Wang Jianlin's money was really not spent in vain. Since Legendary Pictures was bought by Wanda, the popcorn blockbusters produced can always see the shadow of China. "Warcraft" has Wu Yanzu, "The Great Wall" is basically a domestic film, "King Kong: Skull Island" and "Pacific Rim 2" are also implanted with Chinese elements and Jingtian.
Although this year's summer blockbuster "Skyscraper Rescue" does not have Jing Tian starring, it can also be said to be a movie that gives China quite face.
Hollywood's "domestic film"
Although the protagonist's family is American, "Skyscraper Rescue" is half a Chinese domestic movie. In addition to one of the producers, Legendary Pictures, which is Wang Jianlin's family, the place where the story takes place, the male and female two nai are closely related to China, and even the search engine used by the police is Baidu. Watching the whole process, I was actually worried about how this movie would be screened in other countries.
There can be no plot. The plot of "Skyscraper Rescue" can be summed up in one sentence: veteran Will Sawyer (Dawn Johnson) goes to Hong Kong to evaluate the security system of a skyscraper, and the building is lit by terrorists, and Will goes upstairs to rescue his wife and children trapped in it.
The film not only chose the location of the event in Hong Kong, but also did its best to exaggerate Hong Kong. Hong Kong has built the tallest building in the world, 225 floors 1067 meters, three Eiffel Towers, two Empire State Buildings so high, the equipment in the building is also full of technology: the power supply relies on the huge fan wind power generated by the building, and the security system in the building not only has somatosensory recognition, facial recognition, but also remote control using tablets.
The protagonists, Mr. and Mrs. Sawyer, are Americans, but the male number two Cho Lung Ki and the main villain, the female number two killer Xia, are both set in Hong Kong, China. Like all Hollywood movies that value the Chinese market, "Skyscraper Rescue" is not only full of Chinese characters who Chinese speak English, but also the protagonist Will, played by Dawn Johnson, will also pop out a few words of Cantonese from time to time, and his wife Sarah is even more Cantonese.
The second man is Zhao Longji, the owner of the skyscraper, and has a very normal Chinese name. Although the actor Wong Ching-han is a Singaporean, the character himself is a Hong Konger, a personable technology company owner, calm and calm in the face of things, fighting and shooting are not contrary to the law, reminiscent of the gangsters in the old Hong Kong movies.
The second daughter is the Heavenly King's sister-in-law Kunling, and the role setting is also Chinese. Her role is a small leader in the villain "Killer Xia", the whole face, not many lines, appear in the camera without saying two words is to fight, for this role, Kunling also cut off the long hair that has been left for more than ten years. This kind of role acting is basically not needed, but Kunling not only has a good face, but also looks at the action cleanly and neatly, and as a star, it can also be said that he is very qualified.
See here everyone knows, a Hollywood movie about China should have what else? That's right, dragons. As a modern action movie, although there is no direct dragon role in "Skyscraper Rescue", there are many dragon elements in the interior decoration of the Pearl Tower, and even the entire Pearl Tower itself is a dragon that swallows pearls.
According to film art director Jim Bissell, the Pearl Tower, known as the "Eighth Wonder of the World", is inspired by the mythical fable of the Chinese "Swallowing The Dragon".
The story goes like this: Legend has it that a poor teenager picked up a jewel while fetching water, and put the bead in the rice jar to produce rice, and put it in the money cabinet to produce money. A rich man heard about it and brought someone with him to grab it. The young man swallowed the jewel in a hurry, and immediately felt thirsty, so he drank all the water in the water tank, and then went to drink the water in the river, and as he drank, he found that he had horns on his head and a tail behind him, and slowly turned into a dragon...
Dragon Ball has unrivalled magic in legends, and in the movie, it is also the place where the climax of the story takes place, and the most exciting battle takes place in the Pearl Hall of the mansion. This hall has a large number of mirrors that can reflect light and a full range of screens and cameras, and when people stand inside, this hall can even become like this:
Several times, the different characters in the film have clearly told us with their lines that this is heaven! Such a mind can be said that many domestic movies will not be used, not to mention an action movie without any plot, you say that the screenwriter is not true love for China, I don't believe it.
Action movies with routines are not necessarily bad
If you leave aside the Chinese elements, "Skyscraper Rescue" is still a very qualified popcorn movie. Compared with the "Evil Does Not Pressure the Right" released at the same time, "Skyscraper Rescue" can be said to be very entertaining, and when you go to the cinema to see it, it is like going to the playground to ride a roller coaster, you don't need to take a brain at all, as long as you know what is cool.
Although there is no plot, the stimulation that should be given is given. The building at the point is lit, the fight is fought, the building should be climbed, the building is jumped, the parkour is basically there. The protagonist also has no aura, he operates the lifting opportunity wrong, climbs the stairs will fall, when he wants to save people, he is wanted by the police as a suspect, and he can't beat the villain role at every turn.
The routine of the movie is similar to Johnson's consistent screen image in recent years: a muscular tough guy, physically strong, soft inside, not only a righteous and kind social citizen, but also a good father, a good husband, and a good brother of friends in the family.
In "Skyscraper Rescue", Johnson plays a disabled person, one leg is broken due to work injuries, and the metal prosthetic legs used to climb the stairs and parkour are all metal prosthetic legs. With this prosthetic leg, he climbed up the tower crane and used a hooked steel cable to throw himself into the burning building at a height of three kilometers.
Parkour and crawling around the building are also very exciting. Some of the movements that made me have a seizure of heights:
Some of the movements remind me of the fear of being pulled up in elementary school PE class:
Some actions can be vomited by a person who is motion sick by looking at the stills:
In short, the whole rhythm is very tense, although there is no plot, but each shot makes people feel tense and exciting.
It can be said that Johnson, as the lead actor and producer, did not choose a weak opponent for himself this time, just like the "Fast and Furious" series, "Skyscraper Rescue" is still a movie that makes the audience feel sorry for him. He also did not set up simple traps and combat opponents for himself, he is not a hero with the aura of the protagonist in the film, but a big living person with courage and perseverance but also sweat and bleed.
It can be said that although the plot of "Skyscraper Rescue" is simple and the logic is incomplete, the audience can't care about these things at all when watching - you will only hang a heart to follow the protagonist's crisis and dilemma and go forward non-stop, wait until you walk out of the screening hall, and then start to think back to the things worth complaining about in the plot. But for popcorn action movies, that's enough.