Film Name: 胜券在握 / Brave New World / To Gather Around
Last night I went to see the screening of the new movie “Brave New World”, probably because I had heard some bad reviews of the movie and my expectations were lowered, so when I finished the movie, I didn’t think it was too bad. …… It’s just that in retrospect, the more I think about it, the more I feel bad about it.
The movie’s biggest draw is actually writer-director Liu Zhuan Zimo, as well as his well-received debut feature “Be Somebody” three years ago, which brought him a good reputation, and this “Brave New World” is largely made with the same crew – here’s where I’m not impressed, in terms of the “roll score”. “Brave New World” is a considerable improvement in terms of “roll scores”, but overall it’s not as good as “Be Somebody”.
As an old guy who has been following Liu Zhuan Zimo since before the days of Wanhe Tianyi, I’m actually happy to see those old acquaintances (Zimo, Kodak, etc., Baike, Ben Yu are now the backbone of Chinese films) on the big screen.
Zimo is clearly more ambitious than Yi Xiaoxing, who is still in the “popular comedy” business, in that he not only wants to make a decent drama, but also to add more shots, aesthetics, metaphors, connotations and meanings.
Therefore, my first impression of “Brave New World” is very good. Taking the workplace of a large company as the stage, with the scam of avoiding layoffs as the main line, it has the structure and reversal of a cool movie, as well as the spit and sorrow of a worker, with all the right elements and the right attitude, so it is surely something that can be watched.
Just in the scene, styling and metaphorical design, I think the film is much higher than “Be Somebody”, which plays scripted killings in a small space. For example, the protagonist Bai Sheng always likes to talk to Hao in the corner of the company through the iron vertical wall, and it is not until later that the meaning of incarceration is slowly revealed, and in combination with the title of the end of the film, the metaphor of “the horrible workplace is just like a prison” is very accurate. Combined with the title at the end of the movie, the metaphor of “a horrible workplace is like a prison” is very well placed.
Another example is the style of the conference room of the board of directors of the Otron Division, that lighting, that layout, that group of lofty and indifferent executives, all without the need for the characters to say the words, they have already explained most of the emotions of the play.
Especially after the plot began to reverse, as the company’s “boning knife” Zhang see also become a discarded son, executives see the company’s stock soared, immediately with Mr. Wang to change the attitude of the bubble factory, as well as Mr. Wang’s unscrupulous, regardless of cause and effect of the ultra-pragmatic style, whether it is to look at the purely dramatic conflict, or to look at the reality of the big factories of the irony of the criticism, are considered to be the most important part. It’s a great way to get to the heart of the matter.
Unfortunately, Brave New World’s advances in cinematic language don’t further enhance the movie’s watchability, and that’s largely due to its flaws, which are more critical than anything else – simply put, it’s overstuffed and hard to make.
I do not mind the film to AI design-related content made too simple, too childish, after all, just a prop in the film, can also be understood as irony, I also do not resent the film added more sensationalism and idealized workplace fairy tale, since it is just a movie, so that the audience’s emotional comfort is also a good thing ……
But if all that stuff is crammed into the movie and it makes the movie bad, then don’t blame someone for nitpicking.
The main story line of the movie is very clear, in order to avoid layoffs, the 11th employee of the Otron Division, Bai Sheng, comes up with a plan to pretend that he owns advanced AI technology, and as a result, he plays a big game under the influence of the struggle of the upper levels, and not only does he not get fired, but he also gets the opportunity to form a team within the company to start his own business, and all the subplots and undercurrents, they all center around this innings, as well.
In fact, you will find that these story lines and character lines together are not coordinated and natural: Bai Sheng’s own historical background is still acceptable, Zhou Wanggao’s part of the drift a little far away, the bubble factory started, there are several paragraphs to deal with as if it is really in the start-up, but also a bunch of large factories to get into the accumulated faults – pretending to be like it does not matter, but no matter what Style or tone, are far from the main line, that feels wrong.
The most direct manifestation of this is that Deng Chao’s Bai Sheng, in several passages of the movie, seems to be several different people, which is obviously not the main responsibility of the performance.
To put it bluntly, although “Be Somebody” was relatively simple, it had a good script, and the creators were able to work on this small but clever book to give Zimmer a higher and better starting point.
In “Brave New World”, the stage is bigger, the content is bigger, the message is more complex, and the shortcomings of the original play are exposed, which can’t be made up for or evened out by a little progress.
Of course, all in all, the movie is watchable, and I’m still willing to give it a more conservative recommendation (and by the way, there’s an egg at the end of the end credits, a good quality ghost story, which is a plus, hahaha).
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