――Han Xi
has written a lot of articles about Donnie Yen in recent days, but due to personal reasons, she has never seen the new film "Fuse", and she is naturally full of expectations. After finally watching this film, I can't help but say that the cooperation between Donnie Yen and Weixin Ye has taken a higher level, but there are some problems that follow, which may be unfounded worries.
If Donnie Yen showed the martial arts design from "Slaying the Wolf" to the flesh, so that people started talking about the return of Hong Kong's real kung fu films, then there is no doubt that "Fuse" has obviously taken a step forward. become a spiritual symbol. When films such as "The True Color of a Man" tried to continue Donnie Yen's achievements, the high requirements for martial arts design undoubtedly became the pressure of Donnie Yen. But it's good that "Fuse" is basically once again leading the way.
When it comes to Donnie Yen, we can't help but talk about kung fu. This film obviously wants to carry out the pragmatism of fighting to the end. The concept of American mixed fighting is obvious in this film. The ancient concept of martial arts fitness has been almost completely subverted, and replaced by the contest between life and death, fighting, the main idea of which is the word "fight". Thinking of the fragment in Jet Li's "Heroes of Jingwu", we will find how strong the meaning of life and death in this kind of fighting is. In other words, martial arts has changed from the metaphysical level of the East to the pragmatism of the West.
Mixed martial arts is a very popular sport in the United States. There are no restrictions, and defeating the opponent is the only goal, so the audience can see the use of mixed martial arts such as jiu-jitsu, wrestling, and Muay Thai and boxing. The practicality is of course self-evident. I remember what Bruce Lee said, it doesn't matter whether the leg kicks high or low, the important thing is to reach the opponent. If you are locked, you can use your teeth. We can see that the philosophical aspect of Jeet Kune Do is also pragmatic. But as a film, after injecting the concept of good and evil, the only goal of defeat is obviously one step further, that is to kill the opponent, "Fuse" may go further on this metaphysical level, but it is actually more detached Based on the traditional oriental martial arts concept.
But Donnie Yen is still from the East after all, and maybe he can't make a more pragmatic approach, so to some extent, he copied the philosophy of oriental fighting skills explained by Liu Jialiang. To convince the opponent, in this case, it is not difficult for us Understand that in the last scene, Ma Jun and Tony experienced a hand-to-hand fight of life and death, but when the sun shot down from the trees, Tony was tied there dying and could only breathe. Although Ma Jun killed Ah Hu, the final outcome will return to the traditional sense. On the other hand, the mother of the three gangsters in the film plays an important role, and the unique oriental warmth is shown after the bloody hand-to-hand combat, so we can't help but say that the pragmatism of the combat itself has not obliterated the whole The direction of the plot.
Returning to the fighting itself, the final battle between Ma Jun and Tony in the film can be said to be a classic among classics, in which Donnie Yen shows the audience what real fighting is, and what is the specific meaning and situation of real fighting in reality. , and the use of various combat (not martial arts) means in the fighting, so that the audience does not have the slightest chance to breathe. It is extremely important to stress here that the film not only relies on Donnie Yen's actions, but also relies on the rendering of drum music. The intense and exciting scenes will grab the audio-visual senses of every audience. Here comes the issue of rhythm.
It can be said that apart from Donnie Yen's kung fu design, the biggest advantage of the film is the control of rhythm.
The opening chapter is succinct and straightforward. The scene where Ma Jun walks into the boxing ring and immediately subdues someone is almost the overall positioning of the film. The first is the use of martial arts. On the ring, boxing, wrestling, etc. A film that incorporates mixed fighting into martial arts design. Secondly, Ma Jun's explosive character is of course a list, so in the interpretation of the plot, Ma Jun's appearance will immediately lead to fast-forward and sudden in the narrative rhythm. The next scene in the bar also highlighted the delivery of the film's rhythm. Including the appearance of Tony's mother in the final battle between Ma Jun and Tony, it is also a performance of deliberately controlling the rhythm, that is, the moment before the war in Gu Long's novel.
In Ma Jun, almost all the rhythms of the episodes are co-produced with the film, but Weixin Yip still makes the most common mistake Hong Kong directors make, which is to break the inherent rhythm of this film out of time. The first is the episode in which the three brothers threaten the three bosses. The development in this episode is too slow, and the effect is that the entire movie jumps out, giving people a very conventional Hong Kong movie viewing feeling. Another rhythm problem is undoubtedly the detonation of the bomb. All the previous assassinations are shown in a fast rhythm, and the detonation of the bomb is undoubtedly the key point of the assassination bridge. There is no problem with the length of time, the problem lies in the details. , although it is an alternate editing, the audiovisual means is obviously not the best. The Hitchcock-esque suspenseful effect is not created, and the urgency of the delay is somewhat too cumbersome. This is clearly the director's problem.
In Hong Kong movies, certain paragraphs often jump out, which is extremely inconsistent with the overall style of the film. It is reasonable for this film to have such a problem.
The film has an important theme. The police are the ones who catch the thief. This theme is very important. It will determine the rhythm of the film. When the good and the evil are together, the rhythm is clear and completely broken. In the concept There are only good and evil, life and death duel, so Ah Hu being beaten to death by Ma Jun is extremely in line with the plot, because Ah Hu shot a policewoman and injured a child before he died It is shown that the final execution of natural goodness has nothing to do with the Western pragmatism philosophical concept mentioned above. And this plot naturally shows the character of Ma Jun's distinct personality. The original title of the film is "Broken Army", which refers to one of the seven stars of the Big Dipper, also known as "star consumption". Portrait of character.
From a certain point of view, Ma Jun's persistence is a copy of Chinese martial arts films, and especially in Zhang Che's films, the concept of good and evil is like this, the difference between a hero and a thief is extremely clear, so Ma The explosive force when the army captures the thief has its personality root, but it is only the relationship between the thief and the police, but when Ma Jun and the three brothers appear as sons at the same time, the opposition is dissolved, and a kind of warmth appears. . The cameo of "Long Po" and the appearance of "Demented Mother" in the film are all means of resolving violence. As mentioned above, especially in the decisive battle between Ma Jun and Tony, the appearance of "Demented Mother" is almost the finishing touch in terms of rhythm. Pen.
The same emotion that resolves violence lies between Watson and his girlfriend, but unfortunately, the relationship between the two is too formalized in the film, and there is no brilliance. Even with two months of pregnancy, it is not convincing at all. , it must be said that it is a failure of the film. On the contrary, although the friendship between Watson and Ma Jun seems to be normal, it is still somewhat credible. Use family love and friendship to dissolve the decisive good and evil violence in the film. It is conceivable that the director has indeed put a lot of effort into the story, but unfortunately, these warmth are not good enough, and the story guided by love is more interesting. conventional.
In any case, this is a Donnie Yen's work. Like "Slaying the Wolf" and "Dragon Tiger Gate", the story is still weak in it, and there is almost no need to study it carefully. Therefore, although director Yip Weixin has some outstanding points in rhythm , but generally only maintained his general level. It is conceivable that in the long run, Donnie Yen's innovation will lose his charm. In other words, the author believes that Donnie Yen should find another co-director.
In addition to the doubts about Ye Weixin's director's skills, the author believes that Donnie Yen's martial arts design in this film is not impeccable. The most disappointing thing is the showdown between Ma Jun and Ah Hu in the elevator. It is indeed difficult to express "Zheng Gong" in such a small space, but the use of a mid-view with a policewoman as a reference is obviously a failure, and the film has virtually lost a very important opportunity for performance. As a result, the sacrifice of the policewoman seems a bit meaningless, and the emotions of the characters obviously did not penetrate into the elevator, which is a pity for the author!
2007-9-5 in Tongzhou
Han Xi
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