The last time I watched a Tang Wei movie was "Determination to Break Up" in 2022.
Since then, I have never had the opportunity to see her new film, and it may only be 2019 when I recall her other works.
And recently, finally another new film of hers came out.
That is the science fiction film "Dreamland".
The film will be released in South Korea on June 5.
However, in less than a month, on June 27, we chose to launch the vod on-demand system, so many friends must have seen it through various channels.
This film is directed by Tang Wei's husband, Jin Taeyong, and they are also a real husband and wife team. Moreover, judging from the lineup, this is considered a big production.
In addition to Tang Wei, this film also invites Bae Suzy, Park Bo Gum, , Jung Youmi, Choi Woo-sik, Kong Liu, etc. to co-star. In addition, Chinese actor Bao Qijing also stars in the film.
In fact, from the perspective of the lineup, it is definitely a Korean blockbuster. The lineup is full of top-line actors that everyone is familiar with.
film invested 18 billion won, equivalent to more than 94 million yuan, and it will take almost 2.9 million moviegoers to make back the investment. It has been nearly a month since its release, and the number of moviegoers in South Korea is only over 620,000, which is still much lower than expected.
Maybe, this is why the film was released on VOD early.
It's a pity, because the film's reviews are really average, even with such an attractive lineup.
You see, although Douban’s score is only 6.6, this is actually a high score.
I took a look at the Korean version, and the score is actually lower
Moreover, the short reviews with high praise are also negative reviews with one or two stars:
This probably means that such a good lineup is wasted, and the story is dragging and unimpressive. , looks very boring.
Another comment was even more harsh, saying that had been looking forward to this movie, but he started to feel very sad after watching the movie halfway, because the thought of spending so much money to watch this movie made me feel very sad.
I have to say that Korean audiences are also quite capable of making complaints. How do you say
?
If you go to see this movie with high expectations based on this lineup, you will indeed be a little disappointed. It's not that the film is terrible, it's just mediocre. It's mediocre and has basically no highlights. It's a very boring film.
In other words, it is not a particularly good choice for a director who is good at making small literary films to make science fiction films.
Yes, "Dreamland" is a science fiction film. The story of
is about Wonderland, a high-tech company that can use the memories of deceased people to create an AI person who lives in the system.
Then, this AI person can talk to his real relatives and friends through video calls to continue the relationship between them.
This setting is really not very new. Some netizens will mention " Black Mirror ".
But in fact, this is more reminiscent of the American TV series "Upload" from the past two years.
Although "Upload" was basically finished by the third season (the fourth season finale has been scheduled), the show showed concepts such as the digital paradise and data immortality in the first season. As well as the various social issues and ethical issues derived from it, they are all discussed very deeply. From the perspective of extending the life of AI humans or data, it is far more in-depth than "Dreamland".
includes discussions on the suspense, conspiracy theories and other aspects of the show's design. At least in the first season, it is still very interesting to watch. If you like this topic, I might as well recommend you to watch "Upload".
So, conceptually, "Upload to New Life" crushes "Dreamland".
As for the film "Dreamland", no matter how sci-fi the background is, it is actually still a small literary film.
Science fiction is just a background.
The reason why the film invited so many stars is because it is actually a multi-line story.Or maybe the idea of a multi-line story doomed the film from the start.
Because there are too many clues and the length of the film is very limited, in the end, no line was told particularly well.
The first line is Tang Wei.
Bai Li, played by Tang Wei, is a single mother who was seriously ill, so she applied for the "dream" service before her death. She hopes that after her death, she can continue to accompany her daughter to grow up in the form of AI, so that her daughter will not completely lose her mother.
Another clue is the love line between Bae Suzy and Park Bo Gum.
The two were originally a couple, but Park Bo Gum became a vegetative state due to an accident. In order to ease his longing, Jeong In, played by Bae Suzy, applied for the "dream" service for Tae Joo, played by Park Bo Gum, so that she could still see Tae Joo every day. Together.
Her boyfriend will chat with her every day as soon as she gets up, with gentle words, kind attitude, and even wake-up service. Such an AI boyfriend is simply the most perfect existence...
And the characters of Zheng Youmei and Choi Woo-sik are "dreams" "The staff of the service company are responsible for stringing together several lines.
Kong Liu is an AI staff member, responsible for maintaining the normal operation of the system and interacting with Tang Wei's character.
is probably the setting.
Then, each clue also attempts to extend the various possibilities (or disadvantages) of AI's life:
For example, Tang Wei's story is about AI's self-awareness and self-growth.
She didn't know that she was dead. She was a virtual AI person. She completely assumed the persona of a real mother. She would worry about her daughter, want to see her daughter, and even want to get out of the system. In the end, she almost crashed the system.
This line is also the most carefully written line in the film, including the emotional line, which I hope can impress the audience.
This story represents everyone’s initial desire to have an AI life, so that they can continue to contact their deceased relatives and continue their emotions.
However, when AI life has autonomous emotions, whether it will bring more ethical issues, I probably want to discuss this matter.
Bae Suzy and Park Bo Gum talked about another topic.
ai’s boyfriend Tae Joo is the perfect boyfriend character. His meticulous and considerate care and love make Jeong In bathed in love every day even though he cannot see his boyfriend.
As a result, one day, her boyfriend Taizhu, who was already in a vegetative state, suddenly woke up.
It should have been a very happy thing, but after living together, they found that the real Taizhu was actually far less considerate than the AI Taizhu.
As a result, there are also new ethical issues.
In addition, there is a story line, because there is so little plot, there is not much to say. That story is about an old woman and her deceased grandson, and about the crazy demands this business makes on real people for money.
It feels like the director had the idea of such an AI life, and then he went crazy with his imagination, picked out a few representative stories, and filmed them all. This is also the problem with
.
really has too many ideas, but in fact they don’t have much depth.
Especially after watching works such as "Upload" or "Black Mirror", you will know that "Dreamland" does not provide any attractive perspective on the horror of technology.
Moreover, because there are multiple stories to take care of, the time left for a single story is actually quite limited, and each one is not told well.
Especially, without the science fiction background, each story itself is actually quite cliché, they are all sensational stories, and many places are handled very sloppily.
In the end, it makes sense that this film did so poorly.
Of course, if you just want to watch celebrities, you can still follow them.
The title of the film is "Dreamland".
