Huayu is here for you

Chapter 184 Sandwich Attack

Looking at Cheng Long's expression, Lin Yu knew what he was thinking, but what he said was also the truth!

This movie was well received abroad, but domestically—ugh—it's simply unmentionable!

"The Forbidden Kingdom was made for Americans, so don't have too high hopes."

These are words that Cheng Long himself said in his previous life. Lin Yu felt that he had some suspicions in his heart, but he was unwilling to admit it and wanted to find some comfort from Lin Yu!

Otherwise, why would someone say something like that during a promotional campaign when everything was fine in their past life? Would they be contradicting themselves?

Once you've seen the whole movie, you'll be convinced that Jackie Chan's statement wasn't just out of modesty.

Is a movie that goes into detail about Sun Wukong's origins, personality, hobbies, and weapons really made for Chinese audiences?

But it's different if it's made for Americans. It's not wrong to copy it for Chinese people, but the problem is that if people from both countries want to compete to see who falls asleep first, then it can't be explained by the "nationality theory".

To be honest, the first ten minutes of the film are tense and exciting, especially the opening, which is full of unexpected imagination. Even Jason and Old Huo's Chinese dialogue is full of fun and comedic tension (the dialogue about Shaw Brothers and the original is full of humor from the lower class, making people feel like they are kindred spirits).

However, once the two older brothers appeared, the film quickly veered into a generic, unoriginal production, largely due to mishandling in many areas.

In order to allow kung fu superstars Jackie Chan and Jet Li to fight, a misunderstanding that could have been resolved with a single sentence was deliberately left unresolved. Moreover, the two immediately clarified the situation and shook hands to make peace right after the fight, making it seem as if the more than 5-minute fight was a waste of money and a case of "the more meat you have, the more you seek out to train." It was clearly a fight for the sake of fighting, and the fight itself wasn't particularly exciting. The performance was as stilted as ever, lacking any of the beauty of Chinese martial arts!

To balance the importance of the two actors in the fight scenes, the director arranged for the number of times they landed a blow to each other to be roughly equal (it must have been difficult for the director to do the math). After Jackie Chan was kicked, Jet Li would definitely get punched, and vice versa, making the fight a game with no suspense.

Furthermore, the comedic tension between the two characters did not continue.

The fight scenes are repetitive, lacking coherence and quite chaotic, comparable to the brawls in mainland martial arts films from the 80s. It is incomparable to the works of the Eighth Master, such as "Black Mask", "Fist of Legend", and "Iron Monkey".

The only highlight was the White-Haired Witch's whip techniques and bow-drawing and arrow-shooting movements. Her appearance and performance were also on point, making her one of the few highlights of the film. However, the scream she let out when she fell off the cliff was exactly the same as the one Li Bing played in the previous life, which gave me goosebumps! Couldn't they have changed her scream?

Lin Yu even wanted to ask Shu Chang if she blushed when she was filming.

Moreover, in order to focus on showcasing Eastern-style scenery, the director awkwardly pieced together various typical landscapes, especially bamboo forests.

What's wrong? Did you see a great film by a national-level director and want to take inspiration from it?

But the audience's getting tired of it, bro!

What's even more ruthless is that as soon as Lu Yan and his group rushed out of the tavern, they were greeted by a vast expanse of lush bamboo forest. Although it makes sense geographically, it gives the impression that the foreign directors were too eager for quick success and instant benefits, as if they were being lazy by pulling up and down scenery on a stage.

Moreover, the setting, story, and characters were not well integrated; the same fight scene would work just as well if the setting were changed.

Most fatally, the film's story lacks middle-ground characters; the stark black-and-white approach lacks suspense and feels somewhat dull. To mitigate this, the director and screenwriter tried to have Jet Li and the American boy argue about the departure time, but it still couldn't salvage the situation.

Imagine if the White-Haired Witch had a change of heart and ended up with Lu Yan (I heard that according to the original script, Lu Yan was the one who hurt her), how interesting that would be. Actually, it would be more moving for the audience to see a woman who was hurt and then went to harm others fall off a cliff than to let her "turn over a new leaf".

The film's comedic scenes are also quite abrupt, such as having the monk Li Lianjie urinate on Jackie Chan in public (especially in front of a younger girl), which is so vulgar that it's shocking and too out of character.

Furthermore, the comedic moments were inconsistent and lacked flow. The detail about tipping with US dollars was decent, but unfortunately, it was the only one, insufficient to sustain the overall effect.

The villain was portrayed as weak and incompetent. Everyone knew that the Jade Warriors couldn't defeat Sun Wukong, so the predictable ending was obviously uninteresting. The plot also lacked any exciting creativity. As a result, the second half of the film was basically just counting down the time until it was over.

Who are the main characters? Lu Yan, the silent monk, Jason, or Sun Wukong? It seems like they are all of them, yet none of them are.

Such a "out-of-focus" character setting is a major taboo in commercial films. Lin Yu prefers to believe that Jason has more screen time in the American version of "The Forbidden Kingdom" (for example, there are scenes in the North American trailer that did not appear in the Chinese version). He should actually be the fulfiller of the ancient prophecy and the central character of the narrative.

However, the Chinese version clearly increased the screen time and importance of the two older brothers in order to cater to (or think it was catering to) the Chinese audience's feelings for them, but the result was that it ruined the overall coherence of the story.

Furthermore, the romance element wasn't fully explored, which felt wasteful; it would have been better to just gloss over it and not film that scene at all!

The numerous shortcomings listed above are merely superficial; at their core, they stem from a failure to align Chinese and American cultures, production methods, and cinematic concepts. For instance, the inability to balance the roles of the two main characters and portray them as opposing forces—a clear case of good versus evil—is the biggest regret.

For example, the balance between fantasy elements and the realistic martial arts world was not handled well, resulting in a mismatched and incongruous feel; also, the director was too eager to merge Chinese kung fu resources with the American "save the world" model, but the result was disappointing.

For example, some mystical Eastern wisdom is used to advance the narrative, allowing Jason to understand the secrets of kung fu and quickly grow into a kung fu master, but these are all superficial and lack moving descriptions.

Despite this, The Forbidden Kingdom did not perform too badly at the domestic box office. This is because domestic audiences' interest in blockbusters is still limited to watching for entertainment (rather than choosing the right genre and story based on their own interests). The situation where the more they are criticized, the more they want to watch the film will not change for a long time.

Besides, if it costs the same amount of money to go to the cinema, Lin Yu would definitely choose "The Forbidden Kingdom," since it costs more money and involves smashing things and killing people. If you want to watch other "indoor drama" art films, you can just watch them on DVD at home!

However, this spirit of Sino-foreign cooperation is still commendable, but the level should not stop there, and we should not stop working on the software once we have the substance. Imagine how great it would be if Quentin Tarantino directed it!

That being said, if the result of so many collaborations between Chinese and foreign elites is still inferior to the works of Hong Kong's golden age of cinema or Hollywood's own productions, then what's the point of such collaborations?

Lin Yu analyzed everything word by word and sentence by sentence, transforming it all into his own words and pouring it all into Cheng Long, leaving him completely stunned!

"Is it really that bad?" Cheng Long looked completely bewildered by Lin Yu's words!

"Not bad! Big brother, didn't I just say? The domestic box office should be pretty good, breaking 100 million shouldn't be a problem! Globally—breaking 100 million shouldn't be a problem either!" Lin Yu said calmly.

Cheng Long felt a pang of sadness upon hearing Lin Yu's words.

Both domestically and internationally, it's exceeded 100 million? Breaking the mark is a joke!

Is his and Jet Li's influence as the "Double J" duo only worth 100 million? Global, no less? This is a complete flop! What makes it seem okay to you?

After defeating Cheng Long, while Cheng Long was still in a daze, Lin Yu secretly slipped away to find Miss Liu.

After all, he'd spent enough time with a bunch of grown men; he needed to find Miss Liu and absorb some of her divine energy!

After the banquet, media reports about "The Forbidden Kingdom" were published one after another.

At first, it was fine; the hype was all about the movie itself and the actors.

Like something like, "The Double J collaboration is unbeatable, a once-in-a-century Sino-foreign co-production blockbuster, a large-scale mythological film that can't be surpassed within the next decade."

Although there were some mentions of Lin Yu, they were few and far between. Lin Yu, back on set with "Your Name," didn't take it to heart. It was obvious the organizers had bribed the media! Many people do this! There's nothing strange about it.

But what Lin Yu didn't expect was—

I don't know if it's because of the poor box office and word-of-mouth, or something else.

In media reports, Lin Yu is appearing more and more frequently! And the content of the reports is becoming increasingly outrageous!

Like what—

"Lin Yu said it was great after watching it!"

"Lin Yu clapped excitedly for ten minutes!"

Director Lam praised "The Forbidden Kingdom" as a film that rivals "The Witch" in its brilliance!

—Reports like these are everywhere!

At this point, Lin Yu, who was filming, couldn't sit still any longer.

"When did I say that? Not inferior to 'The Witch'? Why don't you say it's not inferior to 'The Martian' or 'Iron Man'?"

All you do all day is spout nonsense! You think I'm easy to bully? You think I have to give you face?

Are you kidding me! You won't learn your lesson unless I teach you a lesson you won't forget, right?

Lin Yu, her anger at its peak, wasn't going to tolerate them any longer. She picked a media outlet that had been loitering outside the film set and launched into a tirade: "I never said those things! I did watch 'The Forbidden Kingdom,' and well—I think they'd be better off with a different script!"

Lin Yu's single sentence caused a huge stir throughout the entire film and television industry!

"Haha—that's hilarious! Trying to ride on Lin Yu's coattails? You'd better change your script first!"

"Director Lin! You're awesome! That's exactly what I've been looking forward to! This is the 'Double J' collaboration I've been waiting for, and this is what you've produced? Changing the script is the least of my worries! I'd say we should just replace the director!"

"Director Lin! YYDS!"

As the film's release date approached, the reputation of "The Forbidden Kingdom" began to decline!

The investors are acting like they're doomed, they just have to piggyback on Lin Yu's name!

This really got Director Lin really worried! With just one sentence, he sent "The Forbidden Kingdom" plunging into an abyss at 180 miles per hour!

The investors panicked!

"President Wang! Didn't you say that Huayi and Linyu had a good relationship? How could this happen?"

Wang Zhongjun calmly took a puff of his cigarette. "Phew—it's not bad, and we even reached another cooperation agreement during the premiere of 'The Forbidden Kingdom.' But—what does that have to do with you?"

"—No! We're all in this together! If one is disgraced, we are all disgraced!"

"Who's on your side? How much money did Huayi invest? Li Lianjie invested almost as much as Huayi, didn't he? You guys are really something. You should just focus on the overseas market, why do you have to meddle in our domestic market, and why do you have to drag Lin Yu into it? What are you thinking? This isn't the way to court disaster!"

Just as Huayi Brothers was arguing with the foreign organizers, the box office of "The Forbidden Kingdom" in China also plummeted!

In the first week, before we provoked Lin Yu, we could still make more than 10 million in box office revenue every day!

The second week was even worse! Daily box office revenue plummeted to below seven million!

At this rate! Forget about 200 million! Even breaking 100 million is a stretch!

What made them even more desperate was that Warner Bros. and Marvel's movies "Aquaman" and "Captain America," which had been showing overseas for two months, were scheduled for release in China on December 25th and January 1st, respectively!

This time, not only were the organizers of "The Forbidden Kingdom" somewhat desperate, but Huayi Brothers was also completely dumbfounded by this sudden news!

"Warner Bros. and Marvel—no, wait! It's China Film Group—no, that's not right either! It's Lin Yu! It's Lin Yu! Only he has this ability! What does he want to do? What exactly does he want to do?"

What kind of movie is Aquaman?

Let's put it this way! This movie has already grossed nearly $8 million worldwide, excluding China! Nearly $3 million in North America alone, and nearly $5 million overseas (excluding China)! A true behemoth!

It's safe to say that this is the hottest movie in the world right now.

As for the movie "Captain America," it has already been crushed by "Aquaman" overseas for two months. However, despite this, the movie is still considered a Hollywood blockbuster!

这两部电影一部12月25号，一部1月1号！而《非诚勿扰》的上映时间是12月28号！直接被这两部电影给它来了个三明治式的夹击！还捎带的一把掐死了《功夫之王》的后劲儿！

It almost brought Feng Xiaogang and Huayi to tears!

"Lin Yu—Director Lin? President Lin! We really didn't do anything! Is this some kind of indiscriminate attack?"

Meanwhile, our great director Lin is facing constant "admonitions" from Han Sanping!

"Kobayashi! This kind of thing can't happen twice! There won't be a next time!"

"Yes, Uncle Han, I understand!"

"Heh—now you're calling me Uncle Han? But don't forget what you promised me!"

"Don't worry! I remember!"