When Jiang Dongyuan, who was guilty of the original sin at the end of the film, went to rescue the "Mother" Lee Jung Hyun who tried to commit suicide in the zombies, "Peninsula" ushered in its final emotional climax, but so far I still haven't been touched too much. It is hard to imagine that it originated from the same film that swept the world four years ago.
Zombie, this monster that first appeared in the video in "The White Devil" directed by Victor Harprin and starring Bella Lugosi, along with Jacques Turner, George A. Romero (here again I deeply miss this great old man), Lucio Firtz, Gregory Nickellow and other famous names have been carried forward from generation to generation. The image of hor has gradually formed a projection system that can carry the metaphors of the times: racism, communism, consumerism, colonialism, different eras have given this group of monsters different missions, and serve as a mirror to reflect the ugliness and goodness of people, and Starting from this, weaving more bold and heroic political criticism and humanitarian preaching.
When the zombies rushed into the supermarket in "Dawn of the Living Dead", when the tamed American soldier zombies killed the wicked in "Zombies Out of the Cage", they put on a salute posture to set off anti-warism. The ceremony attracted the zombies, and we found that such a subtype of B-level exploitation film, in the final analysis, was actually talking about the bits and pieces in the world we live in.
Let us turn the time back to 2016, starting from the midnight screening in Cannes, a sub-unit prepared for genre entertainment films, "Travel to Busan", the "train" carrying the mission of revolutionizing the boundaries of Asian genre films, has swept global audiences and Critics, director Yeon Sang-ho brought "Scary Zombies" from "28 Days of Surprise", "Dawn of the New Living Dead", "New Zombies Out of the Cage" and "Zombie World War" to North Korea, in a closed car, on the left wing of South Korea At the time of the replacement with the right wing, a class fable and humanistic speculation was carried out like a sand table deduction. Different class attributes, different social identities, different political patterns, and different intergenerational relationships reflect the pan-survival problems that plague South Korea and Asia as a whole, and finally give the answer to the deepest love and goodness of human nature, and a powerful counterattack. The right-wing forces.
The spectacle created by the zombies here gradually gave way to the moral dilemma and the test of life and death faced by the protagonist group represented by Kong Liu as the plot progressed. The worries and concerns encountered by the protagonists also implicitly observe and judge the possible trajectory of the country’s benign development. The type of "Travel to Busan" comes from the West, but its roots of charm are deeply rooted in the Asian context and rooted in destiny.
But "Travel to Busan 2: Peninsula" is disappointing. Kang Dongwon plays Jeong Seok, a Korean exiled soldier who has shattered hope of survival. He is discriminated against and excluded from the shelter in Hong Kong because of his refugee status and the virus disaster. A chance of redemption for relatives and oneself to return to the peninsula to retrieve the huge sum of money lost for the violent gang. A suicide mission. At first glance, this looks like Cruzo’s "The Price of Fear" and Fred King’s more The protagonist’s behavioral motives in the great remake of "Threatening and Thrilling" should have had the opportunity to take on heavier political issues. However, in the following time, Yan Shanghao will only have to imitate and enjoy the entertainment of full Westernization. Extravagant taste of exotic types.
Jiang Dongyuan is like the "snake eye" played by Kurt Russell in the John Carpenter movie, who is going to the anarchist zone, but he did not show any doubts and attacks on those in power. Later, with a very scribble coincidence, he encountered another layer of debt in his heart-the survivors in the occupied area represented by Min Jing, played by Lee Jung Hyun. After the two people had contact with almost boiled water, they relieved their previous suspicions after the game. The relationship between the characters quickly pushed to the sensational climax of the stylized Korean film, and what was filled in between was the lengthy crazy copy of the traditional Hollywood movies: "Mad Max 4: Fury Road", "The Great Escape of New York", "Doomsday Invasion", "Death Speed".
Yan Shanghao gave up the truly touching emotional expressions in "Travel to Busan" and stood completely on the surface of the zombie movie and even the end of the world movie, and completed an imitation of an American zombie apocalypse movie with an oriental face. The sequel became a pure formula movie with a strong copycat texture accompanied by a lot of familiar monotonous and noisy action scenes and cheap genre spectacles. There are no characters created with real heart, and each character is like a robot from an action scene. An action scene, at the same time, simply assumes the functions of facial characters that are conventionally configured in past Korean movies: sensational good guys, arrogant bad guys, funny ugly ghosts. Losing the distinctive group personality, it loses the basis for rebuilding the fable system. All the time has been given way to satisfy Yan Shanghao's so-called blockbuster stupid pursuit of seemingly grand scenes but mediocre scheduling, without flesh and blood, without temperature-the lack of confidence and grandstanding under the cold and boring bravado.
After the success of "Travel to Busan", the role of South Korean movies as a benchmark for Asian genre movies was once again elevated. Netflix's Korean drama "The Kingdom" pushed the new genre of Korean zombie movies to another peak, forming an aesthetic level and Completely independent and awakened at the expression level, a new subtype of exploitative film came out in the East with a rare A-level production posture. The anti-exploitation tradition is its essence, and it is more crazy, sophisticated and powerful than the old type of exploitation in the West. And counterattack the mainstream.
For the study of Western-style classic models, industrial indicators may not be the most important criterion. How to achieve localized transplantation and cause regional empathy is a more critical indicator of measurement. After all, imitate Hollywood's huge operating model and experience Reserves and hardware support have never been achieved in just four years. At the same time, perhaps we should not expect too much from Yan Shanghao. When the failed work "Nian Li" that reflects the "Longshan tragedy" comes out, we should be vigilant and continue the famous work plus the plan of Western production. The miscalculation of eagerness to prove their ambitions to regain their power has also sounded the alarm for all eager newcomers to film genres. In addition to obsessing with image deconstruction, it seems that they must learn to observe the circumstances of the people around them and the changes in the world.
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