I will not go into details about the whole film, but single out the two scenes to talk about the core flaws of this film. One is a hunting scene that many people may not have seen, and one is the first battle between the more eye-catching Black Widow and the master of imitation. In my opinion, the problems exposed in the two scenes are the same, that is, the film does not know how to create the necessary dramatic tension. I feel quite puzzled. Although Marvel has often been complained about this problem in the past, the necessary entertainment and appreciation are continuously online. But the film is so collapsed that it makes people suspect that Marvel Studios is just hanging out to make money. It may also be because there were three extremely boring Marvel series before, and this result is not particularly surprising to a certain extent. In terms of the current quality, the prospects for the fourth stage are not too optimistic.
Shortly after the beginning of the film, a two-minute hunting scene was set up: Secretary of State Rose launched a hunt for Natasha. On the one hand, it shows the difficult situation of the Black Widow after the Civil War (to explain the current situation); at the same time, it must use the potential conflicts between the two sides to create dramatic tension (endowing the usual sense of suspense and atmosphere of spy war movies); let the audience re-watch To the smart side of this character (shaping the character).
Although the plot seems simple—it's nothing more than one person catching another person and then being slipped by the other person, but to make it really good requires the creator to have an extremely good control over the audiovisual scheduling, and the audience has to believe: one thing The threat is approaching our protagonist (to guide the expectation), and then surprised to find that the threat has long been eliminated by the protagonist's wit (overthrowing the expectation). If the creator is in place, the audience will tighten their nerves (when they are expected to be guided) to sweat for the protagonist, and then (after the anticipation is overthrown) exclaim that the protagonist is witty; if it is not in place, the audience will just sit dry on the chair. He waited to see Fang Pukong chasing after him, and waited for the play to be completed and enter the next scene early.
"Black Widow" is the one that is not in place, because it fails to create a huge threat that makes the audience deeply worried for the protagonist. Although the film is moving out of Rose again, it is also showing a team of people and firearms , but the power of the contradictory two sides has not reached the necessary balance in the audience's mind, or it can make people believe that the enemy can suppress our side, which makes the audience lack. An uneasy mood.
Although the audience knows that Natasha is not a super warrior like Thor or Captain Marvel, but also a mortal body that can be injured by these bullets, but a series of Marvel movies in the past has made Black Widow high in the hearts of the audience. This kind of emotion always makes the audience willing to believe in her unconditionally and even give incomparable faith value: she is an avenger! Unable to see or believe in the potential conflicts, the audience did not worry about Natasha's safety (failure to guide expectations) because of the arrival of the hunt, nor would they be amazed by Natasha's long escape (failure to overthrow expectations). Instead, it may make people wonder: do you look down on Fulian or look down on the IQ of the audience to catch the black widow with this ignition power?
So at the moment when the expectation was overturned, the film did not produce much dramatic effect. The audience who did not feel the threat was approaching, nor did they breathe a sigh of relief when the threat was lifted. The audience's reaction was more like: Harm, so you can only act like this.
What should this scene be like? There is actually a ready-made case for reference-the movie "Mission Impossible 5".
Also shortly after the opening, the CIA ordered the hunt for IMF agent Ethan Hunt. This scene is essentially the same as what "Black Widow" does: guide the audience to expect (someone is about to catch our protagonist), and then quickly overthrow the expectation (the enemy rushes out).
The reason why "Disc 5" is successful is that it clearly shows how the threat is approaching our protagonist step by step, making the audience think that Hunter is in big trouble, thus smoothly guiding and overthrowing expectations.
This raises another question: it is clear that the power of the two parties in the contradiction has not reached the necessary balance mentioned earlier, why the audience does not think that Rose can threaten an Avenger, but believes that the CIA can hurt the heavens and the earth, and the omnipotent. Brother Tom?
I think there are two reasons. First, as mentioned earlier, the audience always unconditionally believes or even deifies a familiar character, and the creator of "Disc 5" is aware of this and has already weakened Ethan Hunt's protagonist halo in everyone's minds in advance. Recall, what happened to our protagonist before this hunting scene?
He was stabbed by the enemy when he had just finished the task and thought he was the safest and most relaxed guard. Although he escaped from the dead, he was helpless. This kind of story arrangement allows the audience to see a heroic character who is badly injured, and understand that he can't bear too much pressure at this time. If a lion is hurt enough, even just a mouse can disturb its mind. So at this moment, even if it's just a "district" CIA, the audience believes that Tom might be caught in a huge dilemma.
And when it was later discovered that the threat had long been lifted, the audience marveled that Hunter, an old treacherous and cunning man, really played tricks on the CIA. On the other hand, they were relieved for the safe and sound protagonist and regained their super confidence in him. . It can be said that the story layout of the whole film is quite precise and intentional. It knows that the mood of the audience must be ups and downs during the watching process.
And what did "Black Widow" do before the hunting scene?
Such a crude story layout is obviously caused by the creators' inadequate understanding of the story. Simply think that the narrative is just listing each event one by one: Now that this is finished, let's start talking about that. As a result, the hunting scene loses its due dramatic tension. The meaning of existence in the film is just to remind everyone: Hey, this film is after "Captain America 3". I specially let Rose show up, you have to remember. Ah, don't make it into "Avengers 4" anymore.
The second is the audio-visual control of the hunting scene itself. Both films showed three perspectives to the audience at the beginning: chasing the leader, chasing the execution, and chasing the target. "Disc 5" focuses on the pursuit of execution (commando) and the target (Hunt), and strives to create a fraud effect in which both parties are in the same space. Through moving footage, frequent editing and sound effects (Hunter's gasp), the creator allows the audience to see each step of the action clearly, and convinces the audience that the threat is approaching (expected guidance is complete).
But "Black Widow" focuses on the hunting leader (Ross) and the target (Black Widow), just to let the audience understand some irrelevant dialogues: "Oh, please don't catch me", "No, you Is a fugitive". This unnecessary interaction between the two contradictory parties dilutes the existence of the threat (expected guidance failure), and makes the sense of suspense and atmosphere that the spy war movie should have disappeared.
Although the hunting scene only occupies an inconspicuous 2 minutes in a 2-hour movie, it is enough to show the ability and attitude of a creator. If you think that the above is not fully convincing, and look at the villain setting of the film: it can almost be said that it is a repeat of the same mistake. Only this time exposes the problem more clearly.
We saw Natasha moving at night being suddenly attacked by an inexplicable enemy, and then had a few rounds of discussions with the master of imitation, and then fled. Although it staged a battle between the pros and the villains, it made the same mistake again: it failed to make the audience feel the threat of approaching and dispelling. The loss of the dramatic tension makes the scene a tactic for the two of them. So that it finally staged the same result: let the audience wait dry for the end of the play, so that they can enter the next link early; instead of immersing and enjoying the play itself, looking forward to how the protagonist will deal with the enemy, How to escape from the threat and look forward to the next move of the protagonist and villain.
Similarly, use a successful case to illustrate-the Winter Soldier in "Captain America 2". Our dear Comrade Nick Fury was originally dangling on the streets in his car, and suddenly encountered an inexplicable attack. Then he fleeed and prayed for his life, but he was still besieged by Comrade Winter Soldier on the road. Almost killed.
Why is this setting successful? First of all, the first blow suffered by Nick Fury disrupted the mood of the audience, and made people feel the threat of coming initially: My dignified S.H.I.E.L.D. Director was attacked in broad daylight. What happened? Where does the threat come from?
Because of the high level of trust in the director, even if the audience does not know the answer, they will quickly regain their composure. I believe this comrade can reverse the trend. Nick Fury didn't let the audience down, escaped from the dead, breaking through the obstacles one by one.
Up to this point, the scene itself can be said to be full of strong viewing, because the audience feels deeply disturbed in the chaos created by the creators deliberately, and expects Nick Fury's various responses.
But the creator did not stop there, very cleverly let our villain character Winter Soldier appear in the right position, brought a nearly deadly blow to Nick Fury. This makes the audience who have just recovered their sense of security once again feel the threat of approaching.
Although Nick Fury escaped to Captain America's house, the Winter Soldier quickly chased him and killed everyone by surprise. Although this role has not staged a fierce fight for the audience so far, he has already established his own majestic image in everyone's hearts. Who will not feel dangerous when seeing him in the future, or worry about our Captain America? After all, even the founder of the Avengers was half-dead.
On the other hand, in "Black Widow", you will not worry that the protagonist will fall into the river just because the widow’s car was blown up for several laps and plunged into the bridge; . Because of the improper setting and the lack of necessary drama tension, the audience is just waiting to see the widow sister quickly get out of the car, hoping that she will compete with the imitator as soon as possible, and hope that the two sides will quickly finish the game. No matter how many punches the imitation master throws, no matter how many feet our protagonist is kicked, the audience never feels an obvious sense of oppression.
When the Winter Soldier's mask was taken off, the mood of the audience and the protagonist became complicated: the opponent was still a terrible threat, but he couldn't bear to attack him harshly. So when Captain America and the Winter Soldier met and duel in the third act, it was an extremely emotional moment.
The role of imitating the master is nothing in everyone's mind. When his true identity was exposed, did the audience feel the same complicated mood that they had when watching "Mei Team 2"? Did its third act ignite everyone's emotions?
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