In the opening scene of Raiders of the Lost Ark 5, 80-year-old Harrison Ford plays Jones, an old and disgruntled professor of archeology. The day of his honorable retirement coincides with the news of the moon landing back to the United States. The stubborn ideas of the characters are also a fatal dilemma in Hollywood today.
In the movie, Jones’ eyes fall on the past. He embarks on the final journey for the old grievances. The treasure he is looking for is an antiquity from 3,000 years ago.
When "Raiders of the Lost Ark: Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" was released in 2008, Spielberg re-faced this "Hollywood cash cow" IP after 19 years. Wearing it on the head of the son, the new adventure should be made by the next generation. Outside of the film, Spielberg handed over the series that saved his career in the crisis and allowed him to step into the pantheon of Hollywood directors, and handed over the directorship to the new generation of filmmakers who grew up watching the "Raiders of the Lost Ark" series. But the audience sees the beginning of the intergenerational inheritance, and then, there is no "then". The young James Mangold directed "Raiders of the Lost Ark 5" and turned his back on the carbine: Little Jones died in the Vietnam War. The stories left by the older generation have to be carried on by the older generation. The new chapter of the series returns to "the legend of the fathers".
The writers and directors let old Jones go back to the passionate days in the old way, and they sentimentally tried to return to the good times of the "Raiders of the Lost Ark" series. At the beginning of the movie, borrowing the latest CGI technology, the eighty-year-old man "rejuvenated" to his youthful appearance 40 years ago. This chase scene on the train is almost a step-by-step remake of the opening scene of "Raiders of the Lost Ark: Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade". This tense action scene seems to be returning to the place where the dream began: the youthful River Phoenix played the young Jones, fighting the tomb robber on the train across the western wilderness, chasing and chasing among the cars, thrilling car chases, close combat in a stimulating environment full of irresistible factors... The spectacle of young people playing ignorant and fearless in the past has been reproduced in a more hard-core and more expensive way. However, the novelty that was born out of nowhere at that time was reproduced after decades of time, revealing the old-fashioned taste of "all the past".
However, it can only be the old movie itself, the fragile substance of the old film that is "restored as old". The plots, scenes and tastes of classic movies have "returned" after time has passed, and they have roughly become monsters from time travel or nondescript fakes. The reason is so simple, and the big studios can't hold back the glory of the past.
In "The Flash", Barry desperately went back to the past, changed the fate of his parents, and tore apart a parallel time and space that should not exist. When he was thrown into the time and space of "Mom Loves Me Again" by the distorted timeline, he met the unrecognizable Batman. Michael Keaton plays the retired Batman who lives in a secluded castle - there is no more naked self-tribute! Back in time to 1989, it was Michael Keaton who starred in "Batman" directed by Tim Burton, and achieved the first generation of superstar Batman on the big screen.The new Flash meets the old Batman. In 2023, the filming of "The Flash" seamlessly connects with the 1989 "Batman".
's fascination with "prehistory" is not limited to the copying of classic passages and scenes, but more because new plays cannot move forward with time, but are obsessed with retrospecting the history of characters and the entire "plot universe". Warner Bros. recently released the trailer for "Wonka", which is scheduled to be released at the end of the year. "Wonka" is the magical core character in Roald Dahl's classic fairy tale "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory". The writer created the image of this inventive and magical chocolate maker in the 1960s.
history and prequels have become the mainstream of IP derivative development. "Toy Story" is recognized as the most pioneering work of Pixar Studios. This series has calmly faced "growing up" and "farewell", drawing a long pause button at the "adult" moment when the little boy enters college. Today, the pause button restarts, but it is not imagining "the future has come". "Light Years" is like a white-headed palace lady gossiping about the past, salvaging "before meeting Toy Story" Buzz Lightyear in memory.
Think about earlier, when the novel of "Harry Potter" ended, when the author Rowling wrote the stage play, the timeline was forward. "The Cursed Child" is the next generation of little magicians who learn to accept and deal with the "inheritance of their parents" in their adventures. But while the Harry Potter Cinematic Universe expands, "Big Productions" fascinates with an even older wizarding world, traveling back in time and flashing back to the prime of the old headmaster, Dumbledore.
In the ever-expanding "movie universe" supported by various IPs, "now" and "future" are rare, and "before" and "long ago" are repeated over and over again. Michael Keaton wears night clothes in the same bunker scene as in the 1989 movie, outside, the day is fading; the old and vigorous Harrison Ford is running away in a motorcycle that is about to fall apart in the alleys of Casablanca, and in the distance, the setting sun is about to fall into the sea. This is all a farewell elegy. The ruthless box office proves that these audiences cannot retain the new generation, but helpless self-pity. It is very similar to the classic scene of "Sunset Boulevard" directed by Billy Wilder: the superstars of the forgotten silent film era play cards silently in a mansion like a tomb.
Author: Liu Qing
Editor: Jiang Fang
Responsible editor: Li Ting
*Wenhui exclusive manuscript, please indicate the source for reprinting.
