As the most important genre of Chinese movies, martial arts films are based on "Xia". The so-called "chivalrous man" means "violating the ban by martial arts." Starting from this concept, the story of "Di Renjie" and the traditional concept of "wuxia movies" are basically a thousand miles away.
In the movie "Di Renjie", Di Renjie is the queen's special envoy to Wu Zhao. He is not in the arena, not a knight (of course, if someone moves out of the classic "where there are people, there are rivers and lakes", then I have nothing to say). He is actually more like a private investigator written by Raymond Chandler, forced to accept a mission with no choice. In the process of searching for the truth, the tough detective and the femme fatale will betray each other and be betrayed, and approach the dark core of the story together. Although there will be a faint spark of love between them, and in the process they will hurt each other and be hurt, but you and I know that it is impossible for them to be together.
Starting from this concept, the movie "Di Renjie" is not so much a martial arts movie as it is a costume/detective/action movie. As for another previously widely promoted "suspense" label, I personally feel that it is not the most important factor in the story of the film. Because the core of this story is not the shock to the audience caused by the announcement of the final answer, but the process of how Di Renjie approaches the truth step by step.
If an audience has any impression of the film "Double Pupils" directed by the producer of Chen Guofu in 2001, many shadows of "Double Pupils" can be seen in the story structure of "Di Renjie". But this does not mean that "Di Renjie" is a "Chen Guofu movie", because the director of this movie is Tsui Hark. Although his strong personal style is restricted, it can never be erased.
There are a few very exciting action scenes in the film, and the overall style is still Tsui Hark's "strange, dangerous and urgent" path back then. But from the perspective of action innovation, the action scenes in "Di Renjie" still failed to surpass his own action scenes in martial arts films such as "New Dragon Inn" as a whole. The action design of the actors flying around by hanging a wire in martial arts movies has lasted for nearly thirty years. Not only Chinese audiences, but audiences all over the world may already have visual fatigue. How to continue to innovate the action scenes in martial arts films and action films from the original story is not just a challenge faced by Tsui Hark and Sammo Hung, but a problem faced by the entire Chinese film.
Final chatter: This is a movie that meets my previous expectations. The collection of the top Chinese filmmakers from the three regions of the Taiwan Strait. There are still some regrets about this film, but it is already the limit of what a Chinese film can do.
From the perspective of the film's story, it can actually be better. Finally, after "The Wind", Li Bingbing's appearance is surprising. If we want to find an example of diligence and ability to make up for one's clumsiness, Li Bingbing has become a typical example from "Yun Shui Yao".
The Korean special effects team was ashamed this time. The special effects of Chang'an City (it should be Luoyang City) were seen on the big screen, and all the shortcomings were exposed. Not to mention the issues of clarity and texture, the characters in the foreground and the city in the background are actually in the focus of the picture... Is this a postcard?
I think special effects are the most important link in the whole movie...
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