It was released last Friday, and the box office on the first day was $38.33 million, breaking the box office record for the original movie created by Pixar's "Secret Agents" last year. The box office of the first weekend was 104 million US dollars, becoming the third film with a box office of over 100 million in the first weekend after "Captain America 3" and "Finding Nemo 2". This is a very gratifying achievement for "Pet", which costs only 75 million. (The cost of "Brain Agents" reached 175 million US dollars) It is
not difficult to predict that after its release on August 2 in mainland China, this film will set off a more tragic and bloody storm in the Chinese film market in August.
Starting from the first trailer released in June last year, the characters in "Pet", the pets of New Yorkers, began their unscrupulous and malicious behavior. And in this era when one trick is all over the world, this movie has immediately become one of the most anticipated movies by many fans in 2016.
In addition to cuteness, the setting of "Pet" is also extremely pleasing: what are the pets doing when the owner is not at home?
This is simply a mystery that every pet owner desperately wants to solve.
However, when you think about it, this setting feels a bit familiar...
because Pixar played in their first animated feature film 20 years ago.
That’s right, it’s "Toy Story"
In "Love Pets", the owner is not at home and the pet is the owner. They chat, play around, socialize, and have their own pet society.
In "Toy Story" ("Toys" for short), the owner is not at home and the toy is the owner. The basic settings of the two movies can be said to be exactly the same.
And after watching the film, I discovered that even the plot of "Love Pet" has seriously "borrowed" from "Toys".
-------------- There are a few spoilers below--------------
(Actually, you don't need to care about the plot of the film)
"Pet" Male (Uh, male?) Max is the master’s favorite until one day a roommate who can’t get along comes in. The two dogs had a big conflict, and as a result they were both caught by the Pet Control Center.
Hu Di in "Toys" is also the owner's favorite, because he competes with the new toy Buzz Lightyear, and both ends up on the streets.
The main line of the whole story is also two people (dogs) who don't see each other. After overcoming a series of difficulties, they turned their enemies into friends, and finally returned to the master who loved them deeply.
So, to put it bluntly, "Pet" just copied the settings of "Toys" 20 years ago, changed some characters and changed the background to shoot again.
And... it’s not as good as it was 20 years ago.
For example, in "Toys", Hu Di is full of hostility to Buzz Lightyear because he has been his master Andy's favorite since kindergarten, and Buzz's appearance instantly puts his status in jeopardy.
Children always like the new and dislike the old with toys, so this arrangement is quite reasonable.
In "Love Pets", the owner really loves both dogs, and the arrival of the new roommate Duke does not actually threaten Max's status. Therefore, in order to create conflict, Duke, who has just arrived, was portrayed as a mean and unreasonable roommate.
This arrangement of creating conflicts in order to create conflicts made Duke's subsequent character changes, and Max and Duke's conversion of enemies into friends seemed very abrupt.
There are many similar examples. Whether it is a plot turn or a change in the personality of people (animals), "Pet" is not as reasonable as "Toys". So overall, "Love Pet" is far less attractive than "Toys" 20 years ago. After watching the movie, I can't remember anything except the bloody face that was sprouted.
---------------Serious dividing line--------------
Speaking of which, I would like to talk about a common phenomenon in animated films over the years: People are bigger than stories.
Recall for a moment, in the more important animated films in recent years, you must think of more characters than the story of the film itself.
For example, what story does "Frozen" tell? You may not remember, but you must remember that the Ice Queen sang the song "Let It Go" and built a castle.
What did "Big Hero 6" talk about? It doesn't seem to have any impression, but you must remember that the super warm "male" is so cute.
There are many such examples, such as the Minions in "Minions", Abao in "Kung Fu Panda", Penguins in "Madagascar", Birds and Pigs in "Angry Birds"... these movies themselves They are all unimpressive, but the characters are really impressive.
Even this year's "Crazy Zoo", the story itself does not seem to be more colorful, but the Fox Rabbit CP is really popular.
This approach is understandable. After all, as a commercial film, one outstanding selling point is enough to realize the commercial value of the film. The above-mentioned role-shaping movies have basically achieved a win-win situation in both box office and word of mouth.
However, after watching these movies, although you remember the role, you will not be moved.
This "The Secret Life of Pets" actually maintains a principle from the promotion to the final film: as long as the audience has a bloody face. What is the plot? Can you eat it?
At this point, the film can be said to be the ultimate. As long as the audience walks into the theater with the expectation of watching cute things, they will never be disappointed.
It’s just that, borrowing from other people’s settings 20 years ago, the final film is not as touching as the movie of the year, which is unavoidable in my opinion.
And this once again shows the greatness of Pixar from the side: from "Toy Story" 21 years ago to "Secret Agents" last year, Pixar can always impress us with the simplest themes of companionship, growth, affection, and love. . (I really spare no effort to show the attributes of my Pixar fans)
And what I hope is that more animated films can bring us stories that can truly impress people in addition to excellent character settings.
This is the blessing for us cartoon lovers!
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