Qing Ya Ji: Guo Jingming no longer has to worry about being rejected by the market

I just watched "Qing Ya Ji" in the cinema, so I took advantage of the excitement to take the time to write a review.

Actually, I had no interest in this movie at first. Because I hate one of the male protagonists very much, I will block any film in which he appears. And my interest in Guo Jingming is not enough to dilute this dislike.

But after "Qing Ya Ji" was released on demand yesterday, the film actually received some praise. The reputation of works related to Guo Jingming took a turn in this movie.

One of my favorite film critics and screenwriters, a straight man, once hated Guo Jingming very much and thought all his films were bad, but yesterday he hugged me After watching "Qing Ya Ji" with the mentality of "testing the poison" for the audience, I admitted on Weibo that "Qing Ya Ji" cannot be classified as a bad film series, and the movie does have merits. Although he dislikes Guo Jingming as always, his evaluation of "Qing Ya Ji" is unexpectedly positive.

This piqued my interest, so I immediately placed an order for tonight’s movie tickets.

I have to admit that the movie exceeded my expectations. If you have no obvious prejudice against Guo Jingming and like to watch big scenes, exquisite special effects, handsome guys and touching love stories, I recommend going to the cinema to watch it.

The following contains spoilers.

Let me share my views on several levels.

First of all, I have never read the original work. Speaking of Abe, the one I am most familiar with is Shinzo Abe. Before watching the movie, I couldn’t even tell the difference between Seimei and Boya, and I had no idea what Shikigami meant.

After watching the movie, I probably understood that Onmyoji and Shikigami should be similar to masters and servants who have signed a life-and-death contract. The master is an onmyoji, and the shikigami can be either a demon or a human. This setting is actually very similar to the setting of the king and the apostle in Guo Jingming's "Jueji". Once a relationship is bound, subordinates will absolutely obey their superiors, even to the point of dying for them.

This feeling is very subtle. I have also predicted before that "Qing Ya Ji" may have a tendency to be too beautiful. The setting of the master-servant contract can just play a marginal role in this aspect, and it is also in line with Guo Jingming's consistent taste.

In fact, I think the "corruption" in "Qing Ya Ji" is not particularly obvious. The relationship between the two male protagonists can be explained by brotherly love or confidant love, which is completely feasible. The most "rotten" line in it is simply that Boya, played by Deng Lun, is trapped in a sarcophagus, and Qingming, played by Zhao Youting, goes to save him. Zhao Youting said: "Let me see you." Deng Lun said: "How long has it been since you said this?"

The chubby brother next to me heard this. During the two lines, I twisted my body uneasily. I believe he may have been sore.

However, I don’t know if this movie is consistent with the original work. But I understood the story the movie was trying to tell. In terms of storyline, the logical structure is pretty good.

Let’s talk about the evaluation of actors. On the whole, the two male protagonists are quite satisfactory. It's not particularly impressive in my opinion, but it doesn't stretch my crotch either.

The only thing I have is that I guess Qingming in the original work is a bit younger, and Zhao Youting is too mature. In the beginning, Wang Duo plays his master, trying to look as old as possible in terms of makeup and hair, but Zhao Youting still doesn't look like the apprentice he brought up since childhood, and his youthfulness is seriously lacking.

The actors in "Qing Ya Ji" surprised me, one is Wang Duo and the other is Wang Ziwen.

The two male protagonists are indeed not my type, and I am not interested in their looks. What I like better is Wang Duo.

Wang Duo is very suitable for playing the role of a yandere, paranoid, gentle scum, dressed like a beast. Previously in "Beauty Without Borders", I liked the young master he played better, and he overshadowed the male protagonist. The Qi La played in "The Legend" perfectly fits the original work. The attraction of this malicious beauty is very fatal.

In "Qing Ya Ji", Wang Duo plays two roles, one is Qingming's master Tadayuki, and the other is the shikigami left by Tadayuki to the princess to protect her. Cranes watch over the moon. Guo Jingming obviously also knew that Wang Duo's body was a bonus, so Wang Duo was always shirtless in the second half of the movie. It can be seen that he has a very, very good figure.

As for the character He Shouyue, he is handsome, persistent, loyal, unswerving until death, and powerful. He can challenge the two male protagonists alone. In order to stay with the princess forever, he did not hesitate to release the snake and destroy the capital. Although the princess always regarded him as a substitute, in the end He Shouyue died for the princess. This kind of male character who can destroy the world for the woman he loves is actually very popular with female audiences.

Wang Duo has a high degree of completion for both roles. It can be seen that he is a very smart actor. Although Guo Jingming is controversial, he knows how to unleash Wang Duo's greatest charm. This is a blessing for an actor.

In my opinion, Wang Ziwen is the anchor of the entire film. Her acting skills surpassed everyone. Even if the rest of the film is a piece of shit, based on Wang Ziwen's performance alone, I'm willing to give this film a passing grade. With Wang Ziwen here, the tone of the entire film has been raised to a higher level.

Wang Ziwen vividly performed the princess's loneliness in immortality, her desire for a lover but not getting it, and the pain of suppressing the evil snake with her body. Although she is not a dazzling beauty at first sight, her acting skills allow her to perfectly present the domineering, scheming and charm of a queen and princess, making people believe that she is a beauty worthy of a man dying for her.

Especially in the fantasy world at the end, the princess witnessed her beloved Zhongxing dying without being able to do anything about it. The despair, collapse and despair are what Wang Ziwen expressed in this film. The most glorious moment. I even burst into tears at one point. Therefore, the final twist of the princess wielding a sword and killing herself was not abrupt.

Guo Jingming’s decision to choose Wang Ziwen was very correct. This petite female star is a bit similar to Guo Caijie's previous role as Gu Li, and she has truly integrated into the role.

Wang Ziwen is a very malleable actor. Guo Jingming has used powerful actors like Wang Ziwen in such commercial blockbusters. It must be said that Guo Jingming has never failed in his choice of actors. .

Chun Xia's performance is also okay, she has aura, and she should give a wonderful performance in the second part.

After talking about the actors, let’s talk about the special effects of the film.

To be honest, I was frightened by the scenes of the hair demon and some of the evil snakes. The girl next to me was so scared that she covered her eyes when she saw the hair demon coming out. Why didn't the previous film critics mention these two special effects? Are they immune to things like ghosts?

I really have a psychological shadow on hair ghosts, and I hate anything with long hair and no face. I feel that Guo Jingming is very good at grasping the rhythm of horror. Every time when my psychological endurance is about to reach the limit, the demon will escape at the right time. But the hair demon's sudden long hair is really scary and makes people get goosebumps all over. Maybe men don't feel much about this kind of thing, but some women really can't stand it.

The special effects of the evil snake are also very good. Several times when it faces the audience with its bloody mouth, it seems as if it is about to rush out of the big screen, causing psychological oppression to people. . And combined with the huge sound effects of the cinema, it was really shocking.

Therefore, based on these two points, I do not recommend parents to take their children to the cinema, as it may scare the children.

There are basically no major flaws in other special effects. And if you are familiar with Guo Jingming's movies, this kind of special effects should be his usual style. For example, Qingming's golden door, you can immediately reach another place after stepping through the door. Isn't this the soul skill teleportation formation of Qi La in "The Legend of the Lord", and it is also the Shuchichi Senli in "The Blessing of the Heavenly Official". It seems that the stunt of changing space at will is quite popular in fantasy novels.

The special effect of the giant python almost swallowing the Snow Sky Dog is also very similar to the special effect of the soul beast Haiyin swallowing the soul beast Darkwing in "Grand Trail" picture. Similar things can be found in Onmyoji Takiya's special effects of monitoring bugs in "Grand Trail".

In addition, the fighting scenes are as fantastic as ever. In the end, the fight between Deng Lun and Wang Duo on the back of the evil snake went up to the sky and into the earth, through the clouds and fog, giving the audience a sense of visual dizziness, as if they were immersed in the scene, like parkour, following the attack of the evil snake. Break out left and right.

At this point, I have to ask, why does Guo Jingming like to photograph shirtless men so much? When he was filming the sex-changed version of "Painted Skin", he had his younger brother Ding Chengxin bare his arms for a while, and he did it again this time.

He Shouyue, played by Wang Duo, lost his shirt after swallowing the snake. I admit that his abdominal muscles are indeed very beautiful. When Deng Lun used his own flesh and blood to support Suzaku and appeared in the scene after transforming into Suzaku, well, it was another shirtless scene.

So the two men started fighting on the snake's back without wearing any clothes. Why can't you wear some clothes and talk properly? I don’t know if the actors were cold or not when filming this scene, alas~

If I remember correctly, "Qing Ya Ji" will be released on December 24th. It was officially released on December 25, and as of the time I posted this article, the box office of this movie has reached 134 million. This result is pretty good.

Amid the slander and doubts, especially when Wang Hailin led the crowd to boycott Yu Zheng and Guo Jingming in such a big drama, "Qing Ya Ji" can be said to be targeted by all parties. a focus. Under this kind of pressure, Guo Jingming completed his job quite well. Even though many people who hate him are unwilling to admit it, Guo Jingming does have some talent in shooting commercial blockbusters. Especially the kind of audience who don't care about public opinion and just want to have fun when watching movies are relatively easy to be attracted by this kind of movie.

This movie currently has a rating of 8.9 on Maoyan and 5.1 on Douban. It is expected to drop further in the future. Among the online reviews, apart from being ignorant, some of them are quite good and give some affirmation. Of course, there are also flaws, such as the advancement of the storyline is a bit slow, and there are still plagiarism controversies.

Based on my observation today, the movie attendance rate is okay. I dare not say that the box office can exceed 1 billion, but I think that a conservative estimate should be more than 500 million. . If I were to rate it, out of 10, it would be about 7-8, which is a relative preference.

Therefore, Guo Jingming should not have to worry too much about the market abandoning him. He can cater to the audience's taste. Although as a director, he sometimes has more roles than actors, and he will never be liked by the straight male group. But fortunately, his main audience is women, and he also knows how to grasp the psychology of this audience.

As a director without a professional background, Guo Jingming should be able to make money from making movies. Anyway, he will not hold high a moral banner, nor will he please people who hate him. As long as he firmly grasps his audience, he will always have a place in the market.