This director is vindictive.

Chapter 244 A New Level of Sophisticated Black humor: An elegant knife, each strike drawing blood!

"What do you guys think?" Chen Mo asked, turning his head.

Yang Mi and Zhao Liying looked at each other in bewilderment.

Well, what they thought before wasn't wrong. Jackie Chan's movies do have a lot of big scenes and are indeed very exciting.

As for the storyline, it's not obscure or difficult to understand; it's very simple, and you could say it has everything a popcorn movie should have.

But for some reason, I always feel like something's off.

"I feel like Jackie Chan has really aged!" Yang Mi could only say this much in the end, mainly because she didn't know what else to say.

"Isn't the plot too old-fashioned? It feels like the same formula as movies I watched many years ago," Zhao Liying said uncertainly.

Chen Mo smiled. "See, they all figured it out."

To be honest, Chen Mo sometimes couldn't quite understand it either. If you said Cheng Long couldn't fight anymore, that wouldn't be a problem.

It's only natural to expect a man in his sixties to work as hard as he used to, right? He can't keep up that pace!

With such a clichéd plot and such a strange flavor, Chen Mo really couldn't believe that Jackie Chan and the others hadn't noticed anything during the filming.

You might say that those involved are often blinded by their own interests, but Jackie Chan's movies these past few years have been flops one after another, and he still hasn't realized it?
From the last installment of "New Police Story" to the later ones like "Kung Fu Yoga," they were basically neither critically acclaimed nor commercially successful.

Chen Mo couldn't understand why someone with such influence and ability couldn't find a reliable screenwriter.
A movie, a script, a script—the very foundation of a play! Brother!
In other art films, the director might be able to tell a very simple story in a roundabout way, but this is a commercial blockbuster! The script is really too important.

However, since it wasn't his own movie, Chen Mo only felt a little disappointed.

To be honest, he really admires Jackie Chan. As an actor, he is indeed at the top level among existing actors.

Its international influence, in particular, is virtually unmatched.

The filming of "Vanguard" proved this point; it received the green light everywhere it went.

Even when Chen Mo goes out to film, he wouldn't get this kind of treatment.

It's a pity that the speedboats and yachts are still there, but the furniture mall of yesteryear is nowhere to be seen!
Think back to those days, in "Police Story," they jumped from chandeliers and rolled around in shards of glass;
The Rotterdam Tower descent in "Who Am I?" had no green screen, only "green faces"—it was terrifying.
He jumped off a balcony in "Rumble in the Bronx," broke his leg, and still finished filming while laughing.

It can be said that in the hearts of countless movie fans, Jackie Chan's most iconic character trait will always be "The villain can be strong, but the furniture must be fragile!"

Chairs, ladders, glass cabinets—everything can be a weapon; furniture stores on Hong Kong Island have to close their doors immediately when they see him.

However, things started to change after 2010, with money replacing real skills.

A car crashed into 70 gold sports cars in Dubai, but the camera cuts to Jackie Chan sitting calmly in the car with a smile, while his stunt double frantically turns the steering wheel.

The speedboats sped off, but the editing was so choppy it looked like a PowerPoint presentation. Honestly, the special effects weren't as good as those in the mobile version of Asphalt!
The main point is that without comparison, there is no harm. In the past: when Jackie Chan jumped off a building, the audience covered their eyes and shouted "Holy crap!"

Now: A luxury car explodes, and the audience looks down at their phones, saying, "Oh."

"I always felt that Brother Cheng Long's furniture stores were better looking than these luxury cars. Why is that?" Yang Mi was puzzled.

In terms of investment costs, Jackie Chan's past films had far less investment than "Vanguard" now, but in terms of visual effects, they are far inferior.

In fact, the audience's reaction at the premiere showed that no one was amazed; all that was happening was elderly people on the subway looking at their phones.

"Because the furniture store scene represents 'poor people's wisdom,' while the luxury car scene represents 'nouveau riche throwing money around,' and anyone can film the latter. The key is that Jackie Chan's image has changed. In the past, he almost always played 'ordinary people.' In 'Police Story,' he played police officers with a strong sense of justice, not high-ranking officers in the Hong Kong police force. But now? All sorts of nouveau riche, all sorts of money-throwing, it seems high-end and classy, ​​but for the audience, it gives them a feeling of floating in the air. That invincible furniture store god of war has finally grown old!" Chen Mo sighed.

The premiere has ended.

Chen Mo's feelings were actually quite complicated. How should I put it? If you were to call it a complete and utter flop, it seems, perhaps, it's not quite accurate to call it that.

But it's not exactly a good film either.

Actually, if someone else had played the role in this movie, the public's reaction might have been better. But Jackie Chan, he made it and he broke it!

In Chen Mo's opinion, what he should do is to be like Stephen Chow, who, when he gets old and can no longer act, switch to working behind the scenes. Why bother?

Whether a movie is good or not is actually something most people can tell.

After all, this is a popcorn movie, not an art film, so there's no question of not understanding it.

So, after the screening of "Vanguard", the media and film critics present were quite excited.

Well, don't blame people for gloating. The main thing is that a movie is either excellent or mediocre. Otherwise, what would they report on?

The key point is that Chen Mo, the hottest director recently, also came. It can be said that Chen Mo's comments and predictions about the film after the premiere have become a regular part of his program.

The media, film critics, and even the audience all particularly enjoy watching and listening to Chen Mo's reviews.

Because others like to say polite things, Chen Mo also says polite things, but his polite things are often interpreted in all sorts of fancy ways.

From "The Legend of the Demon Cat" to "The Climbers," Chen Mo has truly mastered the art of using polite language.

Jackie Chan, Yang Yang, and other key members of the creative team still confidently took to the stage for their final bow.

When it was finally time for the interview, Chen Mo was immediately surrounded by many media reporters.

There were even more reporters surrounding Chen Mo than surrounding Cheng Long and his group.

However, Cheng Long didn't mind at all; on the contrary, he was somewhat looking forward to it. Wasn't this the very scene he invited Chen Mo to?
Yang Mi and Zhao Liying looked at Chen Mo with some concern.

If the movie were good, that would be fine, but they all know that it probably won't do very well.

For Chen Mo, this was like being roasted on a fire.

In this respect, it is also closely related to Chen Mo's consistent public persona in the past.

What kind of persona does he have? He dares to say "truly polite things"!
If it were someone else, it wouldn't be so bad, but Jackie Chan's status in the industry is different after all.

They were also a little worried that Chen Mo might offend someone because of this. Although Chen Mo was not afraid in his current situation, it was always better not to offend people too much.

"Yang Mi, what did you think of 'Vanguard'?" To their surprise, this time the media reporters asked them the first question.

"Vanguard is a truly sincere action blockbuster. Jackie Chan, at 65, still does everything himself, and young actors like Yang Yang also deliver excellent performances. Filmed in multiple locations around the world, the film features numerous large-scale scenes, and the special effects and action choreography are of international standard. It's a popcorn movie suitable for the whole family," Yang Mi said almost offhand.

Well, you could say it's an absolutely "official, polite" comment.

This immediately killed the interest of the media reporters. They had thought that Yang Mi and the others had learned something from Chen Mo after following him for so long, but unfortunately, they had clearly miscalculated.

So one by one, they turned to Chen Mo, the protagonist.

"Director Chen, what's your opinion on 'Vanguard'? Could you share your thoughts?"

Chen Mo glanced at the reporters, who were all brimming with enthusiasm and looking on expectantly, and was speechless. What kind of eyes do you have?

Of course, he wouldn't be so stubborn as to say something like, "Jackie Chan is too old to keep pushing himself. The young actors have nothing to offer except for showing off their looks. The plot is so clichéd that it's boring."

Of course, if he really said that, these reporters would probably be incredibly excited.

Chen Mo is quite good at making polite remarks.

"Jackie Chan is 65 years old and still insists on performing high-risk stunts himself. This dedication is something that all filmmakers should learn from."

Chen Mo spoke calmly.

Sometimes, media reporters and entertainment journalists can be quite hypocritical in their understanding.

Look at what Yang Mi said; broken down, it's actually quite similar to what Chen Mo said. But if Chen Mo said it, everyone would subconsciously fill in the blanks and interpret it themselves.

Look at what Chen Mo said, it sounds perfectly reasonable, he's praising Cheng Long for being vigorous despite his age.

But to them, it was a completely different story.

"In terms of production, the film was shot in multiple countries, and the scene of the luxury car explosion is a rare sight in Chinese action films."

"Combining traditional action films with modern technology showcases the progress of the film industry. Compared to the shock of jumping into a shopping mall in 'Police Story' back then, today's action scenes rely more on technical packaging, which can be considered as keeping up with the times."

After Chen Mo finished speaking, the media reporters present almost had an orgasm.

The main point is that Chen Mo's words were full of polite platitudes, but because it was Chen Mo speaking, and think about it carefully! "So, Director Chen, could you comment on the performance of young actors like Yang Yang in the film?" The media reporter clearly knew how to dig a hole.

Do these media reporters really have no idea how good their acting skills are?
But they still wanted to see what Chen Mo would say.

Because it's really so interesting.

And the audience loves watching it!

Chen Mo was also at a loss for words. How the hell was he supposed to comment on this?
Does that mean every role she plays looks like she's filming an advertisement?

Or, to ask, which company sponsored the shampoo for this movie?

"How should I put it? His performance still has a lot of room for improvement. You can see that he is constantly pushing his boundaries! To make a comparison, compared to Tony Leung's nuanced performance in 'Infernal Affairs,' where a single glance conveys a ten-year secret, Yang Yang's performance perhaps focuses more on 'extroverted expression'—at least making it easy for the audience to understand at a glance."

What impressed me most in the film was that no matter how excited his opponent was or how thrilling the scene was, he could maintain an absolutely calm expression. This composure, like "not changing color even when Mount Tai collapses before him," is truly exceptional.

What the hell!

This reflects the feelings of many media professionals at this moment.

Because they really didn't expect Chen Mo to say that.

At first glance, it seems like every sentence is a compliment, but damn, it's downright blatantly negative.

The problem is, you can't say he's swearing! After all, every word, when put together, is a compliment!
See, "extroverted expression" makes it easy for the audience to understand at a glance. Can you say that it's an insult?
"He remains unfazed even when Mount Tai collapses before him"—is praising his composure a form of criticism?
But they could already imagine that once these words were reported, netizens would probably burst out laughing.

Upon hearing Chen Mo's evaluation, Cheng Long, Yang Yang, and the others were having all sorts of thoughts running through their minds.

But she still had to keep smiling.

Actually, Cheng Long is alright, after all, what Chen Mo said before was all correct.

But the subsequent evaluations of the young actors' performances completely broke them down.

After that, Chen Mo didn't say anything more. He greeted Cheng Long and then "escaped" from this troublesome place with Yang Mi and Zhao Liying.

"Pfft!" Yang Mi finally couldn't help but burst out laughing.

"You're so sharp-tongued, you wouldn't even flinch if Mount Tai collapsed in front of you!" Yang Mi couldn't help but say.

"What can I say? In such an intense scene, his hairstyle was still perfectly intact!" Chen Mo Xiaoxiong shrugged.

"What the heck is this 'extroverted expression'?" Zhao Liying couldn't help but laugh and complain.

"And what does it mean that there is still 'room for improvement'?"

However, they didn't see anything wrong with it; Chen Mo's sharp tongue was just too interesting.

However, when they saw the media reports that evening about what Chen Mo said in an interview at the premiere of "Vanguard", they were dumbfounded.

"Chen Mo's sophisticated satire at the premiere of 'Vanguard': An elegant knife, yet every strike draws blood!"

"Chen Mo's Art of Speaking: How to Elegantly 'Praise with a Bare Tongue' - A Review of 'Vanguard': When action movies start competing on who has the most expensive special effects, instead of who dares to risk their life the most, what we miss is not the gore and bloodshed, but the real sense of pain."

"Chen Yin-Yang Master Online: The Art of Combining Flattery and Profound Meaning! True sarcasm is not about saying 'You're no good,' but about praising 'You're actually this bad.'"

They were there in person, and they heard every single one of Chen Mo's answers. But the media's interpretation made them feel like they had attended a fake premiere.

"You said those things?" Yang Mi looked completely bewildered.

"You said that?" Zhao Liying also looked surprised.

However, the netizens below were ecstatic.

"I just watched the preview screening of 'Vanguard' and I was a little unsure how to comment. But it turns out it has to be you, Chen Yin-Yang Master, with your freaking out-of-touch expression."

"There's still a lot of room for improvement, dude. He's been acting for ten years and he's still breaking through?"

"Unfazed even by a collapsing mountain—oh, that's just facial paralysis!"

"By combining traditional action films with modern technology, it showcases the progress of the film industry."

The subtext: No matter how dazzling the special effects are, they can't hide the thin plot.

"The film was shot in multiple countries, and the luxury car explosion scene is a new benchmark for Chinese action films. Isn't this just saying that all the money was spent on car crashes?"

"What's most frustrating is that he praised Jackie Chan for performing high-risk stunts despite his advanced age. Isn't that just saying that older people shouldn't push themselves too hard and that the editor should get a bonus?"

Chen Mo's polite remarks quickly became a trending topic.

This has inspired countless netizens to imitate it.

"I'll start, and the rest will follow:"

Superficially, the action scenes in "Vanguard" are a "visual feast," featuring explosions, car chases, and gunfights, perfectly showcasing the "technical prowess" of the modern film industry.

The actual criticism: "They blew up 70 cars, but couldn't create a single memorable scene."

"I'll have one too, and then..."

Compared to the breathtaking live-action scene of Jackie Chan jumping through the mall in "Police Story," "Vanguard" relies more on CGI and editing—a more contemporary approach.

Translation: "They used to work incredibly hard; now they're competing on special effects."

Yang: The script is very 'simple', with no complicated subplots interfering with the main plot, allowing the audience to focus on enjoying the action scenes.

Yin: The plot is so thin that they didn't even bother to come up with a motive for the villain.

“Vanguard has a very fast narrative pace, giving the audience no time to think at all—this ‘efficient’ narrative style is worth learning.”

Translation: Because upon closer examination, it's riddled with flaws.

This wave of reactions left Jackie Chan speechless, while the main cast members wept.

Honestly, Chen Mo really didn't think that much about it!

However, the media couldn't stop the wild speculation and the bizarre interpretations from movie fans and netizens.

Of course, the main reason is that "Vanguard" has indeed disappointed many movie fans. Although it has not been officially released yet, the preview screenings have already revealed everything.

What can Chen Mo do? This is the price of inviting him to the premiere!
But netizens who were just watching the drama didn't care about any of that.

Everyone flocked to Chen Mo's Weibo to tease him: "Director Chen, take it easy next time, or no one will invite you to the premiere!"

"Brother Jackie Chan must be kicking himself right now, right? Of all people to invite, he had to invite an old yin-yang master to the premiere. He's really made a fool of himself now, hasn't he?"

"There's a saying that the scene in Yi Yangqianxi's 'Vanguard' where Jackie Chan is about to jump but gets pulled back almost brought me to tears. Jackie Chan has really gotten old, but Chen Mo has really become a master of witty banter!"

In fact, this wave of reactions has made many people uneasy about inviting Chen Mo to the premiere.

After all, "Vanguard" serves as a cautionary tale.

For example, Wang Jun and Guan Hu were somewhat uneasy about "The Eight Hundred".

After all, Chen Mo is too eccentric. If you ask whether he can generate buzz, the answer is definitely yes.

At the premiere of "Vanguard", Chen Mo stole the show, mainly because the movie was indeed not good.

However, the "yin-yang interpretation" incident triggered by Chen Mo is really hard to bear.

Nobody wants to become famous this way!

However, the complicated part is that they are also envious of the attention and buzz that Chen Mo can bring.

The premise is that the movie shouldn't be too bad. They do know that Chen Mo is indeed a bit blunt, but in reality, he's not someone who doesn't speak properly.

Chen Mo's performance in "My People, My Country" had a positive effect.

(End of this chapter)