/ Levin - The abridged version of the film review was published in the Beijing Youth Daily.
At the beginning, when "Hurricane Rescue" was released in China as a French film in 2008, it was even released earlier than the United States. After half a year, the final result was that the box office in China was mediocre, but it sold over 100 million yuan in the United States! You must know that in the era of science fiction, fantasy, animation and superheroes dominating the US box office, traditional action films have basically been reduced to second-rate productions. It is very rare for an action film to sell over 100 million yuan! As a result, the film suddenly became famous, and it was a matter of course for the second episode to start shooting. Now that the second episode has been released simultaneously in China and the United States, the Chinese box office is still tepid, and the U.S. box office continues to explode. It sold 49 million in the first week. The world box office is also much better than the first episode. It is no surprise that the third episode is launched. . Why is this action film without traditional action stars, weak starring cast, and no audio-visual bombing scenes, able to create box office miracles one after another? What personalization factors contributed to a film's success? There are indeed many doorways worth analyzing and exploring.
First of all, the success of the "Hurricane Rescue" series has a certain degree of accidental factors. Luc Besson, the producer of this film, has made commercial blockbusters such as "The Fifth Element", and has also launched "Fate Express", "Arthur and Arthur" His Mini Kingdom" two commercial series, but I'm afraid he didn't expect that the "Hurricane Rescue" series would become the highest box office in his career. Just looking at the starring lineup, the positioning of B-level action movies is already very obvious. The actor Liam Neeson is basically a melancholy literary male figure in films such as "Schindler's List", although he has also acted in films such as "Star Wars: The Phantom Menace" and "Batman: War Hour". Action scenes, but generally don't give the impression of an action star. Playing his daughter Maggie Grace, viewers wouldn't even know the actress if they hadn't seen the American show "Lost." Famke Janssen, who played his wife, the only movie that made an impression on her was the role of the "Phoenix Girl" in the previous "X-Men" series. When she played "Hurricane Rescue", her face was quickly disabled to the level of an aunt. . It can be said that this lineup does not show how ambitious the film is for the box office. Looking at the action scenes again, the fights, gun battles, and car chases in "Hurricane Rescue" in Paris are also common elements of action films, and there is not even a big scene that can be called a particularly popular scene. The first episode was able to achieve a big sale, Luck is indeed inevitable.
In addition to the accidental luck factor, the unique personality of "Hurricane Rescue" hidden under the traditional elements is the inevitability of the film's box office miracle. Anyone who has watched it will notice that the plot is clearly divided into two parts: family drama and action drama. The opening quarter of the plot focuses on the emotional relationship between father and daughter. The rhythm belongs to the soothing rhythm of life, full of leisure. and warmth. In the last three-quarters of the plot, the father flew to Paris to rescue the kidnapped daughter single-handedly. The rhythm was as sharp and compact as the "Bourne Bourne" series, and such a structure was very rare in Hollywood action films. Hollywood action films with traditional routines generally have a "wonderful three minutes" opening, which uses a wonderful action scene to excite the audience first, and then turns to the main storyline, followed by slow, slow, action scenes and emotional scenes. The adjusted rhythm pushes the film to a climax. The rhythm design of "Hurricane Rescue", which clearly separates emotional scenes and action scenes, the opening scene is a mess, and the action scenes in the back are so tense that there is no room for rest. It can be said that it has subverted the traditional Hollywood action movies. No wonder Many Chinese audiences will feel uncomfortable and complain about the slow pace of the opening scene. However, this kind of "procrastination" emotional drama actually plays an important role. It is through the opening scenes of life and the emotional rivalry between father and daughter that the audience gradually invests in the feelings of the characters, the father's meticulous care for his daughter and The emotional generation gap and run-in between the father and daughter will undoubtedly resonate with many audiences. In particular, the father even has an excessive desire to protect his daughter. The positioning of this extremely traditional father image makes the emotional atmosphere of the film seem quite strong and traditional. In addition, the agent's father started killing in Paris, not to save the world, not to help the weak, and not for personal safety, but just to save his daughter home, which is completely different from the behavior of traditional action movies. Mode, and full of strong emotional factors, although the action scenes are not very popular, but every chase, shootout and fight affects people's hearts, and it is related to whether the father can find the fate of his daughter. It can even be said that this film has created a new type of "emotional action film", which has greatly expanded the viewing age group of action films, allowing the audience's emotions to fluctuate with the action scenes and enjoy a fresh movie viewing pleasure. .
In terms of action scenes alone, this film also belongs to the popular routine created by the "Bourne Bourne" series that does not rely on big scenes and hot scenes to attract people, but relies on rhythm, plot tension and sharp actions. Second to the "Bourne Bourne" series. Whether it is the hero Paris rescuing his daughter or Isaboul rescuing his ex-wife, as long as the action scenes start, they will not stop. Each scene is extremely closely connected and full of tension. The pursuit of clues, gunfights, and speeding car chases are all done in one go. This requires the director of the film to make the plot very well on the one hand, and keep the action scenes above the standard on the other hand, and then closely match the two to form an excellent entertainment effect, which is also difficult for ordinary action films to achieve. boundary.
The success of this series is also inextricably linked to the hero Liam Neeson. Although he is not a traditional action star like Schwarzenegger and Stallone, but an acting school, but now it is precisely the traditional action star that is no longer popular, and the audience needs to see wonderful performances in action movies. Transforming into action men has gradually become a trend. Nicolas Cage and Matt Damon are all previous success stories, and Liam Neeson is the current number one representative of this trend, and he is also one of the most moving acting. The deep and strong family affection for his ex-wife is real and cordial, and the traditional family values represented by him are undoubtedly the most pleasing to the audience, which also makes the audience project his role far more than other action movie heroes. Spend. In addition, although Liam Neeson is in his 60s, he still shows the sharp skills and aura that are not inferior to the juniors, which makes the role of the "retired elite agent" particularly convincing, and also allows him to single-handedly sweep the entire gang. The ability does not seem exaggerated.
Specific to the currently released "Hurricane Rescue 2", it is excusable for the film to completely replicate the successful model of the first episode. Since the first episode has been proven to be a widely watched mode, the second episode should strike while the iron is hot and strengthen rather than change the mode in accordance with the usual operating methods of commercial sequels, so as to create greater box office glory. Wait until the audience gets sick of this model, as long as it's after the third episode, which is why commercial series are generally trilogy. Therefore, this film has been strengthened and upgraded in terms of emotion and action elements. In addition to the still strong family relationship between father and daughter, the relationship between father and ex-wife has also begun to rely on "reunion", and the villain is also out of "revenge for his son". Emotional motives make the film "family action film" more distinctive. In addition, the action scenes are larger and more intense than the first episode, and the design of some action sections appears to be more "intelligent". Liam Neeson's skills are also more formidable, not only is the group battle still invincible, but also the end of the battle with the enemy's master can be called the most exciting hand-to-hand combat in Hollywood in recent years.
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