This director lacks vision.

Chapter 297 A loud voice does not necessarily mean a large number of people

On the afternoon of December 24th, Catherine did not go to tourist attractions, but instead had her assistant take her to the movie theater.

Catherine has been closely following the rumors circulating online about the two sisters.

She also knew that many people on the Chinese internet were criticizing the movie John Wick.

But this movie also had exceptionally high box office returns.

Catherine was very curious and wanted to go to the cinema to see what the movie was like.

The assistant reminded him, "The domestic versions of John Wick are all in Chinese, and there might not even be English subtitles."

"When we get to the movie theater, to be mindful of public etiquette, I won't be able to translate much for you."

"It's okay, let me check the footage first."

Catherine didn't pay any attention and followed her assistant into the movie theater.

It's Sunday afternoon, and the theater is packed; even the first two rows are full.

The movie started promptly at 3:10 p.m.

The first shot shows Jiang Yifeng shirtless undergoing a physical examination, his body covered in scars etched on his sculpted muscles, which, combined with his handsome features, exude extreme masculine energy.

Catherine immediately thought of the scene from the night before last.

When she got up to use the restroom, she saw Jiang Yifeng riding her sister into the lobby.

That night was truly unavoidable; my sister's expression, her husky outfit, and Jiang Yifeng's strength kept replaying in my mind.

Catherine heard her female assistant swallow hard, and couldn't help but chuckle, thus ending her daydreaming.

The movie's plot begins to unfold.

Catherine was pleasantly surprised to find that the movie had both Chinese and English subtitles, which made it easier for her to understand.

"Your body is still strong, but your nerve responses are damaged, and your movements have become sluggish. You can no longer pilot any mechs. I suggest you take a good rest for a while, otherwise the aftereffects will be more serious."

Following the doctor's instructions, Jiang Ning dressed expressionlessly.

He tried several more times and found that his body's reaction was delayed and no longer in sync with his consciousness.

He can't catch anything people throw at him, let alone dodge attacks.

Jiang Ning could not accept his weakened state, so he chose to retire and live in seclusion in a small European town.

His life was bleak and boring, the only bright spot being his dog, Dahuang, who stayed by his side.

However, Da Huang was killed, and Jiang Ning was furious and determined to take revenge.

He started training actively, but the problem with his nerve responses persisted, so his first battle was not smooth and he won very hard.

Moreover, the person who killed Big Yellow was a second-generation black man whose father was the leader of the Brotherhood.

The Brotherhood is a massive criminal organization that traffics in people, weapons, drugs, and other heinous crimes.

Jiang Ning faced great difficulty in seeking revenge, but this only fueled his excitement.

While gathering information at a bar, he met the sexy dancer Serena.

Serena said she loves singing and dancing, and whenever she hears upbeat music, she can't help but dance along.

Jiang Ning was greatly inspired.

During the toughest time of his mecha training, his favorite thing to do was listen to music.

Hearing these songs now brings back memories of those passionate days, and it excites me even more.

Jiang Ning then began special training.

Whenever the background music starts playing, Jiang Ning's nerves get excited, and his fighting power increases significantly.

And so, Jiang Ning became the man who went into battle carrying a stereo system.

Catherine found this concept very cool, as the combination of music and action, including shooting, fighting, gunshots, and even blood splatter, was perfectly timed, greatly enhancing the entertainment value of the fight scenes.

Although carrying a speaker is a bit childish and cringeworthy, it's really cool and exhilarating.

Jiang Ning likes to say, "No one can defeat me with my background music playing," which is a bit awkward, but strangely inspiring.

Moreover, in the later stages of the story, the female lead Serena becomes the one carrying the speaker, and having a beautiful woman by his side makes the male lead seem more sophisticated.

In the final scene, Jiang Yifeng and the assassin played by Wang Baoqiang have their ultimate showdown, accompanied by a new background music track—Victory.

The song's intro is very exciting and exhilarating, instantly attracting the attention of all the audience members in the theater.

With this background music playing, Jiang Ning's fighting power increased significantly, and he dominated Wang Baoqiang. However, Wang Baoqiang discovered Jiang Ning's secret and deliberately damaged the sound system.

In a moment of crisis, Serena, accompanied by two supporting actors, performed Victory on stage.

She played the drums herself.

dong dong dong dong!

With each strike, Daddario's massive wave would tremble, drawing everyone's attention.

Accompanied by rousing music, the battle intensified, and Jiang Ning ultimately defeated the assassin, killing the gang leader with a rocket launcher.

The film has ended.

After watching the movie, Catherine subconsciously shook her T-shirt. Even though the movie theater's air conditioning was on full blast, she was still covered in sweat.

She thought John Woo was so good!

The action scenes and soundtrack are both perfect, providing a strong sensory experience and pushing the boundaries of violent aesthetics.

Her favorite moment was the male lead Jiang Ning's "super god moment," when the whole world slowed down, like unleashing a finishing move, which was incredibly exhilarating!

As for the plot, she didn't find anything wrong with it.

The story is simple, but it is told in a complete way.

Catherine asked her assistant, "Did you think the movie was good?"

The assistant nodded: "It looks great, Mr. Jiang is so handsome!"

"Then why are so many people in your country criticizing it?"

"Um, I don't know either. Mr. Jiang will be doing a live stream tonight at 8 pm to answer netizens' questions. You can tune in; maybe you'll find the answer there."

……

At 8 p.m., Jiang Yifeng and Daddario appeared on the "Da Shan Kan Da Shan" program to promote John Wick.

In order to ensure the timeliness of the publicity, this episode was broadcast live.

Simultaneously, it was broadcast live on four platforms: CCTV Movie Channel, Sohu Entertainment, Sohu Video, and Panda TV.

Because it was for movie promotion, Jiang Yifeng and Daddario were both made up for the John Wick movie.

He wore a custom-made black suit, looking handsome and rugged, while Daddario wore denim shorts with a low-cut T-shirt, looking hot and sexy.

As soon as the live stream started, the number of viewers in the live stream room skyrocketed, increasing by tens of thousands.

The comments section was packed with messages like "So handsome/beautiful," "So fair-skinned/big," and so on.

Catherine also watched the live stream immediately, with her assistant translating for her.

After Dapeng and Qiao Shan finished their opening remarks, Dapeng asked, "Director Jiang, I've always had a question: why are there so many people criticizing and even cursing John Wick online, yet the film performed very well at the box office?"

Why is there a disconnect between the online world and reality?

The question that Catherine was concerned about was also the question that many netizens wanted to know, so Da Peng asked it first.

Jiang Yifeng replied, "Because a loud voice does not necessarily mean a large number of people."

Of the average moviegoers, perhaps only five percent or even less will comment on the film.

Most viewers just have a laugh after watching it, maybe discuss it briefly with their friends, but they're too lazy to spend time commenting on whether it's good or bad.

Viewers who are willing to comment are generally those with a strong sense of self-expression.

They hope their comments will be seen by more people and receive praise.

From this perspective, there's been too much praise for me, and not many people are willing to read it anymore; while criticism of me and my films, on the other hand, can garner a lot of attention and even showcase one's unique taste.

In addition, rival companies paid film critics to give malicious negative reviews and bought online trolls to control online comments.

This created a false impression online, making it seem like there were many people criticizing John Wick.

In fact, we conducted a sample survey of 10,000 people in cinemas, and 76% of the audience were very satisfied with John Wick, 19% thought it was acceptable, and only 5% said it was not good.

This data is slightly worse than Lost in Thailand, but it is still very good and far surpasses the Twelve Zodiac Animals.

Audiences will vote with their money, and we filmmakers should look at box office data and not be swayed by volume.

A loud voice either indicates a guilty conscience or ulterior motives, and does not necessarily represent the silent majority.

Upon hearing Jiang Yifeng's words, many viewers in the live stream commented.

"That's right, I watched John Wick twice, but I didn't post a single comment."

"Who would bother posting comments online for no reason? At most, they'd just give a like."

"I was blown away by President Jiang, this is the first time I've ever posted a comment."

……

Qiao Shan pressed further, "Then why didn't you refute so many viewers who criticized the film, or mobilize the company's publicity resources to control the comments?"

"Viewers pay for tickets and naturally have the right to criticize the film, which I greatly respect."

Moreover, John Wick is indeed a film with a very distinctive style, and these criticisms help more people understand the film's style.

Our movie is a bit juvenile and hot-blooded, with the male lead constantly showing off, sacrificing some logic in the process.

Viewers who don't like it shouldn't spend money to watch this movie.

I still prefer sincerity, rather than deceiving the audience into going to the cinema under false pretenses; that's pointless.

As soon as these words were spoken, the screen was filled with comments like "President Jiang is awesome".

Da Peng said, "Some viewers really can't accept the idea of ​​the protagonist carrying a speaker into battle; they think it's absurd. Director Jiang, what are your thoughts on this?"

Jiang Yifeng organized his thoughts and said, "Actually, after making action movies for so long, audiences are tired of all the action routines."

Car chases, gunfights, jumping off skyscrapers, grabbing helicopters—all sorts of scenes unfold one after another.

In terms of action film genre subdivisions, there are realistic themes, comedic formulas, and spy thrillers.

It's really hard to innovate.

Before filming John Wick, I watched a lot of action movies and came up with a core element of the thrill – showing off and looking cool.

In my opinion, action movies can do without everything else, but they absolutely must have cool and stylish moments.

Therefore, everything in the chase revolves around showing off and being cool, and this aspect must be taken to the extreme.

When I think about showing off and being cool, two scenarios immediately come to mind:
One category consists of various background music and characters, such as the appearance of the God of Gamblers Ko Chun, or Qiao Feng's rampage.

Another type is the scene in fighting games where you unleash a special move.

When I unleash my special move, there will be a specific animation and sound effect, taking the coolness to the extreme.

So I made some changes to the settings in John Wick.

The male protagonist, Jiang Ning, suffers nerve damage due to a mecha experiment, which greatly reduces his combat power. However, when he hears his favorite music, it stimulates his nerve response and greatly increases his combat power.

So he carries a speaker during battles, and his favorite line is "No one can defeat me with my background music playing."

At the same time, due to his neurological issues, Jiang Ning unexpectedly gains a "godlike moment" when his attention is highly focused during battle. This is similar to bullet time in The Matrix, or the state of unleashing a special move in a fighting game.

The purpose of doing this is to show off and make young people feel cool and stylish.

Of course, everything has its good and bad sides.

My character design inevitably makes the protagonist seem less composed, sometimes flamboyant and childish, and some viewers may find it abstract and difficult to understand.

Therefore, I acknowledge and accept some of the criticisms from the audience.

This isn't a problem with high-speed chases, nor is it a problem with the audience; it's simply that everyone's brainwaves aren't aligned.

Jiang Yifeng's answer was long and sincere; it was what he truly felt.

Da Peng waited a while before continuing to ask, "Your concept is very risky. If many people don't like this style, the movie will fail at the box office."

Jiang Yifeng smiled and said confidently, "I am very confident."

A man is a boy until he dies; happiness is the simplest form of happiness.

You see many men walking down the street, seeing leaves on the trees by the roadside, they will suddenly dribble and lay up, jumping up to grab the leaves.

This behavior is also abstract, but it's very enjoyable.

With today's fast-paced lifestyle and increasing pressure from work and studies, people crave simple, abstract forms of happiness.

Qiao Shan asked, "What about the female audience member?"

Jiang Yifeng joked, "There are a lot of scenes in John Wick showing off muscles, and there are a lot of handsome guys. Girls would be missing out if they didn't watch it."

The whole room burst into laughter at these words.

Jiang Yifeng continued, "Moreover, the scenes of the high-speed chase and the background music are world-class. The Spectre is Jiang Ning's frequently used background music."

Victory is the background music for the final battle in Jiangning, and this song will be used in the Pacific Rim movie later.

With its visuals and soundtrack, even if viewers dislike the cheesy and abstract style, they won't call John Wick a bad movie; they'll at least give it a passing grade.

Daddario, who had been silent until now, suddenly said, "I think the style of fast-paced chase will definitely be very popular in North America."

We prefer this cool and stylish feel, and we like the main characters to be more lively and outgoing.

Besides, I think the movie will also have a good market in Japan, where people also like chuunibyou (adolescent delusions of grandeur) and hot-bloodedness.

I believe John Wick will do very well at the box office worldwide; everyone can look forward to it.

Also, don't be fooled by how easily Jiang makes it sound; this cool, edgy style is actually very difficult to film, and many directors can't handle it.

Daddario was wearing an earpiece with simultaneous interpretation enabled.

When she talked about Jiang Yifeng, her bright blue eyes sparkled, and she became very talkative, her mouth moving incessantly.

She continued, "Putting style aside, the action scenes of the high-speed chases are also world-class."

Most of the moves were delivered by Jiang with a single punch and kick.

He is a true tough guy and a warrior, and his combat skills are far superior to Jackie Chan's.

Our crew has action actors from all over the world, and they are all very skilled fighters, making them very difficult to manage.

But they all listened to Jiang.

Because Jiang set up a challenge on his first day in the group, and fought several matches with these people, eventually winning them over.

I even asked Jiang how he came up with this idea.

He said he followed the teachings of Confucius, who persuaded people to submit to virtue.

When talking about Confucius and winning people over with virtue, D'Addario used Chinese.

Although the pronunciation isn't perfect, everyone can understand it.

Dapeng and Qiaoshan were both amused.

The live stream chat was filled with "666" comments, and many people joked about the relationship between Jiang Yifeng and Daddario.

The phrase "We're just friends" started flooding social media.

This is a jab at Jiang Yifeng's statement a few days ago, in which he said he and Daddario were just friends.

However, judging from the live stream today, Daddario was standing close to Jiang Yifeng with affectionate eyes, clearly indicating that they were more than just friends.

Seeing this, Catherine suddenly envied her sister and began to understand Daddario's husky outfit.

(End of this chapter)