The National Day holiday has come and gone, and the second film in the “Volunteers” series directed by Chen Kaige, “The Volunteers: To the War 2” (hereinafter referred to as “To the War 2”), has been released as promised.
Personally, I think the overall feeling of this movie is similar to the last “To the War”, again with good and bad points, but the focus and characteristics have changed, so let’s talk briefly about these feelings.
First of all, “To the War 2” has improved in a number of ways. First of all, the main plot and main characters are more focused this time around, and the story and characters are more memorable to the viewers.
The last “To the War” certainly made a group portrait of the entire pre-Korean War, taking care of all levels, but accordingly, the problem of a generalized account is also very obvious …… and the film focuses mainly on the fifth battle of the war of resistance against the United States and aid to North Korea in the later stages of the war, the 63rd Chinese People’s Volunteers in North Korea in the area of Lyeonchon, Tiehwon area of Tiehwon to carry out the Tiehwon blockade battle.
In addition, Li Xiang, Li Moyin and Li Xiao’s family were also supported as the protagonists of the movie. Three people with different positions and duties appeared on the Korean battlefield at the same time, and all of them left a colorful figure in Tieyuan.
Coupled with Wu Benzheng, Sun Sheng, Yang Sandi, Zhang Xiaoheng, Fu Chongbi and other old and new supporting actors, “To the War 2” is indeed more “gripping” in terms of watchability.
At the same time, Chen Kaige’s habit of “romance” is still present in this movie – there are different views on this, some think it’s bad, some think it’s beautiful, but I actually prefer the latter, as long as the director doesn’t let himself go too far, his literary tone is still the same! As long as the director doesn’t let himself go too far, those literary accents of his are still quite effective.
For example, after the reunion of Li Xiang and Li Mo Yin, he formally handed over to his father the map he drew on the railroad, then he copied a red flag, using the yard as a simulated sandbox, using his body as a flowing ruler, drawing the majestic passes and mountains along the way, Li’s movements are also a bit of opera stance, with the content of what he is portraying, a professional soldier’s awareness and a member of the pride of the new China are all The realization of a professional soldier and the pride of a member of the new China are all revealed.
It is worth mentioning that at the end of the movie, when the battalion of the 188th Division, in which Li wants to be a member, has suffered all casualties, he once again puts up the scarred but straight military flag, but this time without any unnecessary movements, only the determination to stand firm to the end and the frankness of being at home in death.
PS: Zhu Yilong’s military costume in “To the War 2” really shines. He has acted in a number of movies, and this is one of the most beautiful and smooth ones, which is not a small plus.
In addition, there are still a lot of romanticized imagery in the film, such as Li Xiao in order to distract the attention of the enemy, sang on the radio “River Counterpart”, which caused the soldiers to sing, everyone’s homesickness, and Li Xiao, they carry the keys to their homes, in fact, are the “home” of the figurative carriers, the myriad of small home convergence into a The countless small families converge to form the country, which also highlights the significance of “resisting the U.S. and helping North Korea, protecting the family and defending the country”.
Including the small flower that Li Xiao gives to her brother, the candy that Mr. Peng gives to Li Mo-yin and then changes hands between Li Xiaoxiao and Li, and the ladybugs that fly between Li Xiaoxiao’s concentration on movement, all of these are also outstanding lyrical strokes.
After talking about the progress and advantages, it’s time to talk about the shortcomings of “To the War 2”, in fact, everyone should have guessed, that is, the war drama is still the same old recipe, the same old flavor.
In fact, this time Chen Kaige has improved in this area, such as the battlefield details on the battlefield to do more optimization, to Wu Benzheng related scenes, for example, he as a weapons expert in the front line of the battle, listen to the use of homemade weapons experience and transformation suggestions, but also teach soldiers how to dig trenches, and so on.
However, the director is still unconsciously guilty of his old habits, like to head in his own favorite place, or take Wu Ben Zheng as an example, when the experience of the cruelty of the battlefield and the difference in the level of weapons, he fell into a kind of mania beyond the scope of his duties, the intention is of course good, but screw more inevitably look strange, especially when he drove a tank on the battlefield back to use as a trophy, and for this reason, also contributed to a miniature Tank battle, nice to look at, but placed in the whole scene will be abrupt.
Similarly, there is a place for Sun Wake to add drama, but considering that Chen Feiyu is the director’s son, but also to continue to participate in the third part, it is also excusable ……
In addition, some of the clichéd problems in the war also exist in “To the War 2”, not better but not worse, just normal, I do not care to say more.
I’m not going to talk about it. I’ll end with a few other things.
Movies (especially commercial movies that go to theaters to make money at the box office) are just a window into the past, they can’t completely restore history, and they can’t do it all, so some of the responsibility for systematic education doesn’t have to be thrown on one movie.
The Volunteers: To the War 2″ is not much of a good war movie, we can discuss whether the movie is good or not, since it has been tested by the market, of course, the audience can comment …… but the movie ‘should be made or not’ should never be a question. But whether the movie “should be made or not” should never be a question. I do think that the previous decades in order to surface and gas, downplaying the mention of the Korean War did not do right, in recent years made some related subjects of film and television works are just making up, according to the significance and weight of the war, our works are still far from enough it.
Therefore, although I can’t say that I like the “Volunteer Army” movie series, I will still go to see the third movie when it comes out, which is an attitude.
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