I'm just trying to ride the wave of popularity!

Chapter 369 This movie is so exciting!

Before 2006, the domestic market for so-called "science fiction films" was in complete chaos.

Many directors and producers use the guise of science fiction to actually make poorly made romance films, using "science fiction" as a mere gimmick to attract attention.

These movies often disguise themselves as futuristic worlds or robots, but at their core they are outdated urban romance stories, or even directly copied melodramatic plots from Korean dramas.

The so-called science fiction setting is nothing more than putting a metal shell on it and adding some cheap special effects, without even bothering to examine the most basic scientific logic.

Audiences entered the theater full of expectations, only to be met with pretentious dialogue under cheap special effects, illogical plot twists, and awkward scenes of forced sentimentality.

What's even more ridiculous is that these movies always claim to be "a new breakthrough in Chinese science fiction," but they can't even achieve the most basic visual spectacle. The robots look like plastic toys, and the future cities look like 90s photo studio sets.

Film critics vehemently criticized the films as "selling dog meat under the guise of mutton," and audiences angrily denounced them as "fraudulent marketing." Over time, "domestic science fiction" has almost become synonymous with bad movies...

It can be said that these shoddy pseudo-science fiction films caused Chinese audiences to lose faith in domestically produced science fiction, and led genuine science fiction filmmakers down many detours. Ultimately, no one made "science fiction" films anymore, and no one tried anymore...

........................

A few days ago!
When Liu Jiasheng received the film information for "Transformers: My Girlfriend is a Robot", he had almost no expectations.

In terms of genre, this film resembles both a science fiction film and a romance film. Given Zhou Yang's consistent style, it is likely to be another sensational work that capitalizes on current trends.

Without Transformers, this movie would probably be alright!

However, compared to top-tier IPs like Transformers, this film, which mixes science fiction and romance, almost has all the elements of a flop. After all, the past two months of the "domestic film protection month" have already proven that the market has long lost patience with these kinds of unconventional but unexciting works.

However, with a ticket price of 15 yuan plus shopping subsidies, what more could you ask for?
In fact, many viewers went to the cinema with the mindset of "finding a bargain" or "cooling off after a tiring shopping trip"...

but!
No one expected that this cheap movie would actually...

"So touching!"

"Damn, this movie made me laugh and then cry!"

"Yeah, boohoo."

"I want to see it a second time! But I can't get a ticket! Damn it, everyone's going crazy trying to buy tickets, they're gone in seconds when they go on sale online, sigh!"

"Me too, boohoo."

Liu Jiasheng stared blankly at the group of movie fans who were still enjoying themselves.

Their tearful discussions about the plot were a stark contrast to the frenzy in the Transformers theater.

At this moment, after watching "Transformers," some people are wiping away tears and repeatedly saying, "Even mechanical hearts can feel pain," while others are imitating the robot's clumsy heart-making gesture...

This isn't just a bad movie ending.
It's obvious she's just been through an emotional storm!

At that moment, his despair was replaced by curiosity.

After waiting at the ticket gate for about ten minutes, he took his movie ticket and rushed into the screening room with the crowd as the loudspeaker sounded...

..............................

The director of "My Girlfriend is a Robot" is An Xiaoshi.

In Zhou Yang's "Love Film Month," she directed a deeply moving and tear-jerking film called "Golden Wedding."

This work was both publicly praised and privately condemned by Liu Jiasheng!
The praise stems from the fact that "Golden Wedding" is indeed a rare masterpiece in Chinese cinema since the millennium, focusing on the romantic perspectives of the elderly and deeply moving the audience...

The reason for the condemnation is that this movie is too ruthless in "harvesting" its audience!
The various product placements for health supplements featured in the film led his usually frugal parents to go on a buying spree, nearly depleting their savings.
This made him feel frustrated, but to be fair, Director An Xiaoshi's control over the theme of love is indeed superb, and her emotional portrayal is delicate and subtle...

He had just sat down in the screening room when the phone rang.

He stood up helplessly and carefully helped his heavily pregnant wife, Zhang Ying, into the room.

"You're pregnant, why do you still insist on coming to the movies?" he asked, frowning.

"I just wanted to support Zhou Yang," Zhang Ying replied softly, her eyes fixed expectantly on the screen.

"Haven't we supported you enough? We've bought everything under Mr. Zhou's company, from cars to daily necessities." He sighed, completely speechless.

“Those were merchandise, this is a movie, it’s different,” Zhang Ying insisted. “And I heard Zhou Yang has a cameo in this movie. He’s also a screenwriter…”

"Aside from those messy and overly abstract films, which film under Zhou Yang's management doesn't have his screenwriter's name on it?"

"I don't care, I'm going to support it!"

"..."

Looking at Zhang Ying's protruding belly and stubborn expression, Liu Jiasheng sighed helplessly.

Just then, familiar footsteps sounded behind me again...

His parents were leisurely strolling over, waving their movie tickets, when he suddenly felt completely overwhelmed.

"Why are you all here? This movie isn't suitable for you..."

"Come take care of our daughter-in-law!" The mother smiled and waved the ticket stub. "Besides, the movie tickets can be used as coupons, what a bargain! And we heard Director An's new film is showing, so of course we have to come and support it!"

"You guys still know Director An?" Liu Jiasheng's eyes widened.

“How could we not know that ‘Golden Wedding’ was made so well?” The father immediately chimed in, launching into a long and detailed analysis of the film’s cinematic language.

What the hell!
That actually looks quite convincing!

Seeing his parents' excited expressions, Liu Jiasheng felt like crying but had no tears left.

Got it!
Now the whole family of chives is here!

The screen slowly lit up.

His gaze fell on the screen.

Immediately afterwards, accompanied by the hum of machinery, a rusty metal hand emerged from the ruins, sparks flying as the date "2060" appeared.

The whispers in the audience abruptly ceased, and everyone was drawn into a futuristic world by the high-quality opening.

The story takes place on the fictional planet "Bossatan," where metallic life forms possess liquid-like deformability...

and many more!

Bossant?

Cybertron?
Bossantan?
The moment I saw the planet made up of mechanical metal figures on the screen, and its name appeared...

Liu Jiasheng's entire body trembled!
really!

This movie really captures Zhou Yang's essence!
So you just take the name "Transformers," change the Chinese name, rearrange the characters, and use that combination?

and!

He stared at the screen, completely mesmerized!
On the screen!
He saw the mighty and charismatic Optimus Prime from Transformers, now transformed into "Truck King Optimus Prime"!

The moment I saw the "Caotianzhu" agricultural truck, which is extremely low-spec, make its debut!
His mind went blank, and he felt a strange, ghostly energy surging wildly from his body!

That's definitely right!

and many more!

What the hell!
You're really something!
Besides that!

There's also the "Dry Yellow Wind" that resembles the "Bumblebee" sports car. All the cars are Qinzhou G1 models, just shamelessly changed in color... Hollywood doesn't give you the copyright, so you just blatantly copy it.
this moment!
He was no longer able to describe his emotions!
As these low-budget "Transformers" characters, seemingly trying to ride the coattails of the movie's popularity, made a brief appearance at the beginning of the screening, the entire theater erupted in laughter.

The audience both laughed and cursed Zhou Yang's shameless behavior, while simultaneously being doubled over with laughter at this bizarre premise.
However, these characters seem to appear only briefly as Easter eggs for about ten seconds, some even just a fleeting glimpse, and are not the main characters of the film; they are more like background figures...

The film is also set in a "parallel world"...

After a burst of laughter, the main plot of the movie finally began!

In a post-apocalyptic world, the military mecha girl "Original Steel Heart" goes out of control due to a system malfunction and accidentally travels through a time warp, eventually encountering A-Jie, a young man from an Earth junkyard...

The light and shadow flowed on the screen.

Everyone watched silently as this story unfolded, titled "First Encounter."

Director An Xiaoshi's control over emotions is truly admirable.

When the protagonist, Ah-Jie, first appears, the camera focuses on a scene of him celebrating his birthday alone: ​​in a cramped rented room, the candlelight flickers on a cheap cake bought from a convenience store, illuminating his tired face. He mechanically claps his hands and sings a birthday song to himself, the forced smile on his lips more painful than a grimace, repeating "Happy Birthday to me" over and over again.

When he picked up the instant noodles with his chopsticks, oil splattered onto his old shirt with the words "Employee Benefits" printed on it, and he just numbly wiped it off.

Liu Jiasheng even noticed the trembling of his Adam's apple as he swallowed, as if he were trying to suppress some kind of unspeakable loneliness.

Especially that old T-shirt with the words "Employee Benefits" printed on it, it seemed to pierce the very marrow of the urban ants.

The entire screening room fell into an unprecedented silence. At this moment, even the usually picky Liu Jiasheng was shocked by the overwhelming sense of loneliness and felt an overwhelming sense of sympathy.

With this opening scene filled with a sense of loneliness, the film's story unfolds slowly.
The first encounter scene seems cliché...

But An Xiaoshi used delicate cinematic language to give this encounter a profound meaning that transcends the clichés: when A-Jie was celebrating his birthday alone in a dimly lit rented room, the mechanical girl crashed through the ceiling and fell into his world. Her metal body knocked over the cheap cake, but also reflected the first cold mechanical blue light in the cream on the floor.

The beam of light happened to illuminate a childhood photo of A-Jie with his parents on the wall, and the dust-covered frames suddenly became clear—

This absurd first encounter is actually a mutual redemption of two lonely souls.

The buzzing sound of the mecha girl's system malfunction strangely resonated with the electrical static from A-Jie's old radio, as if fate had already tuned the frequency for these two lives abandoned by the world.

..............................

Unlike Transformers, this movie doesn't rely on visual effects as its selling point, but it possesses a unique magic and refreshing quality.

Set to gentle and beautiful background music, it tells a touching love story.
Prior to this, romantic relationships in movies always followed a certain "default rule"—men had to be strong, stable, and reliable, while women were often portrayed as gentle, dependent, and in need of protection.

Whether it's Captain Jack Sparrow sacrificing himself for love in "The Last Ship," or Ryder's strong protection of Carrie in "The Wandering Earth"...

Love stories on the big screen always seem to repeat the same gender-based script.

But in this movie...

Liu Jiasheng stared at the screen, his heart churning with turmoil.

Unlike any previous film, this movie features a mecha girl who completely subverts the traditional gender-based plot of romance films…

She is both protector and redeemed; beneath her metallic exterior lies an emotion more intense than that of a human.

As the female protagonist used her robotic arm to shield Ah Jie from the falling object, sparks from the hydraulic system reflected on Liu Jiasheng's astonished face...

When he saw the female lead clumsily mimicking a human making a heart shape due to a system malfunction, he was deeply attracted by her silly and cute performance, and for a moment he couldn't take his eyes off her, and his heart started racing involuntarily.

Suddenly realizing his lapse in composure, he glanced guiltily at his wife beside him and saw that she was completely engrossed in the movie, which relieved him slightly.

The actresses cast in this film, although newcomers, perfectly fit his aesthetic preferences...

Damn it!

Especially the mecha girl's fierce and valiant fighting style, and her vulnerability as she curls up to recharge in the rainy night...

This contradictory contrast made him start to fantasize that he was the male protagonist!
The moment the female lead transformed into a motorcycle, her striking and curvaceous figure made Liu Jiasheng hold his breath, and his breathing became heavy!

What the hell!
She was wearing a uniform, but that provocative uniform...

It's so disgusting it makes your blood boil!

It's so addictive!

What made his heart race even faster was the awkward scene unfolding on the screen...

To escape pursuit, the female protagonist and the male protagonist flee together, transforming into a cute, pink and white Suzue motorcycle that speeds wildly down the highway!

Then, in a panic, the protagonist climbed into the car and uncontrollably touched its slightly bulging fuel tank...

then……

She frantically tried to avoid the male protagonist's touch...

"No! You can't touch there!"

Don't touch that area!

"Ah! No, that's dirty, no way!"

"No……"

Although it's a domestically produced special effect!
However, [Xuan Shi Entertainment], which has produced several racing movies, has taken the racing special effects in this film to the extreme!

On the screen!
The rain poured down like bullets, and the neon lights distorted on the wet asphalt road.

Ah Jie gripped the handlebars of the original Iron Heart-transformed Suzue motorcycle tightly, his knuckles trembling with tension.

In the rearview mirror, three military-grade hunting mechs tore through the rain, their crimson scanning beams biting at their backs like deadly demons.

The motorcycle engine suddenly roared like a beast, and the blue flames shooting from the exhaust pipe evaporated the rain into mist.

The next second, the entire vehicle body split and reassembled like a living thing, the metal shell rolled up into armor, and the rear wheel split into four floating thrusters, scraping out molten gold sparks on the asphalt road!
Although this movie didn't have the same lavish budget as the Transformers battle films, the visual effects were still incredibly impactful...

It's astonishing!
of course!

What truly astonished Liu Jiasheng, and even stirred his blood, was not the special effects, but rather the scene that captivated him so much that he wanted to immediately jump into the movie's plot...

But...

"That won't work!"

"Ah! Don't touch there! That's where the energy is stored... If you touch it again, I'll..."

"Aaaaaah—!"

"Don't, don't touch it! The enemy is coming!"

After hearing those cute, embarrassing sounds, like those from a Japanese adult film...

this moment!
He knelt down!
Special!

Is this kind of plot something he can watch?
Can riding a motorcycle be this exciting?

this moment!
In his eyes!

Only...

That car is so hot!
Motorcycles!

(End of this chapter)