Once upon a time, spy dramas were a popular theme in domestic entertainment and the main force in box office ratings. From Liu Yunlong 's "The Conspiracy" to "Insidious" and " Cliff ", the level of domestic spy war dramas once reached its peak. Let alone Asia, even Hollywood spy war dramas are far from domestic spy war dramas. opponent.
However, the peak of domestic spy war dramas seems to have ended with " Kite ". After that, except for a few hits such as "Renegade", most of the spy war dramas broadcast have questionable reputations.
Unexpectedly, in 2024, the Chinese drama market will give the audience a big surprise. "Storm Chaser", which just concluded at the beginning of the month, was launched on CCTV. The ratings immediately broke 1 on the first day it aired. After that, it went up and up, breaking 2 all the way, and scored a high score of 7.8 on Douban.
At present, "The Storm Chaser" has just concluded, and there is another "When the Stars Shine", which stars on Hunan Satellite TV and is broadcast exclusively on Mango TV. On the first day of its launch, the number of views exceeded 20 million.
The playback volume is so high after only updating 3 episodes. Is this drama so good? I watched 1 episode with a skeptical attitude, and I felt "really good".
Family banquets, commissions, and assassinations, the opening scene fully displays the temperament of a spy war drama
"When the Stars Shine" tells the story of Hua Zhen (played by Li Xian), who was born in a military family, rejected his father's arrangement to enter politics, and devoted himself to becoming a naval officer. National service.
At his father's birthday party, Hua Zhen, who had been in school for two years, returned home and met his former teacher at the school. Facing his idol, Hua Zhen agreed to his request and went to Shanghai to deliver a book to his teacher. Unexpectedly, this trip to Shanghai broke his originally stable life.
The biggest attraction of the spy drama is the plot itself. Two high-energy plots make people instantly attracted to the drama.
1. The information transmission is too fast-paced.
The story begins. Without further ado, a member of our party staff is directly arranged to deliver important information, allowing the audience to be directly brought into the atmosphere of a spy drama.
Deng Mingyuan (played by Cao Lei), as the director of the manufacturing supervision room, looked around on the street and then got into a rickshaw. He knew clearly that there was a "tail" behind him, so he could only direct his companions to Huazhen's house.
Time was tight and the task was heavy. Deng Mingyuan knew clearly that he did not have much time. If he did not hand over the book in his hand to a reliable person as soon as possible, the comrades who were waiting for his news would suffer. At this moment, he met His former student, Hua Zhen.
Listening to his full ambition to serve the country, Deng Mingyuan, who was still hesitating at first, made a decision immediately and asked Hua Zhen to go to Shanghai immediately and give this book to his friend. As soon as the delivery was completed, he was taken away.
2. The mission failed and a child was picked up.
hasn't breathed a sigh of relief yet, Huazhen has another big trouble.
Because of the teacher's instructions, Hua Zhen went to Shanghai immediately after his father's birthday party. As soon as he arrived at the hotel, he saw a little girl with a gun pointed at her head at the door of the room she was going to.
At the critical moment, seeing the child's life hanging by a thread, Hua Zhen finally took action to drag the girl away and hide her.
In the next room, the murderer fled in disorder due to the arrival of the police. Hua Zhen listened to the little girl's description and saw corpses everywhere in the room where he was going.
In order to deceive others, he called the teacher from a public telephone booth in Huazhen District, but was told that the teacher was not there.
Later, while having dinner and chatting with the girl, Hua Zhen discovered that the book that the teacher asked him to forward was very interesting, and it actually contained forged documents. This made Hua Zhen realize that the matter he was involved in, I'm afraid it's not simple.
Reversal and reversal, the identity of the teacher has become clear. He is a great underground worker of our party, and the murdered Meng family couple and their friends should be comrades preparing to be transferred.
But why did they encounter poisonous hands? Who was responsible for this massacre? Presumably this is also what the male protagonist needs to explore in the subsequent plot.
It can be said that "When the Stars Shine" is a rare new spy drama that can tell the story in a brilliant way. The rhythm is online throughout and the high-energy reversals are constant. This is what a spy drama should be like!
Li Xian plays the leading role, and Huang Zhizhong’s appearance is so eye-catching.
As we all know, in spy war dramas, in addition to the strong plot, acting skills are also the top priority. And the casting of "When the Stars Shine" was so discerning.
ranks first, Huang Zhizhong.
The powerful actor Huang Zhizhong simply made the audience's eyes light up when he appeared.
Faced with the "unsatisfactory" young son, Hua Zhuoqin, played by Huang Zhizhong, has full aura, and his powerful voice directly makes the audience feel his sense of oppression.
When Hua Zhuoqin heard that his youngest son did not greet the guests first when he came back, and showed no courtesy at all, Hua Zhuoqin looked impatient, turned his mouth downwards, and glanced at Hua Zhen with a scrutinizing gaze, directly standing upright as a patriarch.
Such an acting master appears in the opening scene, which is like a needle in the sea, setting the tone for the entire drama. In this new work, I am not worried about Huang Zhizhong's acting skills, I am only worried that his role is not enough.
is second, Li Xian.
From "Dear, Beloved " to "Go Where the Wind Is" to "When the Stars Shine", Li Xian has taken one step at a time. Li Xian's solid acting skills can be seen in any TV series in which he participates. .
In the new drama "When the Stars Shine", Hua Zhen, played by Li Xian, made a handsome appearance in a white navy suit in the opening scene. When he learned that the book his teacher asked him to convey contained the universe, Hua Zhen looked thoughtful, and looked at the little girl with a flash of confusion in his eyes and a frown on his face. The inner struggle of the character could be seen through the screen.
It can be said that in this new work, Li Xian performed steadily and fully demonstrated his character in just one episode. I am really looking forward to his wonderful performance in the subsequent plots.
ranked third, Wang Maolei.
Wang Maolei plays Wei Daiqing, captain of the reconnaissance team at the Songhu Security Command in the new drama. As soon as he appeared, he arrested the underground workers of our party. Sitting in the car, looking at the yellow-haired car dodging in front, his whole person exuded a cold atmosphere.
Facing Deng Mingyuan who refused to cooperate, he had no expression on his face and looked at him with empty eyes, as if he was facing a "dead thing". He said sarcastic words without emotion. This mantra and calculation seemed to be carved. In the bones.
Especially when looking at the camera and meditating, a sinister atmosphere comes to my face.
It is not difficult to see that Wang Maolei becomes one with the characters in this drama, and her acting skills are so wonderful.
In addition, Dong Jie, Ren Min, Zhou You, Wang Zixuan, Jiang Yi and other powerful actors all gave outstanding performances in "When the Stars Shine". This drama of group portraits is so awesome. .
Conclusion
There are roughly three types of spy movies and TV dramas that were commonly seen in the past.
The first type is a brain-burning spy game. This type of relies on logic, plot, suspense, and reasoning to win. Take the death battle in a small space and achieve the ultimate in single-clue narrative, and peel off the cocoons, such as "风声", "The Conspiracy", etc.
The second type is a life-style spy game. integrates espionage into daily life. On one side is the daily life of underground life, and on the other side is the thrilling escape. For example, "Insidious", "Cliff", etc.
The third type is an epic spy war. Works such as pay more attention to the precise layout and refinement of drama, and complete the sublimation of the character step by step. Liu Yunlong's "Kite" is the most classic masterpiece.
However, the fourth type of that has flooded the domestic spy drama market in recent years is the idol spy drama . This kind of spy drama is often driven by fast-paced plots, fierce gun battles and game-style missions. The spy war contains elements of idol dramas, and there are many handsome guys and beauties. Such as "Pretender", "Rebel", etc.
"When Group Portraits Shine" perfectly integrates these four types. It has brain-burning scenes, a sense of life, character growth and sublimation, and handsome guys and beauties.
It can be said that this new work fully meets the audience's demands for dramas, and it also just makes up for the gap caused by the ending of "Wind Chaser". I believe that as long as the follow-up story is online and the plot is tense, it will not be a problem to surpass "Storm Chaser" and become the king of spy dramas this year.
