The May Day schedule is over, and I saw that " Kowloon Walled City: The Siege " ranked second at the box office with an ultra-low film ratio. I don't know if I should be happy for this Hong Kong film, or should I feel sorry for the movie?
To be honest, the film market has not been very friendly to the arrangement of Hong Kong films in the past few years. Firstly, it is because it is really difficult for Hong Kong films to become blockbusters, and secondly, because theaters will actively "make way" for main theme films and comedy-type films, resulting in The dilemma of Hong Kong films is difficult to overcome.
The producers of " Kowloon Walled City " were obviously aware of this predicament, so when Hong Kong films were rarely screened, they rushed to screen it a week before its release.
It was this screening that allowed "Kowloon Walled City" to gain a steady rise in reputation during the holidays, and ultimately allowed its film schedule to increase from 9% at the beginning to 18% now, ranking second among the films currently scheduled for May Day. .
However, this result is obviously not fair, because we are now looking at the ranking ratio of several new films. "Kowloon Walled City" with the best rating on Douban is still at the bottom of the top few, and a certain comedy film and a certain theme movie still remain at the bottom of the rankings. More than 20%, this box office result is really not innocent!
Let go of the chaotic movie market and let’s talk about the movie "Kowloon Walled City" itself. Why did it please the audience?
1. Cheng Baorui, the director of "Kowloon Walled City" by
, a conscientious production team, once said to the point that the reason why Hong Kong movies are declining is because today's filmmakers are "lazy"! They didn't put any effort into filmmaking at all, and the films they made were just about okay.
Including Zheng Baorui himself, he has made many commercial films with poor content. Even though the box office results were good, Director Zheng was obviously not satisfied with them.
In recent years, he has been particularly fond of dark Hong Kong films. "Wisdom Teeth " and "Homicide" are all of this type, and "The Siege of Kowloon Walled City" is a Hong Kong-style movie based on an adventure fighting comic.
It has a strong smell of Kowloon Walled City. This smell may not be felt by people in other places, but it has a deep impression on people such as Cheng Baorui and Lam Jiadong who live in Hong Kong.
Although Zheng Baorui grew up in Macau, he came to Hong Kong at the age of ten. At that time, the Kowloon Walled City had not yet been demolished. Once Zheng Baorui's sister broke her tooth. At that time, she heard that unlicensed dentists were the cheapest in the walled city. Her family I was going to take my sister to get her teeth filled, but when she saw the place, she was so scared that she went home.
This kind of childhood shadow gave Zheng Baorui his initial dangerous impression of the fortress. Later, Lin Jiadong also invited old neighbors to tell Zheng Baorui the ordinary story of the "three no-minds" city where 90% of the desperate people lived. In the end, Zheng Baorui The film is full of ambiguities and confusion, and it is impossible to define "Kowloon Walled City".
2, Dazzling Character Creation
Although "Kowloon Walled City", like many major productions, has invited many veteran Hong Kong stars to help out, this is not a simple lineup stacking to attract traffic. Whether it's the matching of the characters or the layering of the characters, they are all very well done.
The first one is naturally Tornado played by Louis Koo.
To be honest, the roles in film and television dramas that Louis Koo has participated in in recent years are really not very good. Lu Bu in "Dynasty Warriors" in 2021; Tai Lai in " Tomorrow War " in 2022 are extremely disappointing.
In the movie, the Tornado he played was an absolutely strong man. During those 20 years, he guarded a city by himself, so that people like Wang Jiu did not dare to take any action. He was a figure like a needle in the sea.
This time Louis Koo can perfectly handle such a role, with his gray hair and stern face, he remains calm even if a weapon is pressed against his neck. I feel like I can love Goo Jai again.
"Mad Lord" Wang Jiu is played by Wu Yunlong. The casting of this villain is really successful. I don't know how Zheng Baorui dug him out.
It is said that when Zheng Baorui was first looking for an actor, he took a fancy to him. This Hong Kong action actor, whose father opened a martial arts gym in Chicago, is good at Wing Chun, Taekwondo, and Hong Kong. He does not take roles frequently. Most of the time, he is doing Martial Arts Instruction.
When Zheng Baorui asked him to play Wang Jiu, he first asked him if he could accept the look of Wang Jiu? Then we saw the normally crazy Wang Jiu with half-long hair and a full beard.
Especially when he fights with demons, he is a completely awesome character, taking the audience back to the golden age of Hong Kong movies in one second. Director Zheng also feels that he is the next generation of local action actors in Hong Kong!
Others include Aaron Kwok as the "King of Killers" and as the "King of Fighters" Chen Luojun played by Raymond Lam. They are both outstanding, and their roles successfully made "Kowloon Walled City" half as good.
3, mysterious art style
The creative team is very good at creating the scene of the Kowloon City Games. The dirty and narrow alleys, densely woven wires and water pipes, and the dark daylight are like transcending time and space, showing us the most filthy Hong Kong in the past. , the darkest area. The cyberpunk perspective constructed in the
lens is also very eye-catching. When Chen Luojun enters the Kowloon Walled City, a plane appears in the sky above the Kowloon Walled City, creating a visual element of the plane oppressing the sky above the Kowloon Walled City.
Paired with the dark window that looks like a huge honeycomb, it is "both dead and alive" Kowloon City Game, the scene setting and the movie atmosphere are very seamlessly integrated.
In view of the fact that "Kowloon City Race" is an action-type Hong Kong film that has been produced with great conscientiousness in recent years, I hope that the film can break through the various unfair methods in the current film market, take the box office to a higher level, and give something to the Hong Kong people who have made it with care. encourage.
