There are basically no special effects used to pump adrenaline in super-English films. The level of special effects is not even comparable to that of "Arrow", and there are few fighting scenes.
Anti-traditional super-English theme
Beginning with "X-Men" 19 years ago, super-English films have never escaped the discussion of humans’ fear of "alien" and the instinct to stifle, which is an instinct based on survival.
"Black Robe Picket" also has this kind of tone, but unlike other super-English films, "Black Robe" internalizes this contradiction into character shaping, rather than making it a top priority. The main conflict attracts the audience (in fact, it can't be attracted).
After all, this topic has been repeatedly discussed countless times in different types of works, including super-English films, and it has long lost the meaning of "X-Men" that thundered on the ground.
A digression, this is also an important flaw in the restarted version of the "X-Men" tetralogy (including "Black Phoenix", which was doubled at the box office this year). The old trilogy was so successful, in addition to various special effects and endless emergence. In addition to the X people, more importantly, it uses the concept of mutants to discuss the issues of equality and survival of minority groups, which is of great practical significance in the early 21st century.
In the restarted 2011, this meaning has been greatly reduced. The new version of "X-Men" is basically a modern super-English movie genre created by Marvel that combines traffic stars, sells CP characters, special effects and popcorn plots.
"Black Robe Picket" has no special effects and no traffic stars (not counting Simon Peggy as a guest star). To break through, you can only rely on the story line to curve and save the country.
It did succeed.
"Black Robe" does not downplay or ignore humans' natural fear of unknown things and their exclusivity to the different, but the screenwriter has found a new position for the superheroes here to integrate into the public:
With the help of the power of religion, it is proclaimed that the mutants headed by the "Super Sevens" are superior beings sent by God to guide and help the congregation. They serve ordinary people, suffer for them, and serve as their role models in life. God.
This seemingly clever and clever setting is not just a trick used by the screenwriter to satirize Christian hypocrisy. The secret behind it is the cornerstone of the plot development of "Black Robe", which firmly supports all of the entire series. The protagonist's story:
All mutants are not natural genetic mutations, but have been modified by drug injections from infancy!
The Water company that manipulates all of this has already sensed the huge business opportunities in the superhero complex of the people decades ago. Through research and development, they synthesized an injection called "Compound No. 5" and sent it to various partner hospitals to induce parents to inject newborn babies.
The Superman is a great play performed by the profit-driven Water Company, Christianity, and individual lustful parents.
They have built an entire superhero industry chain, from R&D, marketing and product endorsements, and even planning to be stationed in the military.
Therefore, what "Black Robe" wants to express is not the contradiction between super heroes and ordinary humans, but what kind of lies can be told by humans driven by interests.
Compared with the large-scale operation of Water Company and Christianity, which pursues benefits without limit, those parents who are willing to cooperate with the performance and inject unknown drugs into their own children are a more desperate reality of life.
It is this kind of collusion and deception of interests from commercial organizations to civilians that constitutes one of the most brilliant and attractive core themes of "Black Robe".
In terms of theme setting, it is much more profound than other super-English dramas.
However, under such a big theme, if there is no solid story and characterization, it will only be reduced to an empty conceptual saliva drama.
Anti-traditional super-British set
In traditional super-English films, the decent people with superpowers are either saving mankind or on the road to save mankind; villains are either tearing ordinary humans or other mutants, either wanting to destroy the world or want to rule. world.
Then the pros and the villains fought.
But in "Black Robe", the seemingly invincible superhero is just a pawn under the big enterprise that manipulates capital.
They are just ordinary people with a special skill. While enjoying the benefits of this skill, they also suffer from it. They also have their own family fetters, have their own gender weaknesses, and are trapped in vanity and reputation. Involuntary in the body.
They also want to get the pay stubs on time, and they want people they like to take a look at themselves, and they are afraid of being replaced by other superpowers, and they will also worry about their somewhat mediocre superpowers.
People of the motherland: laser eyes, steel body and flying ability
As the leader of the "Super Seven", the native of the motherland has the strongest ability, but he was kept in captivity in the laboratory since he was a child, which led to an extremely selfish and arrogant character, but the serious Oedipus plot kept him in prison. Is firmly controlled by her boss Madeleine (ordinary person).
Locomotive: moving at high speed
Faced with being squeezed out of the title of "World's No. 1 Fastest" at all times, he took the risk of injecting "No. 5 Compound" to continuously improve his superpowers. Because of the loss of the title, all the benefits of "World No. 1" in the past will be lost. Deprived, audiences and admirers are forgettable, who will remember which "second" is.
Queen Maeve: Body of Steel
Even with a body of steel, it is still unavoidable to face the embarrassing situation of inequality between men and women. She was a wild girl when she was young, and she didn't listen to instructions, but as she got older, she gradually learned to compromise and bow to the world.
Deep sea: familiar with water, able to communicate and communicate with marine animals
This skill of no commercial value allows him to be a superhero in name only, always wanting to make a difference.
But my IQ has been offline for a long time, making him the only second-level character who is free from the main plot: trying to save the dolphin, but suddenly braking and throwing the dolphin out of the car, he was crushed into meat sauce by the truck that just drove; I wanted to save the lobster in the supermarket, but I bought it but didn't expect to be smashed by the clerk.
Starlight: the ability to master light
I once believed that I was a person chosen by God, hoping to save the world and help others, but in the end I found out that I was the victim of a scam jointly set up by my parents and the company.
Anti-character conflict routine
The initial conflict of "Black Robe" is very simple: the electric appliance store Xiaoer Huey, who was killed by the Super British and killed his girlfriend, and the former FBI Butcher , who firmly believes that his wife’s disappearance is related to the motherland, form an anti-super-British alliance. They are determined to expose the positive people of the superhero Assume.
The emotional line between Huey and the newly joined "Super Seven" "Starlight" runs through the entire show. Huey, who secretly instigated the "Super Seven", has been using the "Starlight" identity to facilitate the stealing of information and confessing to her. Struggling, and this also "buried" a seemingly very old-fashioned plot climax: "Starlight" discovered Huey’s secret, questioned Huey’s feelings for her, and then undermined the entire secret operation, and even blackened into " "Motherlanders" camp.
Fortunately not!
As the investigation progressed, Huey discovered that Water was behind the creation of superheroes. This means that everything "Starlight" believed in before was based on false lies. The emergence of this turning point made Huey's concealment compared to the deception of her parents (mainly mother) over the past two decades. , It seems to be insignificant.
But this does not completely justify Huey’s behavior. How to reconcile "Starlight" and Huey and allow her to transition from the "Super Sevens" to the Anti-League of Legends is another difficult problem that tests the screenwriting skills. .
The beautiful persona "want to save the world/help others" laid out from the beginning of the "Starlight" interview "Super Seven" finally came into play here: The defection of "Starlight" was not only due to the water company's deception. It was her (at least not the main reason), but another natural choice for her who had regarded "supporting justice" as her responsibility since she was a child. And when she made such a choice, it became inevitable to fight side by side with Huey.
Since when did hope and innocence become the same thing?
The wonderful thing about "Black Robe" is that, through multiple turns, the "Starlight", which has fallen into the cliché, has successfully unearthed new ideas. It is closely related to the core setting of the whole play, and can be connected with Other characters make expectant interactions. The relationship with Huey serves the main plot. The interaction with Deep Sea and Queen Maeve also reflects the issue of equal rights for men and women.
Multi-party wrestling: Get out of the fixed mode where the super power value determines the battle value
In the past super-British movies, the strength of the super powers basically determines the combat value.
But in "Black Robe", the composition of a character's combat power far exceeds the single factor of superpower, but a more complex combination.
Madeleine, who eats the motherland firmly and holds the "Super Seven" to retain power is an example, not to mention the mysterious, only one-faced Mr. Edgar.
Here, capital has the most weight among the many factors that affect combat value.
A superhero is no longer dominated by one person. The Congress, the military, the FBI, commercial companies, arms manufacturers, terrorists and other organizations have their own plans. They compromise with each other for their interests and check and balance each other. The support of the people is what they strive to win, but The part that I don’t care about the most. Sure enough, leeks are still the easiest to cut.
Amazon has already renewed the second season even before the first season of "Black Robe" went live, which shows that the management is quite confident in its quality.
The first season left a lot of suspense. The character depictions including Queen Maeve, the deep sea and the brutal black color are just a few clicks to the end, which is still unfinished. What should be the next step of the "starlight" after the defiance, the motherland Will the grievances between people and Butcher be resolved or deepened...
Can't wait to watch the second season!
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