Hollywood Drawing

A simplistic film like "Wonder Woman" may be the most popular among all Wayne's works, at least in his mind.

The noisy Thursday passed, and when the sunshine on Friday shone over Los Angeles, Wayne saw a fax from Warner Bros. early in the morning.

Including the premiere and more than 3,900 advance screenings that opened simultaneously across North America, "Wonder Woman" grossed a total of approximately US$11 million at the box office.

Relatively speaking, this number just meets his expectations, but considering the various controversies before and after the film's release, as well as the natural disadvantages brought about by traditional concepts of female protagonist movies, this number is good enough.

Another thing that makes him more satisfied is the very good reputation among movie fans. More than 85% of the films are rated A or above, which is enough to show that there is no hidden danger to the audience of the film.

As for those few extremely poor ratings, Weinze didn't care too much. He is no longer the rookie who just entered Hollywood. He understands very well that he is not a green and beautiful person and cannot be liked by everyone.

Besides, so far, he has never seen any movie that can be liked by everyone. Including his previous "Batman: The Dark Knight", even "Forrest Gump" and "The Shawshank Redemption" still have different voices, let alone this popcorn-oriented "Wonder Woman" "Xia".

As for whether the reputation among fans will fluctuate after the large-scale screening of the film begins today, that is beyond his control now. But from Wayne's point of view, even if there are more different voices due to the expansion of the scale, it is very normal. After all, the fans who can come to the premiere or buy tickets to watch the early screening are mostly his own fans.

If we look at it from another angle and take out "Wonder Woman" alone and not compare it with the ratings of his previous works, but compare it with the commercial films on the market, then there is no doubt that the reputation of "Wonder Woman" among movie fans is explosive. Pretty.

As long as this can be achieved, it is enough for Wayne. After all, what he wants first is the box office numbers, and as long as there are no negative reviews with enough influence, the impact on the box office will never be too excessive. .

Comparing the word-of-mouth reputation among movie fans, after the premiere of "Wonder Woman", after a night of fermentation, the comments in the media were also mixed. Various comments filled the entertainment pages, but overall, half of the reviews were positive and negative. about.

The main entertainment section of "The New Yorker" directly published a still photo of Angelina Jolie, but they chose the photo with a very special vision. The Wonder Woman in the photo has a bright smile on her face. And commented under the photo:

“Wonder Woman officially premiered last night. Regarding Wayne Greenberg’s new work, our reporter said that it was like watching a Disney princess movie.

Angelina Jolie is indeed beautiful enough, and her figure is hot enough, but it seems that throughout the movie, Wayne Greenberg is showing Angelina Jolie to fans around the world at 360 degrees. How beautiful is Li!

The heroine gave all the audience enough surprises, but she still couldn't pull off the dragging and blunt plot. The characters are thin, the love is boundless from beginning to end, and Wonder Woman seems to have no weaknesses. Some plot points in the plot are too abrupt, and some of the heroine's lines are also very embarrassing. This does not look like a rigorous Greenberg-style script at all. …

The most unacceptable thing is that Wayne Greenberg added many humorous elements to the film, but during the entire movie, the reporter laughed no more than three times. Perhaps Wayne Greenberg is really not suitable for humor, and his self-righteous jokes will only make the plot more embarrassing.

Overall, I am afraid that the market performance of this huge production, which Warner Bros. has invested US$200 million in, is still unpredictable. In the movie "Wonder Woman," the only thing Wayne Greenberg did right was to choose a heroine who was likable enough."

There are many similar voices. In addition to The New Yorker, the Chicago Sun-Times also expressed its own opinions in its entertainment section.

"Everyone has their own war. This is not Wonder Woman at all, but an Angelina Jolie leg show."

"Hollywood Daily Entertainment News" commented. "For a mediocre commercial big-budget movie, Wayne Greenberg didn't show any more sincerity."

Compared with the negative media reviews, there are of course more positive reviews. The famous entertainment magazine Variety commented: "Another cool and amazing work from DC. Angelina Jolie interprets the most perfect Wonder Woman!" With a body as strong as a Greek goddess and a bronze face as perfect as a sculpture, every close-up is so stunning and dazzling, and every battle screams for the earth-shaking power of women.

The background music "Is She With You" combined with Wonder Woman's fierce and fierce movements, especially the shot of slashing German soldiers on the battlefield, made the emotions of those who watched it soar to the extreme. "

Austin Collins, the famous editor-in-chief of Vanity Fair magazine, commented on "Wonder Woman": "The most perfect opening movie of the summer so far, with a delicate script, rich characters, smooth narrative, and beautiful and emotional scenes.

For a superhero movie, there is basically no regrets in being able to make it like this. Wayne Greenberg's narrative level remains undiminished. The story is told at a leisurely pace, with sufficient emotional foreshadowing and detailed support, without appearing dry at all.

The film's special female perspective gave the audience enough surprises. The plot arrangements, such as the heroine's rescue, all seemed reasonable and logical. This is the most suitable film for the whole family to go to the theater and watch in Wayne Greenberg's career so far."

Controversies in the media about a film often lead to completely opposite evaluations. This situation is not uncommon.

The reason is simply that it is not just one party that is driving public opinion behind the scenes, but even multiple parties. Not only was the media debating "Wonder Woman", but on Friday morning, major film critics in North America also expressed their opinions on the film.

Kenneth Turan, a well-known film critic in Los Angeles. Many people know that he is a die-hard supporter of Wayne, and this time he is obviously no exception. He still gave a large article in his special column in the Los Angeles Times. view.

"After watching the premiere of "Wonder Woman" last night, my soul was filled with surprises. Some people may feel that Wayne's "Wonder Woman" seems to have lost his strong personal style, but if you are willing If you calm down and watch it carefully, you will find that this film is not inferior to any of his previous works.…

Compared with most superhero comics on the market, and even compared with Wayne's previous superhero works, "Wonder Woman" is extremely special, allowing it to break through the limitations of superhero movies at the connotation level.

Wayne's breakthrough in narrative posture is very obvious. He completely abandoned the emphasis on "superhuman logic" in superhero movies, which is particularly valuable.

What is "superhuman logic"? This refers to the unique values ​​​​of superheroes, such as Batman Bruce Wayne's crime-fighting, Spider-Man Peter Parker's unparalleled sense of responsibility, which stem from the heroes' self-understanding and belief in their own "heroicity."

It is true that this can give each hero a different personality, but it also increases the distance between him and the audience. According to my long-term survey, the audience's moral and responsibility considerations for superheroes are negative, because it is always difficult to empathize with superheroes who are too perfect, and they can only appreciate these special contradictions with a "novelty" perspective. .

These stories are often limited to completing tasks within their own logical categories. The basic idea is that defeating the enemy simply and crudely is equivalent to solving all troubles.

The film "Wonder Woman" is an anomaly. Even though Diana Prince was born with the mission of "defeating the evil God of War Ares and protecting all mankind," the difference is that this time all viewers They all know very well that this mission is not entirely right, because what she is facing is a complicated war.

I am afraid that when watching the movie, the audience will be able to think that just defeating the evil god of war Ares will not end the war at all. This is an "invalid superhuman logic". Note that when Wonder Woman realizes this reality and discovers that it is the evil of human nature that creates war, the core theme of this "Wonder Woman" no longer has "superhuman logic."

The film is no longer limited to defeating the enemy and solving all the troubles, but instead becomes the conflict between the characters and human nature in general.

After the premiere of "Wonder Woman", I returned home and stayed up all night. I couldn't figure out why a female superhero could make me, an old guy who has watched countless movies, sympathize with her? And this is the biggest difference between Wayne and all directors, and the smartest thing about this film.

Breaking away from "Superman Logic" immediately brings the movie to another level in terms of theme. This is the special feature of "Wonder Woman" that can be compared with a large number of non-commercial art masterpieces.

Note that this does not mean that Wayne has completely abandoned the pursuit of film art without breaking away from the dark attributes, the distortion and complexity of human nature, and the exploration of issues in the corners of society.

The movie clearly shows that "Diana Prince has great doubts and incomprehensions about human nature." Seeing this, even ordinary movie fans will probably think about the morality and responsibility of superheroes, regardless of whether the audience is Whether you stand from the perspective of a hero or an ordinary person, you can unconsciously empathize with the movie.

The difficult choice that Diana Prince encountered is something that ordinary people will encounter. Should we believe that human nature is good? Therefore, even without the evil god of war Ares, Wonder Woman still has to make a choice on this. Except for this "Wonder Woman", if other superheroes did not have this powerful villain, I am afraid that the entire story would not be valid. …

And this is the brilliance of Wayne Greenberg, which is to ensure that "Wonder Woman" has external popcorn attributes that a large number of viewers can understand at a glance. It also guarantees that as long as you think carefully, you will find the superiority in the super villain Ares, the god of war. The villains in other movies always serve the development of the plot, but the villain in Wayne's hands serves people's thoughts!

Behind the simple story of "Wonder Woman", there is a clever "non-superhuman logic" hidden, but this is not the first time Wayne has done this. If you are a careful movie fan, you can go back and watch the 1993 "Joker" again.

This can be called the beginning of the comic book reform between Wayne and DC. In fact, it also follows "non-Superman logic", so this film will become an unavoidable milestone in film history. The same is true for "Wonder Woman". It is recommended that all movie fans buy tickets to watch it. No matter what your purpose is, this movie can basically satisfy you."

Although other film critics did not sing praises for Wayne's "Wonder Woman" like Kenneth Turan, most of them gave this film good reviews.

"This is the absolute template for women's films in the history of Hollywood. Wayne Greenberg used practical actions to tell all film practitioners how women's films should be made in order to win the love of the public."

——

"The New York Times" Richard Brody

"Most actresses are beautiful, but few are so beautiful that they can impress everyone, so beautiful that they fill the entire big screen and make people reluctant to leave their eyes. Angelina Jolie not only maintains the beauty of female confidence, At the same time, it has strong power. This unique charm crosses the different aesthetic boundaries of men and women.

At the same time, it must be specially mentioned that not only Angelina Jolie is irresistibly beautiful in the movie, but almost all the Amazon female warriors on Paradise Island have explosively good figures. As a female viewer, I just want to get in immediately after watching it. Gym. "

——

Rolling Stone Magazine, Luis Carra.

This well-known female film critic did not forget to write at the end. "You can always trust Wayne Greenberg's aesthetic. Every frame of the movie tells you what beauty should look like."

Compared with Wayne's previous film promotion strategy, Warner Bros. has made very obvious changes for this "Wonder Woman". They no longer target those potential audiences, but instead target all potential audiences.

This is a customized publicity plan in advance because "Wonder Woman" is different from other Wayne films and there is no threshold for viewing.

Especially after the detailed survey data of the early screenings showed that female movie fans accounted for more than 60%, Warner Bros. was completely relieved and began an indiscriminate bombing covering the entire North America.

Although there have been different voices in public opinion, neither Warner Bros. nor Wayne cared. "Wonder Woman" has been released on a large scale, and it has been released on a large scale without competitors. At this point in time, even if Disney continues to push the media to cause trouble, the impact it can have is not much.

Especially after one day passed on Friday, and early on Saturday morning, when Wayne received the fax from Warner Bros., he completely put aside all his worries.

"Wonder Woman" opened in 3,950 theaters in North America on Friday morning, with a box office of US$31.76 million on the first day. According to Hollywood's first-day box office calculation rules, plus the US$11 million in advance screenings on Thursday night, "Wonder Woman" Wonder Woman's box office grossed $42.76 million on its first day!

You know, Friday is not an official rest day. Most of these numbers occur after five o'clock in the evening.

The data provided by the theater company to Warner Bros. also proves the correctness of their strategy. On Friday night, family fans who bought tickets to watch Wonder Woman accounted for about half of the total audience. It can be said that this film It has initially won the welcome of the largest audience.