After reading the handwritten notes, I have no on-the-spot investigation and understanding of Britain and the "gentleman spirit", and no in-depth academic research, so I rely on some fragmentary historical knowledge and experience impressions, just treat it as a nonsense... for the convenience of this After reading the article, some typos were deliberately written in the article.
This article can be found in the public account "Wind Shadow Films"
Why is "Ace Agent 2" rotten? Because the "gentleman" will finally be late
Since the release of "The King of Man 2", the integration of American elements has been widely criticized by the audience. Although I personally didn't feel any strong discomfort during the viewing process due to the strong sensory impact of the film as a whole (perhaps because it was too long since the first film), I have to admit that there are indeed discrepancies.
The film finally gave me the impression that the plot is rampant, the values are chaotic and contradictory, and the core is extremely empty -or more simply to the point, the unique British gentleman demeanor in the first film has almost become a piece of waste paper at this step .
The setting of the characters in the story and the geographical space relationship seems to further constitute a kind of gray suggestion-the "gentleman" symbol of the United Kingdom is heading for a prosperous appearance, while the elegance of the "gentleman spirit" Become a fig leaf for this substantial decline.
We might as well focus on the villain of the film first.
The film's first (weak chicken) villain, Aunt Moore, whose character is poppy (poppy), is a femme fatale who graduated from Harvard, almost perfectly in line with our imagination of the evil elite-but not completely.
As a drug dealer, she is not the image of the native indigenous natives in the backward areas of the Third World in our previous impressions, but a foreign drug trafficking leader who came from the United States and based in Cambodia, thus naturally implying a kind of secular colonialism. Color ; on the other hand, as a boss, she is not the boss of an ordinary rich party at all, but a giant who monopolizes the drug trafficking network around the world. She is not an ordinary businessman, but a person who rules a whole world on the other side of the "light", a person who has the power to kill the lives of all regions and classes of the world.
Another (useless) villain of the film, the US Headquarters, was praised as "the man in charge of the world" during the call with the first villain Aunt Moore -because the United Nations "has no real power . " In the exchange of interests between Aunt Moore and him, he tried to use Aunt Moore to get rid of a large number of dangerous drug-addicts. Although in the end his goal was really hardly effective, this approach was clearly an elite ruler who maintained the barrel by the law of the jungle. To the projection.
If we raise our perspective, the U.S. barrel decision seems equally important to the world: If the United States does not abide by the statute and allows people to die, will the antidote delivery of other countries be affected? Are the policies of the rulers of other countries affected? After all, he is the person in charge of the world, and his decision-making range is not just his own territory. His power is the indirect carrier of the American power in the entire world.
There is also a villain in this film (cool but with a very difficult motive for committing crimes), Mr. Pedro Pascal, the cowboy, who obstructed the actions of the British Royal Gentleman as an American cowboy agent. Although his actions do not represent the official, Hezhongzheng agent is still a partner and kin agency of the royal gentleman, but this does not prevent this from becoming a civilian manifestation of American discourse.
The three villains represent the economic, political, and civil society forces of the United States. The settlement of the three villains represents the attitude of the British gentleman spirit and implies the situation and development trend of the "gentleman spirit".
What Aunt Moore established was actually a new type of empire that never sets in the sun—this kind of masterpiece of the King of Kings, once created by British colonists, is now controlled by American businessmen. Although the US Headquarters was removed and arrested, this does not affect the unshakable symbolic meaning of this position . The two represent the two sides of American dominance, and in the end, it is Aunt Moore that may be directly resolved by British agents, not the outstanding political influence of the United States. Outside the two, Mr. Cowboy was also dealt with by the uncle of the face in the end of the film.
From this, it is not difficult to see the strength of the British Royal Gentleman in the face of the (weak chicken) villain. The final few key steps are almost easy to complete.
However, is there any doubt behind this lightness and pleasure? It seems that we are finally going back to the British side.
In the first part, the image of Uncle Face can fully represent the British gentleman, and further it has become a British symbol . In the second part, Uncle Face, who survived by the magic of technology after being shot, fell into a state of "amnesia". The matter of "amnesia" is the loss of individual memory; when it becomes larger, it corresponds to the deprivation of the history (and its status) of the nation and nation , which can almost become a hint of the glorious past that the United Kingdom may not be glorious. one.
After Uncle Face survived, there were two choices: first, to become an entomologist in the scientific research territory; second, to restore his memory, rejoin the royal gentleman, and continue to "save the world." The former is such a beautiful and narrow space is essentially a kind of retreat and rejection of the outside world, while the latter means the aggressiveness of expansion.
However, even if Uncle Face recovered, he was still facing a dull, incomplete or even at a loss. After all, he is no longer the one who used to be the most powerful person. He must accept the one-eyed one he cannot aim at, accept the sometimes dazzling butterflies in his vision, accept the reality that his physical coordination disorder and close combat with people (dogs) can only rely on defensive skills. The story of a hundred people beheaded in the church is destined to be a distant legend.
Facing American partners, he always harbored doubts and fears in his heart -although this kind of psychology proved effective in the end, it did not erase his deep distrust of "Americanism". He has become an old, weak-but still "British" symbol of elegance (although such a crude generalization is not exact). The southern breath of the United States has become a name for brutality, and unruly cowboys like Boss Qian must wear a gentleman's suit at the end in order to be truly accepted by the community- it is hard to say that this is not the arrogant fantasy of British gentlemen's wishful thinking .
And when we look at all royal agents, the action paragraphs of Huacai cannot conceal the overall decline of the royal gentleman . Their base was easily destroyed by Aunt Moore. They had to use the resources of the agents of the United States. They were almost deceived or even wiped out by the agents of the United States... Throughout the story, it seems that it is difficult for the audience to find the royal family except for the laws of the protagonist’s halo. The reason that the gentleman is bound to stay . The "gentleman" has become a ritual and decorative existence under the declining reality.
The word that often appears in the film is "home (town)". From the beginning, Boss Qian explained the etiquette and inheritance relationship between the agents of the United States and the Royal Agents of the United Kingdom. "Country road, take me home" was played in a loop N times, and Ma Qiang sang it specially at the moment of life and death, even the first villain. Aunt Moore has built her base area into what it looked like in the 1950s ... "Hometown" is not only a spatial relationship, but also contains a historical retrospect in time.
The relationship between the United Kingdom and the United States in the history of Lenovo, we have to make more associations with the "home" in time and space——
Does this "home" call for the value of the British standard, a subconscious remembrance of the glory of the past (or the black history cast by blood) ?
In this way, it seems that it is not difficult for us to understand the image of the "gentleman" in the film who has experienced all kinds of battles. Its function is almost equivalent to the heart-strengthening needle of Suifeng Shuzhu, and it can bring back several reflections of past glory for the depressed soul. All noble and elegant material existence can be regarded as weak self-comfort, maintaining a glamorous self-knowledge.
While we were attracted by the elegant English gentlemen, we were filled with the oversized Statue of Liberty and the American flag. The so-called "gentleman" may have long been an illusion, and the real "gentleman" is just a late-hearted man.
A friend who studied film once told me an interesting (but incomplete) historical fact. After World War II, Europe was a waste of time, the United States dominated, and the film industry was the same. At that time, France, Germany and other countries basically adopted (although not necessarily useful in the end) measures to protect the development of local films to resist the invasion of Hollywood; while the United Kingdom wanted to learn from the vertical system of the United States, but was unable to form a monopoly by large companies, and there were also directors. Many went to Hollywood to seek opportunities. In the end, Britain chose to import more.
This seems to constitute a historical reality that is almost the opposite of the story structure in the film, and Britain is the helpless "invaded."
Up to now, although we cannot say that the characteristics of British films have been completely lost, it seems that compared with countries such as France and Germany, we always feel that they lack a higher degree of recognition. When the first part of "Ace Agent" appeared, we could hardly resist the refreshing feeling of watching the movie; when it came to the second part, we seemed to have fallen back into a familiar context. This film, which can be said to be false, chaotic, empty and contrived, almost constitutes an intuition of Britain itself in my eyes, echoing my personal unrealistic map-cannon imagination of Britain.
Of course, this is also a problem that the current movie world outside Hollywood and even other aspects of the United States will face.
The bad reviews given by the audience may be a real mockery, or a sigh for the "gentleman" in his twilight years.
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