Foreword:
Twenty-five years later, Will Smith re-enacted "Jedi Men". He has changed from an action star who just debuted to a world-class superstar. The vicissitudes of life, his starring also means a rebirth for "Men of the Jedi 3": 17 years after the release of "Men of the Jedi", the three leading actors of that year have all become legendary superstars in the film and television industry to varying degrees. What does the reunion of "Jedi Men 3" in 2020 mean for the three of them? Not only does it mean saying goodbye to Michael Bay and making new tricks out of clichés, but it also means the Latino community's feedback on Hollywood.
- 1. The most dazzling debut: Will Smith's Leaping from the Dragon Gate
In 1995, the first game of the "Jedi Men" series came out, which meant a major life change for Will Smith.
At that time, Will Smith, although he gained a certain popularity with a tailor-made "Fresh Prince", was not a real movie star. With the success of "Jedi Boys", he not only turned into a world-class action star, Mike Lowrey, who has a hot personality and full of personal charm, has also frozen the originality of every commercial action movie after him. image.
At that time, Martin Lawrence, although he already starred in the popular drama "Martin", but in the 1990s when black comedies flourished, Eddie Murphy was in an absolute dominant position, and He has yet to show up in the movie market and get his own place.
And Marcus Burnett, imitating Roger Mordau in "Lethal Weapon", who can still fight but always think about retirement, also made Martin Lawrence's film career show late symptoms of self-exploitation, such as "Nothing to Lose". ", "Second Detective of a Stupid Thief", "National Security", and the "Jedi Dad" series with elements of "Professor Fatty" have further overdrawn his career.
At that time, Michael Bay was only a relatively successful advertising director and MV director, and he had nothing to do with feature films. To put it bluntly, the plot of "Jedi Men" lacks depth, but it is full of dynamism. The good response of the market after its release directly laid the development line after Michael Bay. The success of several action blockbusters has masked the fatal fact that word of mouth has never been boosted. After "Pearl Harbor", which did not meet expectations at the box office, Michael Bay returned to "Jedi Men 2" to intensify his efforts: the beauty of the car, the explosion of slow motion, and the moving camera lens have all begun to become his exclusive personal labels. Compared with the previous work, it is simply Like two people.
- 2. Post-"Jedi Men" Era: "The Rival of the People" Grows
After the great success of "Jedi Men" in 1995, Will Smith started his open life.
First, the masterpiece "Independence Day" was launched in 1996, which caused quite a stir at the time, and it also made its worth continue to skyrocket, becoming a first-line superstar. The film made a global $817 million at that time. box office.
Then, in 1997, he starred in the sci-fi film "Men in Black", which won a global box office of nearly 600 million US dollars; in 2002, he was nominated for the Best Actor Oscar for his biographical film "King Ali". In 2007, another biographical film "Being Happy" Come Knock on the Door" was nominated for the Oscar again, and in 2008, he won the MTV Movie Award for Best Actor for his sci-fi film "I Am Legend".…
In terms of acting, he can jump out of the popular film route and control various types of films. His films cover a variety of genres, whether sci-fi, comedy, or drama. In the movie "Men in Black", he showed the confidence, ease and charm that black characters have never had before; in "Seven Pounds", his performance was exquisite and restrained, and his eyes could even sting the audience; "Independence Day", In films such as "Fighting Troopers", Will Smith has perfectly created a series of upright and upright characters, and his image is still full of humor; The single father of the Wall Street elite; in "I Am Legend", he interprets a rare "alternative scientist", a warrior who wanders alone in the apocalypse. So far, Will Smith has been nominated for 37 awards, big and small, and won 15 times.
How popular was Will Smith? Big enough, he turned down the roles of Neo in The Matrix (later played by Keanu Reeves) and Django (later played by Jamie Foxx) in Django Unchained. Whenever he starred in the movie, the poster is basically his big head.
He used to be the Hollywood record holder for the highest box office, and his films totaled more than 6.6 billion US dollars at the global box office. In the August 2019 Forbes list of the world's highest-paid male actors, he was ranked 10th with $35 million.
Even former US President Barack Obama is also a fan of his. Obama has said that if he were to cast an actor for his biopic, it would be Will Smith. Because, "he has the ears."
If there are four words to describe Will Smith's charm, it is "the national rival in love": he has a rare smart face and a perfect figure with just the right proportions, and his voice is also mellow and beautiful.
That's it, "Shi Huang" has become a generation of film and television legends from an unknown black boy.
Ang Lee also praised Will Smith when he was promoting "Gemini Man" in Shanghai. "A person can be popular for 30 years, still be able to make action movies, and be a good actor. One hand can count those who meet these conditions."
In the film "Casablanca" directed by Michael Curtis, there is a classic saying, "In your temperament today, there are the paths you have traveled, the books you have read and the people you have loved." The emperor's body is more suitable.
Before becoming an actor, he was a dynamic hip-hop singer. After becoming an actor, he is a positive energy internet celebrity and a pet maniac. It can be said that these identities have jointly created Will Smith today, and they are indispensable. The humor and sadness he presents in the film can all be traced from these identities.
In the past 19 years, Will Smith once again collaborated with Ang Lee to give audiences a "Gemini Man". 120 frames + 4k + 3D shooting, challenging the technical indicators of the film, the sci-fi story of self-fighting, extended Ang Lee's creative field. However, as soon as the work was released, it received a flood of negative reviews. The reason was nothing more than the clichéd plot, the self-fighting, or the father-son relationship.
But this movie is not useless, the first point is the actors, one word, steady. The 51-year-old is going to play his 23-year-old state; then the question is: how to cover up the traces of the years in front of high-definition cameras? How does 51-year-old Will Smith manage to play his 23-year-old self again? Ang Lee challenged the new heights of film technology. He used the latest motion capture special effects to delicately restore the human face, making Will Smith "rejuvenate". This kind of character set only belonged to Cameron ("Avatar") before, and now the pattern of the film has new possibilities.
- 3. "Jedi Boys 3": It's lucky to say goodbye to the "shell style" element
Keeping distance from Michael Bell is a positive sign from the latest "Bad Boys 3": In this new sequel, he only makes a cameo appearance as an MC, and his appearance also uses his signature ring. Move the camera. Yes, there must be a schedule conflict behind this - "Ghost Attack: Violence with Violence" is in the hot production period, but this is a rare luck for "Jedi Boys 3".
As the first "Bayhem movie" in the post-Transformers era, "Ghost Attack" reveals that his obsession with "Bayhem" has gone completely out of control, and the narrative and character creation are completely out of shape , the visual effect has also changed from sensory stimulation to pure oppression. In front of such a Michael Bay, the story and starring of the movie no longer have a sense of existence, and it is difficult to change any IP.
In this case, Jerry Bruckheimer's trust in two rookie directors and rookie screenwriters seems far-sighted. The Latino directors of Adil El Abi and Bilal Farah are extraordinarily fierce and skillful in this "Jedi 3". The first part of the series was overly comedic, the second one added a compulsive sensationalism, and it wasn't until the third part that it was well balanced. And here, screenwriter Chris Bremner's rewriting of Joe Carnahan ("Dragon") and Peter Clegg ("City Thieves"), although still so vulgar, also has a plot connection problem, but enough.
On some levels, the so-called "bad vulgarity" in the story of "Jedi Men 3" can actually be seen as a feedback from the Latino group to Hollywood - the output of Hollywood movies in the 1990s, especially for Southern California And the depiction of South Florida provides sufficient nourishment for these dreamy filmmakers; and in the process of realizing their dreams in the new era, these people use their unique perspectives and experiences to contribute to this type of "traditional stories". Added fresh energy.
- Fourth, the clichéd bridges play new tricks
Compared to the first two films directed by Michael Bay, "Jedi Boys 3" is obviously more self-conscious. The film no longer de-objectifies women, nor does it focus on the military and firearms, and these elements of Michael Bay often make an already ridiculous story even less deep. Of course, the two detectives are no longer reckless and bombarded, but this does not mean that the film will be restrained in action and violence, just a little more brains.
Standing on the two elements of action and comedy, the story of "Jedi Boys 3" is very old-fashioned. If you have a little understanding of Western TV series, it is not difficult to find out - the bridges such as "ex-lover's revenge" and "illegitimate child" can't be rotten any more. Especially the latter has just been played in "Gemini Man", it can be called the scene of a car accident.
But what's important is that "Jedi Boys 3" makes important additions precisely to some of the "disdain" aspects of "Gemini Man": such as the unconvincing interaction between the main and supporting characters and the emotional relationship (especially the The captain played by Joe Pantoliano); it is like the comparison between the old and the new, and the AMMO team is cleverly used for comparison; it is like the role modeling, not to position the protagonist as a very bad "perfect person" , and even in the position of failure a lot of the time.
It is precisely with these elements that Will Smith in "Jedi Men 3" is more like a real person, rather than an idol imprisoned under a perfect shape with flaws. A real transformation. By the end of the movie, the handling of the illegitimate child also protects the basic moral sense of the story and the characters, avoiding the moral trap of Captain America 3.
Compared with "Bei Era"'s "Jedi Men", "Jedi Men 3" injected with fresh blood is obviously full of sincerity and more focused. In the past few years, there have been many sequels to old-fashioned IPs, all of which have made attempts to humanize traditional (action) heroes, but most of them are still immersed in the soap bubble of "guying self-pity".
Although "Jedi Men 3" has too many traces on "Sorrowful Autumn", the injection of the dual protagonists and a group of young characters has given these sorrows a solid foundation, and further improved the look and feel of the film.
"Jedi Men 3" will not be a movie of the "Best of the Year" level, but as far as this IP is concerned, it has shown full vitality and entertainment. The easter eggs added at the end of the film also herald more sequel units and other possibilities in the future, but it is not necessarily a good thing for the series. This is also what Hollywood is good at - Beat a dead horse, and occasionally live, thank goodness.
It's hard to say whether the series can continue to write the next "Fast and Furious". After all, the killer of nostalgia can be played once, and then it will really lie in the grave.
Conclusion:
In the "Jedi Men" series, you can see not only the trajectory of the development of Hollywood action movies for more than 20 years, but also the personal growth history of Will Smith. From "Jedi Boys" to "Jedi Boys 3" is not only Will Smith's step-by-step growth into "Shihuang", but also the process of the continuous growth of the Latino group and gradually feeding back to Hollywood. This process is also part of the world's film history.
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