Universal's monster series has always been its flagship brand. Vampires, mummies, werewolves and Franken have become iconic IPs in the monster circle. The Mummy Trilogy launched around 2000 brought the monster series to a climax, but Universal did not pursue the victory, but continued to squeeze the surplus value of this IP. What's worse is that no matter how tossing it, these horror IPs of Universal have always been in a state of being popular.
As a result, Universal began to learn from Marvel's approach, hoping to restart the monster series in the way of the movie universe, and connect all the monster IPs in series. I have to say that the idea is still pretty good. Moreover, monsters of different races are active in different parts of the world, and their love and hatred are entangled for thousands of years. Combined with human history, it will give people a very epic feeling. At least after the announcement of this universe, I am still looking forward to it.
Then I saw the first year of the vampire.
In all fairness, this movie is not particularly bad, and the plot is smooth. But the problem lies in this subject matter. . . The subject of the same vampire has too many derivative works. There are jewel works such as Vampire Fright and Castlevania. The film seems a bit mediocre. And as the first work of the Monster Universe, the format and ambition of this film are not enough. It just barely completed Dracula's story and dug a few incredible pits. In addition, the shaping of the protagonist is also problematic. As the big demon of the famous name, the protagonist has too weak aura to stand up completely. So box office failure is inevitable.
After the failure, Legend and Universal made an unbelievable move, announcing that the next new mummy was the beginning of the Universal Universe. Dracula was abandoned in this way. But the new mummy, even if Tom Cruise played the lead, even with The sign of the mummy, but it did not meet the expectations of Legend and Universal. The feeling that the new mummy gives me is actually not as good as the third one of the old mummy (yes, that’s Jet Li’s one)
I personally think that the so-called new monster universe places special emphasis on the application of special effects. Like the ancestor vampire in Dracula’s first year, his skin is dark and he has a strong breath of death. It is hard to tell that he is the Lannister raging in ice and fire; the new mummies are raging in the metropolis by violent sandstorms. The spectacle of the scene is one level higher than the same scene in Mummy II. But the advantages of this universe are nothing more. . .
We say that monsters, although they are hideous on the surface and have various disdainful characteristics, the monsters are still a human being in their hearts. The reason why monster IPs such as Frankenstein, vampires, mummies, etc. can stand up before is because of the human nature in their monster bodies (the vampire’s love for his lover during the four hundred years of vampire thrilling love, the mummy’s deep love for his ex-wife, and It is because of the suffering of human beings and souls), and the anti-humanity and hysteria based on the destruction of hope based on this kind of humanity, and in the end, this hatred will be peaceful because of time and love.
All the classic IP monster masterpieces, although the special effects may not be very good due to the age, the emotions displayed are all real, and they can reach people and resonate in pediatrics. But this feature is completely ignored by the new monster universe. In the first year of Dracula, the main creation was to create a tragic hero. But there is not enough reason for the protagonist. In that case, if the protagonist surrenders, it is estimated that he will be favored by the enemy, and becoming a vampire will eventually lead to his ruin, which is completely unnecessary.
And the female mummy among the new mummies is completely a bad embryo greedy for power. His life went well, only because he wanted to be a female pharaoh and conspired to murder, she was a twisted soul from the beginning, and the film showed her from beginning to end. The act of jeopardizing the world out of selfish dreams of domination of the world. There is no humanity in him. This villain is a monster, not a monster.
The villain’s failure to stand still is actually the biggest problem with the new mummies. But as the opening work of the Monster Universe, he was not responsible for the task of introducing the universe and worldview. All the plots are in service of the mummy, and the weak female villain who can't help it, there is no tribute, no easter eggs of analogy, I think Say, which opening movie of the sub-universe is this?
It is said that this universe still intends to continue, and hope that they can give people a refreshing experience in the next works.
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