8.016 billion, setting a new box office record during the 2024 Spring Festival.
Behind the enthusiasm, the withdrawal of half of the movies during the Spring Festival has also made history. "withdrawn from the Spring Festival" has become a hot topic.
's remaining 4 movies, Jia Ling 's " Hot Hot " leads the way, followed closely by Han Han + Shen Teng 's "Flying Life".
Zhang Yimou's " Article 20 " has made steady progress, surpassing the daily box office, and the platform has raised its predicted total box office for many days in a row. Realistic themes such as
should receive attention. While paying attention to the Spring Festival theatrical movies,
discussed filmmakers such as Zhang Yimou, Jia Ling, Lei Jiayin , Ning Hao, Andy Lau, Han Han, Shen Teng, and Ma Li.
There is another person who cannot be ignored. He is Xie Miao, who was known as the "successor of Jet Li ". This Spring Festival, he also contributed two movies.
"Defiant 2" and "Evil" attracted much attention as soon as they were released. The former continues the style of the first film and continues the road of becoming a blind man.
The latter, Xie Miao and An Zhijie, are the "kings meeting kings" in the field of online movies, full of gimmicks.
"Defiant 2" was originally planned to appear on the big screen, but maybe the timing wasn't right, so we finally chose to see it online.
Even so, the popularity has not diminished. Eighth Prince Yuan Heping, Donnie Yen, Wu Jing, Wang Baoqiang, and Nicholas Tse , most of the current action movies, are all calling for Xie Miao's movie.
King Andy Lau and director Liu Weiqiang also personally recorded videos and recommended them to everyone.
During the filming of the movie, Shi Xiaolong also went to visit the team. He and Xie Miao were the two most promising martial arts child stars at that time, and they could be called heroes who cherished each other.
The film lived up to expectations, and the current cumulative box office of has exceeded 12 million.
also has a good reputation. Some people say that this is the best martial arts series in China since Xiu Chun Dao 2. Some netizens of
also commented: is not popular, and God cannot tolerate .
So what is "Defiant 2" like? Let's find out today?
1, the late Tang version of "The Wolf with a Boy"
Producer Wei Junzi, director and screenwriter Yang Bingjia, action director Qin Pengfei, and starring Xie Miao, this fixed team has created one hit after another.
's previous film " Defiant " was released in 2022 and won 29.76 million box office. In it, we can see a glimmer of the glory of traditional martial arts films.
In the movie, the blind knight played by Xie Miao became blind because of a bowl of wine to help Ni Yan seek justice. It focuses on portraying his willingness to draw a sword to help, not fearing power, and pursuing justice.
In "Defiant 2", Cheng Blind once again embarks on the road of revenge. This time he is teamed up with the 9-year-old orphan Zhang Xiaoyu (played by Yang Enyou).
For Xie Miao, partnering with Yang En again reminded him of the feeling of filming "New Shaolin Five Ancestors". Jet Li took care of him back then, and now he has started to take care of his children, , which is very fun.
In the play, he did not accept Zhang Xiaoyu at first and even wanted to get rid of her. However, as they got along, his heart softened and he later helped her take revenge and let her return to Chang'an on his behalf.
Overall, this one is the late Tang version of "The Belt of the Wolf" , which can also be called the martial arts version of "This Killer Is Not Too Cold" .
's martial arts drama is as excellent as ever, with clean and neat action scenes, including physical fist fights and weapon duels in a narrow environment, allowing the audience to feel the thrill and pain firsthand.
For example, there is a scene at the end where a blind man carries Zhang Xiaoyu on his back and fights more than 100 people. The design here obviously pays tribute to "The Five Ancestors of New Shaolin", showing the feeling of two people fighting together.
What’s interesting is that Yang En also went to watch "The Five Ancestors of New Shaolin" in order to film this movie.
She thought the director would arrange a lot of action scenes for her, like Xie Miao did when she was a child, but in the end she had fewer fighting scenes, which was a bit regretful.
2. Improved texture, brilliant literary dramas
The production of "Defiant 2" has been greatly improved to the naked eye. In order to show the temperament of a martial arts film, many scenes were shot in real life, such as winter mountain streams, horseback riding in the wilderness, night bonfires, etc.
In this era of advanced special effects, this movie can still stick to the tradition and show the pure martial arts flavor. This shows the creative team's creation and persistence in oriental martial arts.
In addition to the moralization and art scenes, the biggest change is actually the story. This one is more warm and humane.
The blind man in the first part shows more of the pleasures and grudges in the world, giving us more of a sense of satisfaction.
But in the second part, the swords, swords, shadows, and bloody ferocity have weakened, and the blind man has become chivalrous and tender. The friendship with Zhang Xiaoyu is touching: "I will be your murderous eyes, and you will be my revenge knife." When the main creator of
was designing the character, he added some life-like things to the blind man, such as taking pictures of his room and how he eats, walks, and sleeps, making the whole character more real and down-to-earth.
Xie Miao also described such a blind man as more like a tired middle-aged knight, expressing his inner heart through these life-like details.
also tells us that the hero of a martial arts film is not only about fighting enemies with swords and shadows, but also about the joys and sorrows of daily necessities.
3. Can a new wave of martial arts movies come?
Martial arts films are a distinctive genre of Chinese films that have gone through several waves, from the earliest monster films to the "Once Upon a Time in China" series by Guan Dexing, Cao Dahua and Shijian.
Then there is the new martial arts led by Hu Jinquan and Zhang Cheh, and in the middle is the suspenseful martial arts composed by Gu Long, Chu Yuan, Di Long and the Iron Triangle.
After the new century, there are not many martial arts films available, such as "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" by Ang Lee, "Hero" by Zhang Yimou, "Sword Rain" produced by John Woo, and "Xiu Chun Dao" by Lu Yang series as well as a series of films by Xu Haofeng.
The decline of martial arts movies is visible to the naked eye. It’s not that audiences don’t like watching martial arts anymore, but that creators need to innovate.
As Wei Junzi said, the current martial arts movies have gone through the first stage of "the knights use force to break the ban", the second stage of "the great knights", and have reached the third stage of "fighting for fairness and justice".
The emergence of the "Defiant" series was precisely because of "Becoming Blind" and his own group. He brought some glimmer of light to the lackluster martial arts films.
At the end of "Defiant 2", the blind man dies, but this series is not over. The creative team is very ambitious. They want to make it into a movie like "Once Upon a Time Series" and "007 Series" .
And Xie Miao may really be able to succeed Jet Li.
Not surprisingly, there should be "Defiant 3", and the blind man will return, perhaps through memories.
It is indeed a pity that "Defiant 2" did not make it to the big screen, but when "Defiant 3" is released, I believe it will no longer be a lonely hero.
Because Tsui Hark's "The Legend of the Condor Heroes: The Greatest Hero" will be on the frontline, Yuan Heping's "The Guardian: The Wind Rises in the Desert" is also in preparation, and it is revealed that Wu Jing may star.
Wu Jing opened the Ying Wu Tang in the past two years, bringing fresh blood to the film industry. He himself is also beginning to prepare for "The Knife" and return to the martial arts circuit.
believes that with their promotion, a new wave of martial arts films will come!
As long as Tsui Hark, Yuan Heping, Wu Jing, Wei Junzi, and Xie Miao are still working hard to write martial arts stories, the martial arts spirit will not die, and the martial arts romance unique to the Chinese will one day regain its glory. (Written by: Eleven)
