Because there are still expectations for the director, it is even harder to conceal the disappointment after watching the film. The greatest success of "October Besieged City" lies in its emotional appeal. It is a story with a relatively main theme, but it resonates with ordinary audiences by overlapping the life trajectories of a bunch of small people and losers. This advantage is completely lost in the film. There is no character that makes people like it. The director does not seem to try to communicate emotionally with the audience through the story. Emotional abundance is of course not a necessary condition for a good-looking movie, but if the director disdains the emotions, then he can tell a story calmly. The movie plot has a strong sense of patchwork and is so mysterious, and the protagonist's behavior logic is unbelievable. The most typical thing is that in the middle Xia Houwu and his junior sister went to ask the senior Tang Qianyan about the origin, and by the way the name Feng Yuxiu was used. This is completely deliberately acting for the audience. The suspense of the film is sometimes carried out through the information asymmetry between the audience and the people in the play, but it is not good that the people in the play violate the logic of normal behavior and only mislead the audience. Donnie Yen can show the audience, but Xia Houwu can't. Xia Houwu is a character in the movie. He would never realize that there are audiences watching him off the screen. So from Xia Houwu's psychology, he would only show other characters in the movie, such as Lu Xuanxin. However, there were only Xia Houwu, Junior Sister and two martial arts seniors in the scene at that time. He had no conflict of interest with the other three characters present, and he was not guilty of acting for them. Judging from the flashback later, on the night before this scene happened, Xia Houwu’s junior sister just asked him in the martial arts gym, "Did you know him (Feng Yuxiu) a long time ago?" Then I saw it again here. The brother called Lu Xuanxin with a sudden realization. Wouldn't she suspect that the brother was insane? A normal person should have arrived in Foshan to confirm the safety of the junior and then call the police officer Lu as soon as possible.
Also, as a martial artist, Xia Houwu longed to fight Feng Yuxiu. This kind of psychology is understandable, but is it really necessary to use other fellows as bait? He can actually persuade the police to provide unified protection to potential victims, and then go out and put himself in the contract. Feng Yuxiu played by Wang Baoqiang is a character similar to Demon Buu. The joy of living is to kill the strong. The competition in the arena is also carried out in accordance with the basic law, so the general point-to-final competition cannot satisfy Feng Yuxiu's desire, but if Xiahouwu, who is not knowing where his level is higher than him, challenges, I believe it will be difficult for him to hold back. . Judging from the fact that he asked the other party to kill himself after being defeated by Xia Houwu, he was not afraid of death. Therefore, if Xiahou Wuzhen made an appointment with him, even if he knew it was a trap of the police, the strong desire to engage with a master should stimulate him to make an appointment. What's more, with Xia Houwu's skill, it takes minutes to get rid of police surveillance. As soon as he is released from prison, he can cooperate with the police to arrange other potential victims and seniors, and then go to Feng Yu to make a contract, regardless of whether the police agree or not. In that case, the movie can be finished in about half an hour.
In the play of this film, both the prison situation at the beginning and the road showdown at the end are more exciting. The part where Feng Yuxiu killed several masters in the middle was suspected of making up the number. The first game was not performed at all, and the third game was half performed through flashbacks. In the second and fourth games, Shi Yanneng and Fan Shaohuang appeared in a relatively affordable martial arts scene, but it did not impress people too much. . I seriously suspect that the action director Donnie Yen deliberately sparse the first few scenes in order to ensure that the finale of his own finale is enough to pull the wind. Let’s stray a little bit here. It seems that Shi Yanneng and Wang Baoqiang are both Shaolin disciples. Why is there such a big difference in the stage name style of the two?
I have never been able to appreciate the martial arts style designed by Donnie Yen. He has one of the biggest characteristics, that is, his hands must be kept flying and dancing in the air before entering the battle, just like a Saint Seiya poses for a while before enlarging his moves. In addition, in the fight scenes designed by him, the arm movements of the characters are always particularly large. Since everyone is well aware that kung fu is a killing technique, why do you use this uneconomical technique repeatedly in terms of physical exertion? The best reputation movies that Donnie Yen has played in these years happen to be Sammo Hung instead of Donnie Yen himself as the action director of the two "Ip Man", I think it is not accidental.
The most disappointing thing about this movie is Wang Baoqiang. At the beginning of the promotion of the movie, it was said that Wang Baoqiang was going to be a perverted killer. Many people thought it was a joke, but I didn't think so. Instead, I felt that the director was knowledgeable. The performance of Wang Baoqiang in the previous "Destined to Heaven" is obvious to all, and the cold-blooded killer he played really made the audience shudder. The more plain his looks, the more he can reflect the perversion and coldness of the character. He has a background in martial arts and has successfully performed a perverted killer. Such a resume makes me feel that it is difficult for Wang Baoqiang to play the role of Feng Yuxiu. The director surprised me again. Originally, just let Wang Baoqiang repeat his performance in "Heaven Is Destined" and then add some action scenes. The director had to add exaggerated expressions and painful lines to him. In terms of facial expressions, as long as Wang Baoqiang stood there with a fierce look, the image of a quiet, perverted beautiful man suddenly appeared on the screen. As a result, in the movie, he always tilted his nose and squinted his eyes. In addition to his familiar appearance, he basically Not reminiscent of a serial killer, at best a village bully. Those slightly coquettish lines combined with Shang Baoqiang's sharp Mandarin also almost drunk the audience's ears, making people feel that this is a rural non-mainstream suffering from secondary disease. It is a pity that Chen Desen, who once turned Chunge into a miracle, holds a recognized acting school like Wang Baoqiang but only to this extent.
By the way, the director of the film, Chen Desen, seems to have always been very concerned about training the powerful mainland male star Yan Yi. Long before Bao Qiang contributed his emoji pack, Hu Jun from "October Besieged City" showed off his facial features on the big screen. It's just that the movie itself is full of emotions, and the audience is always excited, so the occasional exaggeration of the actor's expression will not make it too easy to play.
If you compare other movies starring Donnie Yen in the past two years, the film can be called a surprise, but at Chen Desen's level, it can only achieve the current effect, I am afraid he and the audience will not be reconciled. This movie is the same as last year's "Wolverine 2", the greatest significance of its existence is for the last easter egg. It's just that the easter eggs in this film are a two-minute tribute to Hong Kong martial arts movies, so the entire viewability of the movie is raised by the easter eggs alone. Listening to the exciting music of "Tathagata Palm", watching the vivid faces and admirable names flashing across the screen, recalling what I have seen in those years and looking forward to the one I missed in those years A classic Hong Kong martial arts film, the blood that was almost frozen by the previous boring movie plot finally boiled again at the end. However, the classic will not be out of date, but the classic ability to attract gold will. The audience misses the classics, but it doesn't mean that the audience will allow the film people to hold on to the disabled and not entertain. Kung fu is a killing technique, so how to continuously design more visually impactful killing moves is something action filmmakers should always keep in mind. I hope that the existence of the classics can continue to provide inspiration for filmmakers now and in the future, instead of restricting their ideas.
View more about Kung Fu Jungle reviews
