The New Year film season, historically a bustling period for cinematic releases, surprisingly ended for many on a disappointing note. Despite a packed schedule averaging one new film per day and a particularly intense clash of six major releases on February 8th, the box office proved largely unforgiving. Apart from a handful of standout successes like “Mr. Six,” “Devil and Angel,” “Detective Chinatown,” the global juggernauts “Star Wars” and “Kung Fu Panda 3,” most films were financial duds. The vast majority comprised small-budget romances or generic horror flicks that quickly faded into obscurity. It was almost as if the severe market competition forced desperate measures, with some movie posters for big films like “Mojin: The Lost Legend” and “The Mermaid” even playfully invoking a formidable authority figure, as if to magically ward off box office failure in a truly cutthroat competitive environment.
The Clash of Titans: A Hilarious Showdown
In a week hyped by theater managers as “the highest tide of the New Year film season,” most cinemas truly offered only two viable options: “Unexpectedly” and “Mojin: The Lost Legend.” “Unexpectedly,” a web series that transformed into a comedic mainstream “phenomenon,” audaciously challenged the traditional “New Year film season alliance” (comprising industry giants like Huayi Brothers, Wanda, and Enlight Media). It achieved this by amplifying one outrageous gag after another. The unlikely “iron triangle” behind it — seasoned producer Huang Jianxin, internet comedy sensation Yi Xiaoxing, and acclaimed writer Han Han — a collaboration spanning generations and fields, managed to create a bottomless pit of hilariousness. One could almost humorously quip that if a figure like Feng Xiaogang had been involved, perhaps the entire film industry’s harmony would have been left undisturbed.
The film seemed to embody a peculiar cultural pushback: the more established, “high-brow” cinema attempts to assert its artistic and commercial dominance, the more the “lower classes,” through their self-deprecating and often-crude fan works, retaliate with unexpected and touching success. Much like the unforeseen triumph of films embracing this eccentricity, “Unexpectedly” seemed to revel in its irreverence. Like all tributes deftly disguised as rip-offs, the character of Tang Sanzang (Chen Bolin) can only respond to accusations with a classic line: “How can you call it stealing? It’s borrowing!” While the original web series charmed audiences with its seamless essence of a “poor crew, bad actors, cheap costumes, and five-cent special effects,” the cinematic upgrade under Huang Jianxin and chief art director Han Han, remarkably, sometimes resulted in moments of awkwardness. The battle between “Unexpectedly” and “Mojin: The Lost Legend” ultimately crystallized into a clear contest: the raw, unpolished wit of amateur joke kings facing off against the meticulously crafted tenacity of traditional industrial filmmaking. The final box office results accurately mirrored these two vastly different worldviews.
“Mojin: The Lost Legend”
“This is the authentic Mojin style,” intones the notoriously greedy yet surprisingly righteous Big Gold Tooth, a declaration that immediately comforts ardent fans of the original novels.
- Buzz: ★★★★☆
- Stars: ★★★★☆
- Entertainment: ★★★☆☆
The film largely succeeds in translating the sprawling, fantastical lore of the original novel to the big screen, meticulously preserving key elements like the ingenious “swan laying eggs” mechanism, the dynamic “flying tiger claws,” the impenetrable “vajra umbrella,” the chilling concept of “corpse transformation,” the intricate “underworld system,” and a wealth of ancient legends. However, the more formidable challenge for the filmmakers lay in navigating China’s stringent “socialist scientific values” review process. This necessitated a clever narrative pivot: the trio of Mojin captains, originally daring tomb raiders, are re-contextualized as willing agents assisting “relevant departments” in dismantling what turns out to be a “foreign cult” led by Liu Xiaoqing’s formidable Hong Jie. Thus, what once was illicit tomb raiding is strategically re-framed as the noble act of safeguarding national treasures.
Chen Kun’s portrayal of Hu Bayi, while purportedly modeled after the revolutionary icon Che Guevara, surprisingly emanates the aura of a more downtrodden Keanu Reeves, with the film unfurling as a distinctive feng shui-infused blend of “The Matrix” and “Inception.” The sole, regrettable misstep in an otherwise stellar cast is the character portrayed by Angelababy (AB). The director insightfully explained that delving into the underground world isn’t merely a physical expedition but a profound journey into the depths of one’s inner fears. The underlying philosophical “core” wrapped within the tomb-raiding narrative subtly queries: Is forgetting the past tantamount to betrayal? Tianxia Bachang, the original author, suggested that while preserving the essence of the source material, the film must simultaneously forge new ground, hinting at a potential ninth installment of “Ghost Blows Out the Light” to embark on fresh, uncharted adventures.
Highlight: A revolutionary camaraderie reminiscent of a Nolan film, featuring a stellar duo in Shirley Yang and the Keanu Reeves-esque Hu Bayi.
“Unexpectedly”
The pre-screenings for “Unexpectedly” swiftly escalated into a cinematic “phenomenon,” truly capturing the collective imagination of the people.
- Buzz: ★★★☆☆
- Stars: ★★★☆☆
- Entertainment: ★★★☆☆
The film’s organic virality largely hinged on the fervent support of various “joke pushers”—individuals, much like yours truly, enthusiastically opining on the internet without much thought, with cinema managers adding significant horsepower to the buzz, exclaiming: “Unexpectedly is astonishingly good…
…setting off the highest tide of the New Year film season!” Director Yi Xiaoxing, known to audiences by his onscreen persona Wang Dachui, truly transformed into a life winner. The film’s mantra, “Even if the power is weak, we must raise our hands and roar in battle,” struck a profound chord with the vast majority of Chinese people, representing the 99% who, despite their seemingly insignificant lives, harbor secret heroic dreams. This poignant connection was adeptly played to tug at emotional heartstrings.
The iconic Journey to the West master and disciples, while undeniably powerful, were subjected to comical reimagining. Chen Bolin’s portrayal of Tang Sanzang merely required the occasional application of a silicone bald head; a truly unwatchable temperament was oddly given to Sun Wukong, the Monkey King; Pigsy was startlingly transformed into a Thai transvestite; and interestingly, the director’s own cameo as Sha Monk proved more effective than his attempt at playing Tang Sanzang. The fundamental difference between a brevity-driven 5-10 minute web series and a full-length feature film became starkly apparent in the sustained distance between jokes, revealing the challenge of maintaining comedic energy over a longer duration. Most surprisingly, Han Han was elevated to Chief Art Officer (CAO) for the film and even embraced the peculiar role of playing a “grass-eating” White Dragon Horse, adding another layer of quirky charm.
Highlight: The hilariously inept Dachui is utterly crushed by the newly reinterpreted “Four Heavenly Kings” of Journey to the West.
“The Strange Doll”
A perplexing concoction of hallucinatory passion and gruesome factory dismemberment, rendering it utterly unsuitable for the festive atmosphere of New Year viewing.
- Buzz: ★☆☆☆☆
- Stars: ★☆☆☆☆
- Entertainment: ★☆☆☆☆
One truly struggles to comprehend why so-called “new directors” would still resort to crafting cinematic ghost stories that feel more antiquated than any historical relic, employing tropes long past their sell-by date. Even more bizarre was the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television (SARFT)'s inexplicable decision to allow such a collection of “rotten ghosts” to be unleashed during the New Year period, effectively disrupting any semblance of festive cheer. The film’s self-proclaimed “secondary creation” was less an innovation and more a haphazard medley of disparate and poorly executed elements: serial murder cases (curiously targeting 16-22 year old women, an odd choice for broader appeal during a holiday), vengeful spirits, psychic girls inexplicably engaging in Conan-style deduction, all clumsily interwoven with Jackie Chan’s preferred action actress, Xu Dongmei. This bizarre concoction bafflingly morphed into some form of kung fu ghost fighting, if one could even dignify it with such a label. The advertised “large-scale passion showdown” coupled with “large-scale thriller” proved to be… well, truly left audiences speechless. Further adding to the peculiarity was the director himself, Liu Chongchong, who honed his martial arts skills at the Shandong Wushu Academy, mainly specializing in choreographed routines and winning provincial awards in gunplay and Taekwondo. One couldn’t help but wonder why he hadn’t applied those potentially useful skills and disciplines to craft a more coherent, or at least less ludicrous, film.
Highlight: Jackie Chan’s chief female disciple, curiously dubbed “Little Michelle Yeoh,” improbably transforms into a psychic detective.