I didn't plan to watch this film at first, but I saw more and more positive reviews when it was released, plus I learned that it was a comic film directed by Han Yan, my interest was finally hooked... I want to judge a The best way to see the quality of the film is to watch it again , so that no matter what you say, you will have confidence.
"Animal World" is a "cool movie" that meets expectations, but for me, this "cool" is not only reflected in its biggest selling point (brain-burning game, imaginative), but also in many side-by-side inconsistencies In the eye-catching details, the latter makes the film have a sweet/fat but not greasy taste.
[Friendly reminder: There will be spoilers below. 】
This is the third feature film directed by Han Yan, his last work "Get Out!" I believe that many audiences will have the impression that the romantic comedy with warm and touching elements can stand out in the sequence of "Chicken Movie" in Yishui, to a certain extent, thanks to the addition of a large number of heroine Xiong Dun. The "brain hole scene" makes it both lively and playful.
In this adaptation of the Japanese manga "Gambling Apocalypse" to shoot "Animal World", Han Yan not only continued his characteristics, but even completely lifted the ban and released himself through this dark work.
The image that condenses all of this is another personality "clown" imagined by Zheng Kaisi's brain hole .
The city drag racing that pulls one hair and moves the whole body, the sea and the sky under the starry sky of the moon and the sky, the beating and beheading of the ubiquitous human-skin monsters... The clown, a sub-line that is not even a sub-line, seems absurd and unruly, but it is huge It enriches the gloomy, demonic, ugly, and colorful texture of the film, and gives this realistic-themed work enough fantasy freshness.
Compared with this feature, another advantage of "Animal World" is more important: patience to "catch bugs" .
We have seen a lot of "cool movies", but there are not so many cool movies that are logical and easy to accept. Many blockbusters (especially domestic blockbusters) will always make the audience feel "less interesting" - just watch this The film setting seems to be very easy to make this mistake.
But "Animal World" has this patience, and spent a lot of time on perfecting and polishing the characters and plot flow before boarding the show . I admit that Zheng Kaisi's personal experience, the awkward relationship with Liu Qing, and being sent a child Li Jun's deception and other content are a bit boring to watch, and I feel that it can be compressed by a third of the space... But it is all due to these careful preparations, and the various character changes and plot reversals later can remove a lot of the sense of incongruity.
When the desperate Zheng Kaisi boarded the "Destiny" and gambled his life, the audience's acceptance of this bizarre gambling game also subtly improved a lot .
The film even solved the small bug of the joke nature that "the whole world can speak/understand English/Chinese" in the form of simultaneous interpretation headphones, which shows how real the crew is - or, there have been Too many people are sloppy...
The highlight of "Animal World" is a big bet in a closed environment on a cruise ship on the high seas. Most of the participants are "Loser" who are heavily in debt and can only fight to the death. There are also some greedy gamblers who have seen the world. The games they play are very simple. Everyone has played the "rock paper scissors" (package scissors hammer).
This gamble, which is about the fate of all participants, is just a pastime game for the powerful and powerful who hide behind the scenes to watch and place bets...
Their representative Anderson, like the tiger overlooking all the contestants, symbolizes the ruler of this "animal world" , the king of beasts standing at the top of the food chain, with unquestionable authority and no disobedience.
At the beginning of the game, each player has 3 stars, and each player has 4 cards, a total of 12 cards. The table faces each other. The winner takes the loser's star, and the tie is eliminated. It is counted as having at least 3 stars and exhausting the cards in hand within the specified time. Victory, there are no rules in this game except that you can't fold in private .
The simpler the game, the more bloody and cruel it is , because of the various human and animal nature, it is too easy to be "exposed" in such a high-stakes gambling environment - at the end of the game, the loser will lose his own body, and the hands Winners with extra stars can cash in big bucks.
The casino is the Colosseum. The lions and tigers on the top have formulated fighting rules . They can borrow, trade, and of course deceive and betray... The Beastmaster wants to strip away the so-called morality and bottom line, revealing the original animal nature in everyone's heart, restore There is no love, righteousness, shame, and only survival interests in the "animal world", so that "fighting beasts" can see blood and kill.
Several supporting characters in "Animal World" are quite brilliant, and they show the various forms of beings after returning to the law of the jungle.
Zhang Jingkun is a typical fox, glib and cunning . As soon as he saw "Mengxin", he stepped forward and called out to the fellow enthusiastically, "Big brother, I have seen the world. Younger brother should never go into this muddy water at such a young age. It's right to listen to my brother"...
After teaching Zheng Kaisi, he immediately turned his face, grinned and continued to look for new prey... But he was not greedy enough to swallow an elephant, and he had to collect another wave of "IQ tax" in the final stage. Mistaken by wisdom, he spit out everything he ate.
And Zheng Kaisi, Li Jun, and Meng Xiaopang were originally stupid sheep, angry chickens, and slippery pigs. In the eyes of others, they were just domestic animals to be slaughtered ... until Zheng Kai , who had come to his senses. Shi bared his fangs.
During the stipulated game time, Zheng Kaisi put on wolf skins for all three of them, and staged a rather bumpy "Lone Wolf Dies, Gathered Wolf Lives", which seems to be an educational and inspirational story.
But the cunning part of "Animal World" is just below the surface - "unconditional trust" is too extravagant in the dark jungle . The harmless pig turned into a treacherous rat in the blink of an eye, and the dejected turkey turned into a scavenger vulture after a few calls.
The so-called human nature is defeated in the face of naked animal nature.
What is commendable is that the film did not simply stand on the moral high ground to criticize the bestiality rashly. As Vader said in "Three-Body Problem", "If you lose your humanity, you lose a lot; if you lose your bestiality, you lose everything."
In fact, Zheng Kaisi finally relied on "bestiality" to make a comeback - without the sharpness of an eagle, he could not steal the value of Brother Scar in the little black room; without the decisiveness of a leopard, he could not recover the original value in an instant. Everything that belongs to him; without the bravery of a bear, he can't pour out his anger in that chaotic environment...
In the film, Zheng Kaisi's animal orientation seems to be an orangutan ... While he is a beast, he still does not forget to yearn for and embrace human nature.
"I have already fought the battle that should be fought, and I have come to the end of the road that I should walk! But I believe in the way, and I will guard it myself!" These lines, which are somewhat middle-of-the-road, are indeed Zheng Kaisi's best motto. .
Therefore, in this place full of lies, Zheng Kaisi can still stubbornly use three stars to redeem the "unfamiliar old father" who met by chance - not asking whether it is true or false, but asking for it.
Of course, there are also many shortcomings in "Animal World". For example, Li Yifeng, who has been greatly praised for his progress in acting, actually has a lot of room for improvement (an advantage from another angle?), and the "brain-burning part" in the game process is slightly formalistic. The protagonist The counterattack is also passive and lacks explosiveness, the splicing of reality and brain hole is too rambunctious, etc... But, in the face of such a domestic commercial film with no obvious shortcomings, I will criticize it if I am not careful . Passed by.
See the sequel below.
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