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The movie "Legend" directed by Tong Jili and starring Jackie Chan has been released for 7 days and the box office has just exceeded 70 million. Maoyan predicts that the final box office will be about 92 million. The word of mouth of the film is not ideal, and Douban scores 5.5. You should know that the previous work "Myth" co-produced by the two 19 years ago had a box office of 97 million.

After the release of the movie "Legend" starring Jackie Chan, the box office and word of mouth were not ideal.

In fact, in recent years, Jackie Chan's action movies have gradually lost their box office appeal, and their reputation is not as good as before. First of all, Jackie Chan is 70 years old after all, and he is still active in the field of action movies. His dedication to real shooting is indeed admirable, but after all, his physical function is not as good as before. In addition, some of the film themes starring Jackie Chan are repetitive and old, the action design is not novel, and the combination of action and technology is not thorough. There are no young actors who can take over Jackie Chan's rivalry for the time being, so he has lost a lot of young audiences' market, and his big screen credit has gradually been overdrawn. Some viewers described "the gradual collapse of childhood action idols, seeing the big brother still fighting for his life at such an old age, distressed and sad". When Jackie Chan's movie "Dragon Horse Spirit" held a post-screening exchange meeting at the Communication University of China in 2023, students euphemistically asked to refund tickets on the spot, which showed the decline in reputation. The Beijing News interviewed theater managers and audiences to talk about why the current audience is no longer interested in Jackie Chan's starring movies.

The creation of "Legend" is speculative, and the aesthetics are still stuck in the past decade

"Legend" is the sequel to "Myth". Nearly 20 years later, it recycled the old IP and served the audience a rehash of old stuff. From the perspective of creative motivation, it is difficult to see the creator's sincerity. It is more of a commercial speculation.

The birth of "Myth" has its distinct historical background. It was produced in the third year after the release of the blockbuster "Hero", when the industrialization of Chinese film industry began to take off. At that time, the craze for period costume commercial blockbusters was in full swing, and the story setting of characters traveling from the present to the ancient times was relatively fresh and very popular at the time. Coupled with the blessing of action, adventure, love, archaeology and other elements, this period costume blockbuster starring Jackie Chan has achieved great commercial success, with a total box office of 97 million in the mainland, second only to "The Promise", becoming the runner-up of the mainland movie box office that year.

However, nearly 20 years later, a large amount of online information has filled people's lives. The large number of story segments output by short video platforms every day, and even short dramas with the concept of "rebirth" everywhere have fed the audience. If we apply the same plot as "Gone with the Wind travels through time and space", it is obviously no longer able to meet the audience's viewing needs at this moment. So some viewers commented on "Legend": The story traveled through thousands of years, but the aesthetics regressed by a hundred years. In particular, there is a poster covered with saturated colors, with a strong online style.

Some viewers said that this poster is full of the aesthetic style of online movies.

After the release of Legend, the box office on the first day was only 6.67 million (excluding previews), and it has not gained popularity. It is the least noticeable Jackie Chan movie in recent years. Manager Sun of a Beijing cinema was also a little surprised by the performance of the film, because Jackie Chan's movies have always been competitive in the market, but the story of this film is too old for today's mainstream audiences, full of routines and preaching, especially the costume and makeup designers are still basically at the aesthetic level of 20 years ago, which is a shame for the magnificent natural scenery and Jackie Chan who has been fighting for his life.

In response, another theater manager also said that "Gemini Man" directed by Ang Lee was released in 2019. The film used AI technology to make two Will Smiths, 23 years apart in age, "love and hate each other" on the screen. Even though AI technology has reached the world's top level, the film's discussion of the ethical issues of cloning was still criticized by movie fans for its clichéd story and lack of novelty.

Action and comedy have always been Jackie Chan's signature movie, and they are also his magic weapon that has been loved by movie fans all over the world for decades. However, action and comedy cannot exist independently without stories. In recent years, the stories of Jackie Chan's movies have often become a major shortcoming, which has made his signature action and comedy lose strong support. In the collapse of word-of-mouth, the audience's expectations of him have been overdrawn: "Blood of the Machine" has a weird narrative, "Detective Pu Songling" has a clichéd story, "Mystery of the Dragon Seal" has a bland plot, and "Vanguard" has a simple structure... But to be honest, the biggest blame for the lack of story should be borne by the screenwriter and director.

Jackie Chan's action movies are based on real shots, and the special effects are not effective.

19 years ago, when Jackie Chan held Kim Hee Sun and sang "Untie Me, the Most Mysterious Waiting" affectionately on the big screen, the audience could barely accept the 23-year age difference between the two. But Jackie Chan, who is nearly 70 years old, and Nazha, who was born in the 1990s, are talking about love on the screen. The age difference of nearly 40 years can only be made up by AI.

Just like Feng Xiaogang's remake of If You Are the One 3, which was released 13 years later, in order to make the 66-year-old Ge You and Shu Qi look good on the screen, the story is set in the near future and Shu Qi is set as an intelligent person. AI has played an indispensable role in remaking the old film.

Jackie Chan's action movies have always advocated real shooting. In "Project A", he fell from a clock tower (twice in real shooting), in "Police Stories", he leaped from a lamppost on the 7th floor of a shopping mall, and in "Who Am I", he made a shocking leap from a high-rise building on the slope of Rotterdam... To put it bluntly, Jackie Chan's signature action movies are indeed made with flesh and blood, so they are well-received.

From top to bottom, these are Jackie Chan's real-life life-threatening scenes in "Project A", "Police Stories" and "Who Am I".

As he gets older and special effects technology improves, Jackie Chan actually embraces movie special effects. Works such as "Blood Machine", "Detective Pu Songling", and the currently released "Legend" all have a lot of special effects support. However, when it comes to the use of new technologies in movies, the crew does not seem to know how to make the best use of their strengths and avoid their weaknesses.

Director Tong Jili, like Jackie Chan, is an excellent filmmaker who worked hard in Hong Kong's workshop-style studios. His attitude towards movies is still the traditional, old-fashioned way - real shooting. However, this kind of tradition in his bones sometimes seems a bit stubborn and dull in today's era of advanced CG technology. For example, the crew of "Legend" used 12,000 horses to shoot the large-scale scenes of thousands of troops in ancient wars, breaking the Guinness World Record for the largest number of horses used in a movie at the same time. But for ordinary audiences, even if it is real shooting, they think that this large-scale scene of thousands of troops is the result of CG special effects. Movie fan Mr. Chen was also disappointed with several war scenes in the film. "The shooting was long and dull, lacking the design of the scene scheduling, with the gimmick of real shooting, but no appreciation. It took so much manpower and financial resources, but it was actually a bit thankless."

"Legend" uses AI to restore Jackie Chan's appearance at the age of 27.

As for the most important AI technology in the movie that makes Jackie Chan look younger, the completion degree is very low. Some viewers commented on the AI ​​technology in the film: "The young Jackie Chan in AI is extremely out of place, especially when he is close-up and making micro-expressions, it is impossible to look directly at him. The corners of his mouth and eyebrows are extremely inconsistent, resulting in a stiff expression." The reason why Jackie Chan's movies are loved by the audience is because of his irreplaceable action signature. In the face of the fact that his body functions are gradually declining, AI cannot just be a gimmick in the movie, but must better serve the action and combine with his best actions to make up for the degradation of his body functions. Perhaps Jackie Chan himself is facing the same embarrassment - how to balance the relationship between real shooting and special effects.

Action movies need young people to take over

As an action film actor, the body is the biggest enemy. Unlike other types of film actors who have a long career life, even though Mr. Eastwood is over 90 years old and can still play a cowboy, it actually depends more on the eyes and lines. With the decline of physical function and years of injuries, the golden period of action actors' career will not be too long, and no one can go against the will of heaven.

In the 2010 film The Expendables, Sylvester Stallone was the lead actor and could perform impossible tasks with his teammates. But by the time The Expendables 4 was released in 2023, he had retired from the front line and basically only made cameo appearances, passing the baton to the younger Jason Statham (56 years old at the time of filming). Looking at the first and fourth films of the John Wick series, nearly 10 years apart, the lead actor Keanu Reeves is no longer the same in terms of action steps and reactions, and he can't deny his age.

Jackie Chan is 70 years old and still active in the field of action movies, which is quite rare in the world. But in recent years, Jackie Chan has also shown some fatigue in action movies. He is somewhat unable to shoot action scenes and tries not to try some dangerous actions. There is a classic passage in "Vanguard" in retrospect. Jackie Chan also made fun of himself. He "lied" Yang Yang to "jump off the building", but he took the stairs under the reminder of the police. It seems funny, but it is very realistic.

Jackie Chan strives to encourage the younger generation to shoot action scenes in "Vanguard".

It can be said that Jackie Chan and Hong Kong filmmakers brought action movies to the world, making Chinese Kung Fu famous around the world and influencing countless later generations. However, this once brilliant film genre is now facing a problem of a lack of successors. The people active in the field of action movies are still those of that era. They have indeed been working hard, but it is difficult to hide the embarrassment of being out of touch with the times.

Take a look at Jackie Chan's long list of unreleased movies on Douban, which has been arranged until 2035 (the list will be very different from the actual projects). Too many projects have made him over-consumed and overdrawn his screen credit. There is a saying that "the greater the ability, the greater the responsibility", Jackie Chan still carries the heavy signboard of action movies and fights alone. Time flies, heroes are old, horses are in the west wind, and sword songs are tragic. But his myths and legends still shine with unyielding brilliance.

There is a line in the movie "Kowloon Walled City: The Besieged City" released this year: "From now on, the Walled City will be ruled by you young people." The "Four Young Masters of the Walled City" plus the villain Wang Jiu in the film have opened up a new world for action movies, which has amazed the audience and brought a new force to action movies that stick to the big screen. In "Customs Front", Nicholas Tse, who is not a professional actor, served as an action director for the first time, and the completion of the action scenes is commendable and worthy of encouragement. Just like what a Jackie Chan fan called for: I hope that more young people will take over Jackie Chan's action movies in the future, even if it can let Jackie Chan take a break to recover and fight again, it is also a hope.

Beijing News reporter Teng Chao

Editor: Huang Jialing

Proofread by Li Lijun