During the Spring Festival this year, blockbusters such as " Hot and Spicy ", " Speeding Life 2", " Chapter 20 " and other blockbusters are competing in theaters. However, Jin Yong's martial arts film "The Legend of the Condor Heroes", directed by Tsui Hark, was withdrawn before the Spring Festival due to incomplete production, leaving movie fans somewhat disappointed.
But it doesn’t matter. Wherever there are people, there are rivers and lakes, and where there are rivers and lakes, martial arts movies are indispensable. "Defiant 2" starring Xie Miao has been released, filling the gap in martial arts films during the Spring Festival.
still remembers the 2022 " arrogant ". Xie Miao was small and broad, and won applause from the entire network with clean martial arts and short and concise stories. The cumulative box office reached 26.199 million.
Therefore, "Defiant 2" received more investment budget, and initially went to theaters. Nowadays, although the film has been switched to the Internet due to competition in film scheduling, the look and quality are excellent, completely getting rid of the "Internet quality" and showing the unique charm of martial arts films.
1. Continuing the cold style of the blind "Knife Catcher", the scenes are grand and the rhythm is full
In 2022, "Defiant" became the most popular online movie of the year with its excellent quality. Even CCTV's "cctv TV series" official account was also included in it. It was promoted by name and strongly recommended by director Liu Weiqiang. Xie Miao's persistence and perseverance finally found the direction of development for the declining martial arts film.
Xie Miao played the role of the "Knife Catcher" who became blind due to the war. became a blind man in the first "Defiant Man". The "Knife Catcher" is a bounty hunter who hunts down fugitives for the government. He needs to have a strong enough ability. Martial arts and unrivaled professional ethics.
Cheng Blind has an indifferent personality. Except for the use of force to arrest criminals, he usually does not argue or fight with others. However, he owed a favor because he drank a sip of wine from the restaurant girl Ni Yan. When Ni Yan was insulted, he stood up without hesitation and sought justice for Ni Yan.
"When the road is rough, draw your sword to help" is the chivalrous spirit in our Chinese culture that has been passed down from ancient times to this day, and it is also the essence of martial arts movies. The biggest highlight of the movie is the concise and clear main story line, well-choreographed action scenes and simple and sharp close-quarters martial arts that rely on real shots.
However, as an online movie at the time, "Defiant" failed to completely get rid of the "big online quality" of low-cost movies.
For example: There will be some obviously rough costumes and props in the movie. For example, the scene where Ni Yan and Wu Lang get married is actually drinking and worshiping in an outdoor open space, and the two people's costumes are also relatively rough.
There are also some unreasonable plots, such as: the chivalrous girl Qin Niang knew that she could not fight against the big villain Yuwenjia with her own strength, but she went to kill someone by herself.
Moreover, most of the scenes in the movie are indoors, with few outdoor scenes and distant views. Most of them were shot in a certain film and television city, which makes it look relatively fake.
This year's "Defiant 2" continues the story of the blind "knife catcher" who became blind (played by Xie Miao). He still makes a living licking blood from the knife edge and is busy hunting down fugitives every day. As for things that have nothing to do with this profession, he has always ignored them as much as he can. He protects himself wisely and is very low-key in everything he does.
However, a wandering little girl broke into his home, which completely changed his peaceful life.
Little Beggar Zhang Xiaoyu (played by Yang Enyou)'s younger brother was killed by the playboy Li Jiulang (played by Huang Tao). Zhang Xiaoyu asked the blind man to help her avenge him. The blind man didn't want to pay attention to it at first, but he got along with Zhang Xiaoyu day and night. In the process, the affection between father and daughter gradually developed.
Therefore, when Li Jiulang's subordinate Yao Wannian (played by Ban Majia) found Zhang Xiaoyu, Cheng Xiangzi decisively killed him, and broke into Li Jiulang's mansion alone to kill Zhang Xiaoyu's enemy.
From the content point of view, "Defiant 2" continues the "minimalist" style of the previous game, with a clear main story line and a focus on characterization and action scenes.
revolves around the two main lines of chasing the murderer and revenge. The action scenes in the film are more intensive than in the previous film, and the martial arts design has also been greatly improved. Cheng Blindman's three greatest stunts, Loulan Slash, Tingfeng Knife, and Wrong Bone Hand, were also given more scenes to express.
In order to make the "fight" more exciting, the film spared no effort to devote a lot of text to the creation of the villain, in order to leave a deeper impression on the audience.
As a top expert, Cheng Xiazi can usually resolve the battle within one or two moves when faced with an opponent of mediocre combat power.
For example: In the opening scene of the fight in a gambling house in the western suburbs of Youzhou, the blind man recognized the fugitive from the shopkeeper based on a scar on his hand. He used a knife to nail the store owner's right palm to the counter, and then used his "wrong bone hand" to break his neck with a clean and neat technique.
The wanted Shiraishi San (played by Jampa Cedan) and his wife were captured on a fishing boat. In the cabin, Shiraishi San presented a bowl of wine to the blind man, appearing to be quite affectionate;
Outside the fishing boat, Shiraishi San's wife was holding a kitchen knife. They want to attack Zhang Xiaoyu. On the surface, this insidious couple lives a peaceful fishing life. In fact, there are weapons hidden everywhere in the cabin, making it difficult to hide their ferocious nature.
During the fight, the couple swarmed up, two against one, without any sense of martial ethics. They were at war with each other in the small environment of the cabin, and the swords and swords were flashing and making people breathless.
Bai Shisan, who is also familiar with water, can still lurk in the water and find the right time to attack. If Zhang Xiaoyu hadn't been there to remind him, it would be difficult for a blind man to defeat this pair of thieves.
There is also the robber He Zhuzi (played by Liu Fengchao) who is good at using two fire-breathing knives, using saltpeter to ignite the blades. When dancing, he is full of wind and aura. The blind man was unable to deal with the fire knife, so he had to find an opening to break through the door. A big hole was burned in the clothes on his back. It was the most embarrassing defeat in his life.
The duel between Cheng Xiazi and Yao Wannian at home is based on the style of Japanese sword and halberd movies.
is not limited to sword-slashing, but uses the narrow indoor environment to combine weapon combat with close combat, vividly showing the ferocity of the "bone-breaking hand", and the choreography and design of its movements are quite innovative.
The final decisive battle was between Cheng Xiazi and Zhang Xiaoyu against the three hundred dead men under Li Jiulang.
In the highlight of the fight, the exquisite cooperation between Cheng Xiazi and Zhang Xiaoyu can be vaguely seen when Xie Miao collaborated with Jet Li .
This was Xie Miao's intention to use this action scene to pay tribute to " New Shaolin Five Ancestors " which he collaborated with Jet Li.
The villain Li Jiulang is portrayed as a psychopathic murderer, somewhat similar to the villain Yu Wenying in the previous game. They are both handsome but fierce characters.
Its force value is also very high, its sword skills are wide open and cunning, and the blind man suffered a lot from its fierce offensive. In the end, although the blind man tried his best to kill Li Jiulang, he was also seriously injured.
In addition to the upgrade of the fighting scenes, the costumes and costumes in the film have also made a qualitative leap. We no longer see those costumes and props with the "Internet Da" temperament.
The creator's intentions can be seen in the handling of many details. For example: Jiang Beard (played by Pei Kuishan) in the medicinal material shop is the liaison for adults who are blind. He will use vertebrae to carve Braille on wanted notices to facilitate adults. The blind man reads.
The exterior scenes in the film are also much more detailed, such as the scene of galloping horses on the grassland and the galloping horses in the vast prairie, which makes people fascinated.
These all make the audience feel the familiar flavor of martial arts movies. After the proliferation of "slow-motion martial arts dramas" in previous years, the emergence of the "Defiant" series has given us hope for the revival of martial arts themes.
2. The young movie star Yang Enyou joined the cast and wrote a father-daughter relationship with a blind man.
The most criticized aspect of "Defiant" by the audience at that time was that the fighting scenes were exciting, but the literary scenes were slightly lacking. The 74-minute film length really did not allow for time. Tell the story well, and the image of the "knife catcher" as a blind man is also relatively pale.
"Defiant 2", while retaining high-level action scenes, also put a lot of effort into the arrangement of literary dramas. The blind man, who has always been a loner, has a helper this time - the orphan Zhang Xiaoyu, played by the child star Yang Enyou who has just turned 11 years old.
Yang En is also from Sichuan. He was discovered by director Zhou You in 2017 when he was only 4 years old. In 2022, he became a household name for playing the orphan Wu Xiaowen in " Life Events". Her "Nezha" image in the film is very cute, her iconic big eyes are very spiritual, and her acting talent is extremely high.
In the film, Zhang Xiaoyu and his younger brother Xiaocao live on the streets, making a living by begging and stealing. The only valuable thing on their bodies is a pure silver whistle. Due to an accidental collision with the murderous Li Jiulang, Zhang Xiaoyu escaped by hiding in the home of a blind man. Her younger brother was trampled to death by Li Jiulang's horse.
Zhang Xiaoyu knew that Cheng Xiazi was an extremely skilled martial artist. In order to learn martial arts from Cheng Xiazi and avenge her younger brother, she became obsessed with him from then on.
But we know that the blind man has always liked to work alone, so how could he accept a yellow-haired girl, so Zhang Xiaoyu showed his shameless "tangle" technique and applied it to the blind man like a plaster.
At first, Zhang Xiaoyu just "begged", hoping to persuade the blind man to move, but he was directly picked up and thrown out of the house by the blind man.
Seeing that "Qiu" didn't move, she used "Hide" again, sneaking into the house to hide while Cheng Blind was not at home. When Cheng Blind slept, she hid under the bed; when Cheng Blind went out to do errands, she hid in the suitcase and left. She follows wherever he goes.
At this time, the "personal ability" displayed by Zhang Xiaoyu made the blind man gradually discover that she could be a good helper. For example, when a blind man was lost, Zhang Xiaoyu would help him read the map and find the way to find the fugitive;
When he was fighting with others, she would hide aside and watch the battle and give timely reminders;
At home, she would also cook and clean the house, as if An unpaid nanny.
Cheng Blind Man's attitude towards Zhang Xiaoyu also changed step by step. From the beginning, he combed her hair into a bun and told her to sleep in the stable.
gradually accepted her, let her sleep in the house, and taught her how to use the judge pen.
Later, Zhang Xiaoyu insisted on seeking revenge from Li Jiulang, and Cheng Xiazi found that he could no longer let her go, and he had to accompany her even if he took the risk.
The movie spends a lot of space to depict the relationship between Cheng Xiazi and Zhang Xiaoyu, master and apprentice, as close as father and daughter, which makes up for the lack of characterization in the previous film.
11-year-old Yang Enyou has also greatly improved his acting skills. He has a good grasp of the characters' weakness and tenacity, fear and bravery, cleverness and diligence, and his interpretation level is very high.
Xie Miao has always been strong in the face of strength. Under the leadership of Yang Enyou, he also perfectly interprets the personality of a blind man who is cold on the outside and hot on the inside. The "blindness" characteristic of
actually limits the actor's performance, because most of the time he has his eyes closed and cannot rely on his eyes to act, which makes expressions and speaking lines more difficult.
However, although Semyon kept his eyes closed throughout the film, he was still able to express the character's emotions of joy, anger, sorrow, and relaxation and tension with changes in his expression, without revealing any trace of his performance.
Some people say that the setting of the movie imitates Luc Besson's "The Killer Is Not Too Cold", but Mr. Tomato thinks that Xie Miao and Yang En are quite similar to the "father and son CP" of Xie Miao and Jet Li back then. resemblance.
3. Since his debut in the 1990s, Xie Miao, who has just turned 40 this year, has developed his own unique fighting style
We often use "tiger head and tiger brain" to describe a simple and strong little boy. When Xie Miao first debuted, he looked like a tiger head and tiger brain.
Xie Miao was born in Beijing. When he was 7 years old, his parents originally wanted to send him to the Children's Palace to learn dance, but he disliked wearing tight pants and dancing like a girl, so he insisted on going to a martial arts class.
In only two years of hard work, Xie Miao was able to wield swords, guns and sticks with style. With a pair of big and upright eyes, he carried himself like a "young hero".
In 1993, when Wang Jing went to the martial arts team of Beijing Children's Palace to cast actors for the remake of "The Five Shaolin Patriarchs", he fell in love with him at first sight.
Xie Miao originally competed for the role of Ma Chaoxing in "The Five Ancestors", but Wang Jing felt that his temperament did not match the role. In order for Xie Miao to star, Wang Jing deliberately modified the script and asked him to partner with Jet Li to play Hong Wending, the son of Hong Xiguan. Xie Miao also became famous with this movie.
The most rare thing is that in terms of writing and acting, Xie Miao was able to grasp Hong Wenting's pretended to be mature yet childish personality, and complemented Jet Li's decisive and ruthless image of Hong Xiguan; Xie Miao's martial arts skills were also capable of handling a large number of fights in the film. In the play, the cooperation with Jet Li also achieved a seamless and inseparable effect.
Therefore, Jet Li also liked Xie Miao very much. After "The Five New Shaolin Ancestors", he also collaborated on "Letter to Dad". The relationship between the two was once as close as a father and son.
Wang Jing is the most speculative businessman in the film industry. At that time, he invested a lot of money in Xie Miao and let him participate in Chow Yun-fat's "God of Gamblers 2" and also starred in "Peter Pan". He wanted to promote him as "Jet Li's successor" ".
But Xie Miao followed Chow Yun-fat's advice and after making 4 movies, he chose to give up the film industry and returned to Beijing to continue studying.
It was not until 2000 that Xie Miao, who had achieved academic success, returned to the film and television industry. However, he was already 16 years old at that time, and his image had also undergone great changes. From his round face as a child, it had become more angular. The fame and resources he had accumulated in the past were also lost. No more.
In fact, after entering the year 2000, with the aging of big-name stars such as Jet Li, Jackie Chan, and Donnie Yen, martial arts movies and action movies began to decline.
If Xie Miao couldn't get a good film contract, he could only start over step by step, but there was an innate resilience in his character. When others left or changed their styles, he still stuck to action movies and martial arts movies. piece.
Since 2014, Xie Miao has focused on filming "Internet University" and has also produced many "Thunder Rolling" works. For example, "Fang Shiyu: The Unparalleled Hero" scored 3.9 points, " Great Dream Westward Journey " scored 4.5 points, "White Night Man" scored 3.5 points, and "Wolf Soldier Roar" scored 2.8 points. These are all works below 5 points. We can read them all in one go. It takes courage.
But Xie Miao believes that "there are only bad movies, not bad actors". No matter which movie he takes, he performs it with great enthusiasm and seriousness, letting the audience see his efforts.
Finally, after starring in more than 20 "bad movies", Xie Miao ushered in "Defiant". The success of the movie also brought him back to the audience's vision.
Xie Miao is 40 years old this year. He has not stopped exercising in these years and still maintains good skills and full blood. In terms of performance in action scenes, Xie Miao has gradually formed his own action team and fighting style, and every shot is highly recognizable.
4. Nowadays, the king of Internet traffic is undoubtedly Xie Miao. He will replace the former action star and become a new generation of star leader.
"Defiant 2" is definitely the most anticipated online martial arts movie this year. The Douban score after its release With a score of 7.2, its reputation is even better than its predecessor, and its box office across the entire network exceeded 7.62 million.
Xie Miao also has a good start in 2024 with this movie. He hopes to continue this momentum and participate in more large-scale productions. He also hopes that this series can continue to be filmed.
Among the famous action stars in the past, Jackie Chan, Jet Li and Donnie Yen are all old. Although Jackie Chan is still filming, his action scenes in movies have been "compressed" very little; Jet Li has long been in hiding due to his health. Retirement status; Donnie Yen is focusing his work on Hollywood, hoping to use his remaining energy to produce a few more good films.
"Veterans" such as Zhao Wenzhuo, An Zhijie, Qian Xiaohao, Yuan Hua, Xiong Xinxin, and Shi Xingyu have now moved to online movies.
Someone has done statistics. Among the online movies with a box office of more than 10 million in recent years, action movies account for a stable proportion: 26% in 2020, 29% in 2021, 21% in 2022, and 21% in 2023. %.
Action movies and martial arts movies that have struggled in theater movies have found new development paths in online movies. But filming action scenes is a strenuous job. The veteran stars are all older, and there are not many among the younger generation who can carry the banner.
Only Xie Miao has the potential in this area. Firstly, he has a good image. He has been in the film and television industry for so many years, and his acting skills have become proficient and he is qualified to play the leading role. Secondly, he has a solid foundation in martial arts and works hard enough. Basically, there is no need for a stand-in when filming. These two points can really attract fans.
His two series, "Northeast Police Story" and "Defiant", have the best reputations among online movies. Therefore, Xie Miao is expected to replace the former action star and become a new generation of star-making leader.
(movie Rotten Tomatoes Editorial Department: Hot-Blooded Heart)
