Although the film is also trying to create a current world of purgatory on earth, the opening is a very tragic tone; this group of robbers who rob the rich to help the poor are also disappointed by the society and are forced to go to Liangshan. But the director does not seem to intend to seriously consider issues such as nationality, social system, etc. in a commercial film. He gave up this direction a long time ago and turned to the direction of making a purely commercial blockbuster.
The reason why I noticed that the film is very similar to "Django", first of all, is the kind of rapid push and pull used in the film. This old film language from Hong Kong martial arts films was used by Quentin in "Django" with ease, Quite new. And "Group Thieves" inherits the essence of this lens language, giving the original outdated techniques a new and different flavor.
The second is the upside-down growth history of the protagonist, which is exactly the same as Django. This miserable man with the nickname "Upside Down the Universe" is played by Ha Zhengyu. His acting skills are still sharp, and his appearance is the first to turn the world upside down. The movie spends a certain amount of space to completely introduce how the inversion was taken step by step to the thief's point of no return. Like Django on behalf of all black slaves, Inversion is the epitome of all the thieves who were forced into Liangshan at that time. From him, we can see the root cause of this era of civil turmoil.
But unlike Django's fight for freedom, the purpose of inversion is revenge. This is one of the elements of a commercial film.
And his opponent is also the biggest villain in the film. He is a perverted personality with strong martial arts and handsome appearance but lacking love since childhood. This is more in line with the setting of the villain in commercial films.
The villain, Zhao Run, is a very charming character. His personal style formed a very strong contrast with a gang of thieves, making his image more dazzling, almost overshadowing Ha Jung Woo's limelight. When the other characters are wearing dirty and tattered clothes, how dirty they are, the clothes Zhao Run wears are extremely gorgeous and clean, plus a beautiful and clean face, which can meet the needs of Yan control audiences; thieves are all martial arts. He took a stubborn line, making the big boss with the big long knife, and the strong man who easily carried two bags of rice, and made the two kitchen knives (which seemed to be bull-killing knives) upside down, even the only female thief appeared quickly and violently. killed a group of men. However, Zhao Run is different. He uses a slightly curved weapon that resembles a sword, not a sword, but not a sword. Between each move, it is light and swift, feminine and vicious. His martial arts are more like dancing, and he may Kill the enemy within the trick, but it must be beautiful and elegant. He is such a scumbag, and no one can beat him among thieves.
The film also focuses on Zhao Run's growth history, how he was born in a brothel, how he was brought home by his biological father, how he was isolated by his family, how he was malicious, how he developed a strong martial arts step by step, and restored the background story. It also made the audience sympathize with the character. In fact, the audience knew from the beginning that such a villain would definitely die in the end, and this film lived up to expectations, making Zhao Run, in a thought of kindness, in order to save the little nephew in his arms, unfortunately was turned upside down and cut his throat with a knife, followed closely behind. The mob successfully patched up. Seeing this, I believe the audience will not help but sigh.
Although there are constantly dead people in the movie, but in the end, we still saw the scene of the newborn, accompanied by the western music of the Western movie, a group of robbers, facing the red sun, riding the horse and whipping the whip!
In addition, the costume design and scene design of this film are extremely elegant, which makes people sigh that the comprehensive commercial culture of the film has been thoroughly played by the Koreans. Relying on the complete industrial chain, the film is at least not lacking in advantages.
All in all, this movie is worth watching and I recommend it.
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