Recently, domestic comic-book movies have become a popular new track.
Before that, there was Louis Koo's "The Siege of Kowloon Walled City", which grossed 684 million at the box office in the mainland, while in Hong Kong it grossed HK$111 million, becoming the runner-up film in the Hong Kong Chinese film industry. This film is adapted from the comic book of the same name.
Wu Jing's "The Bodyguard" was officially launched in Xinjiang on July 26. Yuan Heping personally directed the film, and actors such as Nicholas Tse, Yu Shi, and Zisha joined in. The box office is expected to reach 1 billion. The film is also adapted from the comic book of the same name. .
Nowadays, "", which is currently being shown in theaters, is also adapted from a comic book. So what is the quality of this movie? Is it possible to replicate the box office performance of " Kowloon Walled City "? Can Wuershan's new trilogy take hold?
Let Brother Fei come along one by one.
1. Box office.
Friday is the opening day for new movies again. The single-day box office rankings were released on July 26. The market grossed a total of 218 million, a significant increase of 81.5% from Thursday. The summer box office reached 6.666 billion, but it still lagged behind last year.
The top three are " Catch a Baby ", " Deadpool and Wolverine " and "Under the Stranger".
In terms of old films, Wang Chuanjun's " silently kills " has a total box office of more than 1.2 billion; Shen Teng and Ma Li's "Catch a Baby" continues to stand out, and as of press time, the box office has exceeded 2 billion. This time no new film can The blockade was successful.
"Catch a Baby" has won 14 consecutive single-day box office championships and is currently the highest-grossing film in the summer. According to this trend, the box office is very likely to exceed 3.5 billion and surpass Jia Ling's " hot " to become The box office champion film of 2024.
Shen Teng is truly a well-deserved star of China's box office appeal. As long as the "containing volume" is high, the box office must sell well.
Four new films entered the list on Friday.
Zhang Ruoyun's " Safely Escapes from the 21st Century" had a box office of 1.61 million in a small-scale screening, ranking eighth, with a total box office of 10.38 million, and good word-of-mouth feedback.
This movie is similar to "Universe Exploration Editorial" and "Transient Universe". It is affectionately called "Durian Movie" by movie fans. As the name suggests, viewers who like it can't put it down, and viewers who can't get it say it's too bad.
Therefore, whether it can be a big hit at the box office depends on the real word-of-mouth from passers-by after a large-scale release. Besides, it will also compete with Chen Sicheng's "Decryption" in the same period, which is still quite difficult.
The Japanese animation "Blue Zone: Nagi" debuted with 16.58 million, ranking fourth.
This is a movie that is highly fan-favorite. Considering that the purchasing power of fans was stronger in the past few days, it is really impossible to achieve long-term longevity in the future. The total box office can reach 50 million, which is far beyond expectations.
Hollywood's annual blockbuster "Deadpool and Wolverine" was released simultaneously in China and the United States. It earned 55.27 million in its mainland premiere, losing to "Catch Me" and finishing second.
As we all know, Hollywood movies have continued to decline in the mainland in the past two years. Whether it is Dwayne Johnson, Vin Diesel, or Tom Cruise, everything has failed. For a while, it felt that our audience no longer likes to watch Hollywood blockbusters. .
During the downturn, it is not easy to attract movie fans to the cinema again. The performance of "Deadpool and Wolverine" was indeed unsatisfactory, and it was completely unable to match the popularity of "Avengers 4" when it was released in mainland China.
This time, even if "Little Bitch" Ryan Reynolds and "Uncle Wolf" Hugh Jackman co-star, "Deadpool and Wolverine" can reach a box office of more than 600 million, which is quite impressive.
Strangely enough, "Uncle Wolf", known as the mainland version of "X-Men", still lacks some confidence in this round's showdown with the real "X-Men".
This film grossed 39.1 million in its large-scale premiere and was only ranked third. The current first-round box office forecast is only 300 million. There is absolutely no way to replicate the box office trend of "Kowloon Walled City", and the probability of a comeback is very low.
Why didn't "Under the Stranger" do well at the box office?
competed against Wu Ershan's " Conferred Gods Part 1 ". This time it obviously lost in word of mouth. Last year's "Fengshen Part 1" was first disliked by the audience, then slowly accepted it, and finally spread by word of mouth. The box office hit 2.634 billion.
The reputation of "Under the Stranger" has been very polarized this time. There is no one-sided praise. In addition, it is tailor-made for young people. It is really difficult to inspire potential moviegoers to spend money to buy movie tickets.
2. Movie review.
Is there really a problem with the quality?
Brother Fei, as an ordinary viewer, has never seen comics, animations or adapted TV series before, so let’s evaluate this movie as an amateur viewer.
The story summary of the film is as follows:
Zhang Chulan, played by Hu Xianxu, is the male protagonist of the film. When he was a sophomore in college, he was suddenly intruded by the mysterious girl Feng Baobao, who revealed the "Qi Ti Origin" power under forced circumstances.
With the mysterious disappearance of his grandfather's body, he was forced to get involved in the world of "strangers". Several factions wanted to get the Qi body in his body, and he couldn't tell whether they were friends or foes.
After many rounds of fighting, the final memory of grandpa's death turned out to be related to Feng Baobao's life experience. It turned out that the person who had been by his side and shielded him from wind and rain for many years turned out to be Feng Baobao.
At the last moment, Zhang Chulan was so powerful that she defeated the villain in one fell swoop, paving the way for the sequel.
"Under the Stranger" is very friendly to amateur audiences like me. It has many ups and downs, and the climax is also very exciting. The movie is very suitable for the taste of young people, and the fighting and special effects are a highlight.
70% of the whole film's special effects fighting, the action design is novel, Wu Ershan is very good at photographing Naran, her perfect figure is fully revealed, to sum up in one sentence, it is "hot, vulgar, explosive and funny" That kind of thing. The movie
uses AI copying technology to enhance the comic effect. It lasts about 25 minutes and feels a bit like a two-dimensional animation. This is probably the first time it has been used in a domestic film.
Each character has its own characteristics, and is also specially matched with BGM. For example, when Zhang Chulan exerts his strength, he is matched with Tu Honggang's "Chinese Kung Fu", and Feng Baobao's special BGM is "Boxwood Pole". I am really looking forward to the original soundtrack of the movie. It's the album.
The quality of the movie and the level of special effects are definitely not what you see in the trailer. The aura of the characters also fits the plot very well. The rhythm, ridiculous laughs and the most exciting fighting scenes are completely beyond imagination.
Shen Chong, played by Feng Shaofeng, and Dou Mei, played by Liu Chunyan, are both eye-catching. I will definitely give "Under the Stranger" a thumbs up. Brother Fei personally gives it four stars, 7.8 points, and recommends watching the movie. The reason why the
movie has polarized reputation is probably due to preconceptions. The first wave of viewers of the comic book movie must be fans, who are all loyal viewers of comics and animation.
Movie fans will definitely compare Wu Ershan's "Under the Stranger" to Peng Yuchang's TV series "Under the Stranger". The drama version has already received a high reputation of 8.1 points on Douban. If any adaptation fails to meet the fans' requirements , will definitely get furious.
Therefore, the film did not start the previous screening strategy, and the split in word-of-mouth was also expected.
Final friendly reminder: This film is not suitable for children under 14 years old. Parents should remember not to bring their children.
3. Wu Ershan pays tribute to Stephen Chow.
Wu Ershan's directorial ability has been recognized by me again. From "Painted Skin 2" to "The Secret of the Dragon" to "Fengshen Part 1", every work is unexpected.
Especially this action-packed youth-themed film can be easily controlled by the 52-year-old Wu Ershan. It is really impressive. Apart from Guo Fan, Wu Ershan is the only one left in Chinese industrial movies.
Wuershan now has three major series of IP movies, and they are all large-scale industrial productions that cost a lot of money.
The first one is the "Feng Shen" series, with a total investment of 2.4 billion, and the production budget of each part is 800 million. The second part is in the post-production special effects and is expected to be released to the audience during the Spring Festival in 2025;
The second one is "Zheng He's Voyages to the West" The series, currently revealed to be starring Huang Xuan, is planned to be made into a trilogy, with an investment of about 500 million for each film. It will compete with "Pirates of the Caribbean" and is expected to be released in the summer of 2026;
The third one is "Under the Stranger" series, with a budget of about 300 million. From the end, it is not difficult to find out that if the box office is good, a sequel will be put on the agenda. I hope this film can fight back at the box office, at least not at a loss.
Because I'm still waiting to watch "Underworld 2".
The most powerful thing about this movie is that Wu Ershan pays tribute to Stephen Chow's classic movie " Kung Fu ".
Some of the jokes in the film can be found in many Stephen Chow movies, especially the final battle, "Under the Stranger", which recreates the "Tathagata Palm" scene.
After recovering his grandfather's memory, Zhang Chulan learned that Feng Baobao was not the murderer of his grandfather, and she has protected him all the way to this day. In the battle with Shen Chong, he first used the Flying Immortal from Heaven, and finally directly used the Tathagata Divine Palm to beat Shen Chong into a "energy-gathering ring", which is the same as in "Kung Fu".
We have to admit first that "Kung Fu" is a great Kung Fu comedy that makes people laugh. Stephen Chow's humor and talent are indeed irreplaceable. His unconstrained and unpredictable Kung Fu style is recognized by all movie fans.
Wu Ershan understands this deeply and dares to pay tribute to this comedy kung fu master. It is really admirable! This is also the biggest surprise in the movie.
I think this tribute is not only a respect for Stephen Chow, but also a resonance with the audience's memories and emotions. Movies are an artistic creation that pay homage to appropriate scenes to achieve a natural effect.
Some people may think that this kind of tribute lacks originality and is just borrowing classics to gain attention. But I feel that the ultimate battle pays homage to "Kung Fu", which is Wu Ershan's own unique idea and does not infringe on the rights of the original work.
Instead of complaining about the lack of originality, it is better to accept this tribute and feel the infinite charm that Wu Ershan brought to "Kung Fu".
"Under the Stranger" is remarkable, Wu Ershan can still stand alone, and Stephen Chow's classics never go out of style.
4. Conclusion.
Although the box office debut of "Under the Stranger" was not satisfactory, I hope Wu Ershan can withstand the pressure. After word of mouth is released, investors will decide whether to continue creating a sequel.
This type of fantasy urban modern martial arts work is the first of its kind in China. The road to comic book adaptation is long and arduous, and cannot be accomplished overnight. It requires a process of exploration.
To be honest, I still hope there will be a sequel. Do you have anything to say about Wu Ershan’s movie version of "Under the Strangers"?
