Chapter 367 Changes to "Sword Rain"
Zeng Li heard what Wu Yuchen said, and put aside her worries. Then she asked Wu Yuchen: "Why do I feel that the style of the "Sword Rain" you wrote is different from those previous martial arts movies?"
Zeng Li had competed for the role of Yu Jiaolong in "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" a few years ago. Although she didn't get it in the end, she has read a lot of martial arts novels in recent years and has some understanding of this aspect.
Wu Yuchen gave Zeng Li a thumbs up when he heard it: "Lizi, you are really amazing. You can see it at a glance! I don't plan to shoot "Sword Rain" in the traditional martial arts style this time!"
That's right, the Chinese costume martial arts movie that Wu Yuchen plans to shoot next year is "Sword Rain".
The movie "Sword Rain" is also one of the representative works of martial arts movies. The film tells a series of stories triggered by a female killer with high martial arts skills who retired from the martial arts world because she had the remains of Rama that everyone in the world wanted.
After the release of the previous life movie, the audience gave mixed reviews to "Sword Rain".
When it was first released, many people said it was a bad movie and the box office performance was average. However, as time went by, the evaluation of "Sword Rain" actually went up. The score on Douban was higher than that of "Hero". Many people even thought that this movie could be ranked in the top five martial arts movies.
If Wu Yuchen were to give an evaluation, the plot tension of this movie is still quite sufficient, and it is also unique among Chinese martial arts movies. Its style is very different. For example, most martial arts movies are actually traditional in style, which can be compared to Jin Yong's martial arts, while "Sword Rain" constructs a unique and alternative martial arts world, which has the charm of Gu Long's martial arts, and brings a brand new experience to the audience who like martial arts.
Traditional martial arts movies are easy to shoot, and everyone can copy them, but this kind of martial arts movie that takes the "strange" route is not so easy to shoot. Its narrative techniques and atmosphere creation are very different from the common martial arts movies we often see. If it is not done well, it will be a super bad movie, but "Sword Rain" has done this, so it is unique and its reputation has gradually improved in the later period.
This is also one of the reasons why Wu Yuchen chose "Sword Rain" to shoot.
Of course, Wu Yuchen also knows that this movie is criticized as a bad movie and criticized by people.
The first point is the so-called shocking plot. According to netizens, if "The Promise" is a bloody case caused by a steamed bun, then "Sword Rain" is a bloody case caused by a penis.
The big boss in the movie is the boss of the killer organization Black Stone. According to the setting, he is a person who is feared by the whole world. He dares to kill the whole family of the prime minister directly and can deter all officials. Isn't it powerful enough? It means that he is not afraid of the imperial power and has strong strength. He can kill the prime minister and get away with it!
However, in the second half of the movie, the boss's identity was reversed. He was just a humble old eunuch who was hiding in the court and bowing to everyone. He was still a low-ranking one. And the reason why he wanted to snatch the treasure Rama's body was that he wanted to be reborn and be a normal man!
Although the audience can understand it logically and emotionally. But the key is that you laid the groundwork for the Black Stone Organization and the boss so powerful in the first half of the movie, but after revealing the identity, the audience felt that it was just like this? It was like a big deal!
Although there is nothing wrong with a man pursuing rebirth, the boss's style was really lost in the later period, and the whole plot became a joke in the eyes of many viewers. This is why most viewers say that the plot is bloody and shocking.
So, sometimes the creation of the villain is really important, and the villain's style is also important, otherwise it will drag down the texture of the whole movie.
And the script is not rigorous. The beginning of the previous life movie specifically explained that the time was the fifteenth year of Hongwu.
When it comes to this, Wu Yuchen has to complain about the Taiwanese director's idiocy in history. He really thinks that Su Zhaobin and Wu Baige just picked a time randomly.
What time is the 15th year of Hongwu? That was when our Zhu Chongba was still alive! Xu Da was still alive, Lan Yu was in his prime, Mu Ying had just returned from the Northern Expedition, and Fu Youde still had 12 years to live. At least half of the generals in the early Ming Dynasty were at their peak!
How dare your killer group Black Stone Organization be so awesome, dare to massacre the whole family of the Prime Minister, dare to threaten all officials in the court and the country? You killed a fart! Which one of you Black Stone can beat! Lan Yu alone can shoot your ten Black Stone Organizations a hundred times!
So Wu Yuchen must change this aspect. First of all, the time setting can be vague, or simply one or two hundred years later, without mentioning the specific time, just the middle of the Ming Dynasty. At that time, the imperial power declined, and people could still feel more reliable about the Black Stone being so powerful.
On the other hand, Wu Yuchen wants to change the personality of the big boss. In fact, the first half does not need to be changed, the key lies in the second half. He can be a eunuch, but he cannot be a small eunuch, he must be a big eunuch, even a big eunuch with power in the court! And the Black Stone Organization is a tool he created privately to serve himself!
In this way, it is reasonable for the Black Stone Organization to dare to slaughter the family of the Prime Minister and intimidate all officials in the court and the country. When the audience sees the identity of the boss revealed in the second half, it will be natural.
It is easy to understand that the eunuchs of the Ming Dynasty were powerful in the court and the big boss behind the scenes. There is nothing wrong with it, and the audience can easily accept it.
Then it's about the goals and pursuits of the big boss. Why does he want to snatch Rama's body? It can be for Tintin, and this doesn't need to be changed. But it can't be just to restore his Tintin!
When the BOSS stands in this position, when he does things, his goal must be high-class, or in other words, he must have a great or grand pursuit in the eyes of the audience, even if it is improper or evil, so that the BOSS character can stand up!
For example, Thanos in "Marvel" snapped his fingers to kill half of the creatures in the universe for the better of the universe; for example, Baiyue in "Sword of Immortal" wanted to destroy the human world and reshape the world in order to give the world a better future! For example, the goals of Madara, Nagato and others in "Naruto"...
Although you may think it's a bit far-fetched, the character settings of these bosses have not collapsed, and the high-class is still maintained, which does not prevent you from thinking that he is still very powerful.
The reason why our Black Stone leader wants to seize Rama's body, wants to restore Ding Ding, and wants to be a normal man is because he is no longer satisfied with being a eunuch. Although he has power in the court, he is not willing to do so. He wants to go one step further! He not only wants to be nine thousand years old, he wants to be long-lived!
It's crazy for a eunuch to want to be long-lived and want to be an emperor, but in the eyes of the audience, this goal and pursuit have become taller, and the villain's style and personality have been established!
As we all know, if you can't pass on your family line, you can't be an emperor, but now you have Rama's body, which can help people regenerate their limbs? Then the big boss's ambition is possible, so he will keep pursuing Rama's body.
And why can't Jinyiwei and Dongchang be dispatched? Because these are official agencies, dispatching them to search for Rama's body will allow enemies in the court and the country to see his evil intentions! Although the big boss is already powerful, it is impossible for him to have no enemies, so he has to be careful when doing such things. Therefore, he has never used the East Factory, and has always let the Black Stone Organization he cultivated track down the heroine.
In this way, only a small part of the BOSS character has been changed, and most of the plot of the movie does not need to be changed, but the plot of the whole movie has been straightened out, and the logic is more reliable than the original, and no audience will say that the plot is shocking!
The second point that many viewers complained about the movie "Sword Rain" was concentrated on the casting. In fact, most of the roles are okay. It can be said that most of the dissatisfaction is concentrated on one role, that is, the second female role, Da S, who plays the beautiful female killer!
Whenever Da S appears, she will give people a feeling of embarrassment and out of play. Her role is to show people a beautiful female killer with different charms, but let alone the charm is not shown, even flirting is not mentioned. According to many people's evaluation, she is a female addict who looks unsatisfied!
Wu Yuchen has also solved this problem. He directly replaced the person with Fan Bingbing, whose appearance and charm are far higher than Da S. Well, the second female role that Wu Yuchen promised to Fan Bingbing is this role!
Although Fan Bingbing can't compare with Zhou Xun in terms of acting, she can't be said to be bad. She can still play a role that suits her acting style and temperament. Anyway, she is definitely better than Da S!
And even from all aspects, Da S's quality can't be compared with Fan Bingbing!
For example, there is a scene in the movie where the beautiful female killer seduces the male protagonist. Da S's performance embarrassed many audiences, but it would be different if Fan Bingbing was replaced.
Let's not talk about acting skills, just Fan Bingbing's appearance and charming temperament can convince male audiences. And Bingbing is now very good at seducing people, Wu Yuchen has fully experienced this aspect!
There is a scene in the movie where she seduces the male protagonist. How to show the feeling of seducing men and showing off her coquettishness without making the audience hate her, Wu Yuchen believes that Fan Bingbing can definitely play it well!
In the previous life, Wu Baige was credited for "Sword Rain", but in fact he was just the producer, and the screenwriter and director were both Su Zhaobin. Both of them were from Taiwan, and they must have valued their own people. The reason why Tai S was chosen to play this role was for this purpose. Wu Baige does have this problem, and he takes good care of his own people. This can be seen in "Red Cliff" and "Sword Rain". Or it can be said that many Taiwanese filmmakers are really in a group.
However, this time "Sword Rain" is in the hands of Wu Yuchen, and he will definitely choose the most suitable role, and it must be mainly from the mainland.
Some netizens also said that the heroine Yang Ziqiong is too old, and the hero Zheng Yusheng is not familiar. Wu Yuchen understands why the producers chose this. Because the copyright of the movie needs to be sold to Europe, the United States, Japan and South Korea, Yang Ziqiong and Zheng Yusheng are both considering the overseas market. And Yang Ziqiong is well-known anyway, and her appeal is ranked among the top female stars. She is also a fighting star, which is indeed suitable.
But now, Wu Yuchen will not use Yang Ziqiong. Another reason why he filmed "Sword Rain" was for Zeng Li. Zeng Li hasn't played in his movies for many years. Her wish is to be his heroine once, so Wu Yuchen will naturally satisfy her.
If Zeng Li is used, no audience will complain that the heroine is too old. As for whether Zeng Li can support this heroine because she is not photogenic on the big screen, this is not a problem at all, because the setting of the heroine of "Sword Rain" is that she was originally a killer and had a face-changing, that is, plastic surgery, and became an ordinary-looking woman who just wants to live an ordinary life.
In other words, this role does not require much appearance. After all, Yang Ziqiong, who played this role in the previous life, was not a beauty herself.
And for Zeng Li, the only requirement is...
Wu Yuchen smiled and asked Zeng Li: "Lizi, do you remember practicing martial arts when you competed for the role of Yu Jiaolong a few years ago?"
"Of course I remember, but I just didn't catch the eye of Director Li~" Zeng Li was quite open-minded about not being able to compete with her roommate Zhang Ziyi. She saw Zhang Ziyi's desperate spirit at that time.
Wu Yuchen smiled and said: "You have a lot of fighting scenes this time, so you will have to suffer a lot!"
In the movie "Sword Rain", the fighting scenes are recognized by everyone. The greatest credit is naturally to the martial arts director who designed this set of action styles, such as Xiyu's 42-way unpredictable water-repelling sword technique (and the flexible water-repelling sword); the strange magic skills of the colorful playmaster Liansheng (as well as the fairy rope and the flame knife); and Lei Bin's flying needles, Jiang Asheng's canted sword, and the sword of the wheel king. Even a minor role that doesn't appear much has its own characteristics, which makes the audience talk about it with relish.
However, this is also inseparable from the excellent performance of the actors, and the heroine is of course the one with the heaviest task!
"I will definitely practice hard and not let you down when you shoot next year!" Zeng Li also took a deep breath in her heart. This time, Wu Yuchen specially tailored such a movie for her, and she must perform the best effect!
Wu Yuchen also nodded and said nothing. In fact, as early as half a year ago, Zeng Li had started practicing martial arts again under Wu Yuchen's suggestion. There is still half a year before the shooting next year. The one-year preparation time should be enough for Zeng Li to prepare for this aspect.
Moreover, in terms of action scenes, even Yang Ziqiong did not act all by herself. Some difficult ones were also done by martial arts substitutes.
As for the male lead, Wu Yuchen did not plan to use any Korean Jung Woo-sung. With his great director Wu directing personally, why would he use Korean actors? His own appeal is awesome!
Wu Yuchen has no guilt about stealing Wu Baige's credit for the film "Sword Rain". He has already been made the director of "Taken", which is more than enough to compensate him!