ensuring the quality of the content.
Compared with some of the perfunctory works of copycat classic movies old bridge sections, old terriers, awkward laughter, and strong sensationalism that appear on the market now, "White Snake 2: Green Snake Robbery" can be regarded as a sincere work.
There are innovations and doubts, which is a very normal phenomenon, after all, there is no way to please all the audiences, how much glory can afford to be questioned, and the box office of 576 million is the most direct result.
However, "White Snake 2: Green Snake Robbery" is obviously not a perfect work, its shortcomings are also prominent, the most obvious is to put forward the core of "women should be self-reliant", but it is not thorough and complete.
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At the beginning of the movie, Xiao Qing and Xiao Bai are defeated by Fahai, and the cowardly and incompetent Xu Xuan has no way but to plead bitterly. This made Xiaoqing realize that she could not find an incompetent man, and if she wanted to find someone who was strong and could protect herself, she should find someone who could protect herself.
In Shuluo City, Xiao Qing and Sima gradually became in love, but at the moment of life and death, Sima himself fled alone, disregarding Xiao Qing's safety. This made Xiao Qing understand that in the face of difficulties, powerful people are also selfish.
Later, in the process of getting along with male Xiaobai, Xiaoqing gradually let down her guard against him. Who knew that the male Xiaobai was the eyeliner of the Minotaur Gang, which made her sad and disappointed. At this time, she understood that "you can't count on others, everything is fundamental, only yourself."
But when he finally left Shuluo City, it was still the male Xiaobai who sacrificed himself to complete her, so what was the meaning of this xiaoqing's previous understanding? The point is that the relationship between the emotional line of "women should be self-reliant" and "sisterly love" is not so good.
In addition to a reversal in the end, Xiao Bai's identity has always been a tool to strengthen Xiao Qing's obsession. But what Xiao Qing did in Shuluo City was, on the one hand, his obsession with Xiao Bai, and on the other hand, he constantly questioned Xiao Bai's concept of love. The two are contradictory.
The premise of Xiao Qing's coming to Shuluo City was that he was obsessed with deep thoughts, in other words, he recognized the principle of death and could not let go of the bond with Xiao Bai. However, the doubts about Xiao Bai in the plot will reduce the intensity of this obsession. It is as if one's unreserved belief in another person is a completely different state from believing in another person with concern.
The film takes "obsession" as the premise, but constantly weakens this premise, which has a great contradiction in the plot.
There are many ways to solve this problem, such as adding explanations to Xiaoqing's "obsession", just like in the play, some people leave a deep obsession because of the exam, and some people cannot have a deep obsession because of love.
What is Xiao Qing's obsession with Xiao Bai in the play? Defeated by Fahai, was Xiao Bai sealed? Xiao Bai is not dead, and then trying to find a way to save it will be over, emotionally speaking, I can't feel the sense of despair that has no choice, there is room for it.
If the film explains this point clearly, it will draw a line with the aforementioned Xiaoqing's doubts about Xiao Bai, and will not have the effect of emotional weakening. But apparently, the film doesn't do that.
The novelty of making a classic work acclaimed and popular is a thing that goes against the current, "White Snake: Origins" and "White Snake 2: Green Snake Robbery" can create a relatively delicate plot in the case of jumping out of the original story, which is actually not easy. Even if it is slightly flawed, it is still a good work.
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