Huayu 05, our science fiction movie universe

The popularity of Chapter 639, "The Wallfacer"
The second post-credits scene of "The Wallfacer" changes the setting from a vast snowfield to a deserted island at sea.

The island is covered with dense tropical jungle, and a huge armed transport helicopter hovers above the jungle, dropping several steel cables.

In the jungle, a group of people are trekking with difficulty. The camera pans across them, and several familiar figures catch the eye, especially the audience in the Japanese theater, who exclaim "Oh!" as they snap out of their reverie of the movie they just watched.

Because Jackie Chan was in that team!
Of course, in the Galaxy Cinematic Universe, he plays the older version of the tomb raider Hu Bayi.

This time, he seems to be returning to his old ways, leading a younger team on an expedition to this isolated island at sea.

As the group passed through the dense vegetation, they could occasionally see the remains of stone carvings with exotic features and all sorts of strange and unusual things.

Finally, when they arrived at the heart of the woodland, a ruin that had stood for countless years appeared before them.

As the group strolled forward, the passage of time and the erosion of years had left only a few traces of the unnatural.

However, in the center of the ruins, an oval-shaped object covered in moss and dust caught their attention.

"Wait!"

Cheng Long reached out to stop him, then stepped forward first and wiped the moss off the oval sphere with his hand.

Beneath the moss lies a gleaming, smooth, silver metal, completely out of place with its surroundings.

After all the moss was cleared away, a strange, silvery-white ellipsoidal object appeared before everyone's eyes.

"This... looks like an egg?"

Someone in the group raised this question, but Hu Bayi, played by Jackie Chan, remained silent and simply took out a bronze mirror from his backpack.

"This is the legendary Qin King's Bone-Illuminating Mirror."

As he spoke, he pointed the mirror at the strange creation.

As if stimulated by something, the ancient bronze mirror emitted a hazy green light from its verdigris-covered surface, illuminating the strange silver-white metal object.

The light activated the object, and green light flowed across it, converging into lines and forming unique patterns.

Then, with a hissing sound of air being released, the thing actually started up, its upper part sliding open like a lid.

Hu Bayi and the others cautiously stepped forward and carefully examined the area.

Then the screen went black, and the movie's final post-credits scene ended.

"Oh!"

The audience, who were eagerly awaiting the revelation, shouted in unison, clearly annoyed by the director's suspenseful behavior.

However, despite the dissatisfaction, it did not diminish the audience's evaluation of the film "The Wallfacer" itself.

After the movie ended, the audience members who left the theater immediately began discussing the content of the film they had just watched. Some people even took out their phones, logged onto relevant film review websites and communities, and posted their opinions on the film "The Wallfacer".

Unfortunately, compared to other films, "The Wallfacer" has a lot to offer for discussion.

This isn't a question of whether the film is good or bad. While The Wallfacer is indeed of good quality, the more crucial aspect is the ideas it presents—unique ideas that are rarely mentioned in the current global cultural system.

In the movie, it can no longer be considered a metaphor. Although the earlier parts were somewhat veiled, the later part, starting with Taylor's suicide, is almost an open secret.

As for the audience's reaction to this part of the content, that varies from place to place.

It received widespread acclaim domestically. At a time when patriotic films are already popular, this film, which is even more patriotic than the patriotic films themselves, is like a powerful remedy, stimulating audiences who were somewhat tired of patriotic films to cheer with great excitement.

【Tears! 】

I never imagined I'd see this in a Chinese film!

[The director is so daring!]

I just watched the end credits in the theater, and I couldn't help but cry while listening to the background music. Does anyone know the name of the movie's end credits song and who sings it?

[This is the true Wallfacer. I don't know why, but after watching the movie, I suddenly understood how difficult it was for him.]

Compared to the Trisolaran crisis faced by humanity in the movie, the difficulties our Party faced back then were probably no less numerous.

This adaptation is brilliant!

[It's so moving. I've never met him before. Yet, I feel like he's the closest person to me. I miss him so much.]

A child cries for their mother when they are in pain; an adult calls for their father when they are in pain.

……

Compared to the overwhelming praise on domestic online media, foreign audiences have given this film mixed reviews.

Some overseas viewers thought the film was good because it was unique and bold enough, and it fully demonstrated a completely different way of thinking.

However, another overseas audience felt that the film contained too many political elements, which deviated from the entertainment value of the film, made it too purposeful, and made people feel uncomfortable.

However, whether you like it or not, you have to admit that "The Wallfacer" is a groundbreaking science fiction film.

Science fiction works refer to works that explore and imagine various aspects of future society through scientific imagination.

However, it can be seen that works involving political themes are extremely rare in science fiction, especially in science fiction films and television series.

The main reason for this is that in the past, Hollywood was the mainstream producer of science fiction films and television works, and most science fiction films and television works were produced by Hollywood.

In their works, the entertainment and commercial value of science fiction are pushed to the extreme.

Indeed, works like Star Wars, Jurassic Park, and Avatar are truly excellent.

While films like The Matrix, Terminator, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Blade Runner, and Planet of the Apes possess a certain philosophical and thought-provoking quality, they only scratch the surface, offering superficial reflections on systems, at most reaching the level of utopia and technological alienation, without truly touching upon political systems and classes.

Even thought-provoking science fiction films were mostly made in the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s.

It's clear that Hollywood creators of that era possessed a certain amount of ambition, responsibility, and critical thinking skills, and considered themselves cultural leaders.

However, after the turn of the millennium, most Hollywood science fiction films followed the old path of remakes. Examples include the new Star Wars sequel, the Jurassic Park sequel, and Rise of the Planet of the Apes' reconstruction of the planet of the apes.

In this process, these remakes of new science fiction films have gradually stripped away the exploration of deep issues such as social systems and class conflicts found in earlier works, and instead pursued special effects spectacle and fast-paced narratives.

High-speed chases, explosions, beautiful women, cool weapons, bizarre monsters...

This tendency towards "de-ideologization" in creation has gradually reduced science fiction to a vehicle for visual bombardment, fully illustrating what it means to prioritize entertainment to the point of death.

This is not to say that the current situation is bad; after all, directors also have to be responsible for projects and investors.

However, are science fiction films and television works that only pursue entertainment and commercialization and lose their core of exploration and critical thinking truly successful?

The market will provide the most appropriate answer to this.

In fact, from the start of "Star Wars: A New Hope" in 1977, to "Jurassic Park" in 1993, which officially took the world by storm as a representative of Hollywood commercial science fiction films, and then to "Avatar" directed by James Cameron in 2009, Hollywood commercial science fiction films officially reached their peak.

However, after its peak, this type of film inevitably fell into decline.

Looking closely at today's Hollywood science fiction movies, the top-ranked Marvel movies are more like superhero movies than science fiction movies.

Whether it's "The Avengers" or "Transformers," although they can rake in box office revenue in the short term through commercial formulas, in the long run, audiences will inevitably experience aesthetic fatigue with works that lack a spiritual core.

This can be seen from the decline of the Marvel Cinematic Universe in later generations.

After Avengers: Endgame, lacking a spiritual and cultural core, they could only incorporate female and racial themes into their films.

Black Iron Man, Hawkeye, She-Hulk, Ms. Marvel, Black Panther...

The decline of Hollywood science fiction films fully demonstrates that science fiction works without a solid cultural core are nothing more than colorful bubbles.

"The Wallfacer" is certainly not a science fiction bubble, so it grossed a high box office of 4.3 million yuan in China on its opening day.

Furthermore, following its high reputation and the fact that the film's ending sequence was posted online by numerous internet bloggers, The Wallfacer's box office continued to rise.

While the film's ending in Japan, South Korea, Southeast Asia, and Europe caused fear, dissatisfaction, and boycotts among some people, it still grossed $1.1 million on its opening day overseas thanks to the strong reputation that the StarCraft Cinematic Universe has cultivated overseas over the years.

It can be said that this time, a certain idea has swept the globe through the medium of film, appearing before countless overseas movie fans and audiences.

Many overseas viewers even praised this part of the content.

This is what it means to export culture!

This is what cultural confidence is.

Of course, the significance of "The Wallfacer" is not only in promoting Chinese culture overseas. As a key work in the early stage of the third phase of the "Galaxy Cinematic Universe", it also established a specific tone for the story style of the films in the entire subsequent phase.

After watching this movie, viewers will have a general impression of the story style of the third phase of the entire cinematic universe.

Oh, so the story of the third phase of the [Galaxy Cinematic Universe] isn't the traditional Hollywood formula of Earthlings fighting monsters, nor is it about a dark-skinned soldier piloting a fighter jet into an alien spaceship and using a computer virus to cripple their system.

This will be a confrontation in which all people on Earth participate, involving a major mobilization, unity, and development of the entire international community.

Such a unique narrative perspective is indeed different from traditional Hollywood science fiction films, which naturally makes it even more anticipated.

Just as "The Wallfacer" was enjoying a global box office hit, another event that had recently caused a huge stir in the entertainment industry finally came to a conclusion during the National Day holiday.

On October 3, the sensational "tax evasion incident" came to light. For the first time, the authorities confirmed that the facts of Fan's "yin-yang contract" case had been clarified, confirming that he did indeed evade taxes, and ordered him to pay nearly 8.84 million yuan within a specified period.

This news caused an uproar throughout the entertainment industry.

This can be considered the mainland entertainment industry's most notorious and famous celebrity to have evaded the most taxes since Liu Xiaoqing.

Although there were already various reports to corroborate this before.

For example, the movie "L.O.R.D. 2", starring her, announced a rescheduling on June 27 and has yet to confirm a release date.

The movie "Sky Hunter," which was originally scheduled to be broadcast on CCTV on July 1, was replaced by other movies.

On July 3, the movie "The Bombing" released a new poster, in which Fan Binbin was removed from the cast list.

On September 7, reporters found that Fan's studio door was locked and all the documents in the office had been removed.

However, there has been very little related news online, and the vested interests behind it have led many people to try to protect her.

But now it seems that all those efforts were in vain.

On October 3rd at noon, Fan Binbin officially issued an apology on Weibo, but the public clearly did not accept it, and her career was certainly over.

The repercussions of this incident in the Chinese entertainment industry are far from over.

Soon after Fan's incident was classified, the State Administration of Taxation immediately issued the "Notice on Further Regulating the Tax Order in the Film and Television Industry," requiring practitioners in the film and television industry to conduct self-examination and rectification.

As relevant national departments launched a special tax campaign targeting entertainment industry stars, "salary caps" and "tax arrears" have become hot topics in the entertainment industry.

As required by relevant departments, film and entertainment industry practitioners must pay all taxes owed by themselves and their companies by the end of October. After October, the tax authorities will conduct random checks on tax payment, and any tax evasion or fraud will be dealt with seriously in accordance with the law.

Having learned from Bingye's experience, celebrities and big names naturally dared not slack off. According to what Wang Hao heard from inside the industry, quite a few well-known actors and directors were already busy paying back taxes.

Fortunately, Xinghe Group has always been very compliant with tax regulations, both in terms of contracts and various incomes from artist management.

Furthermore, when the related trend was just beginning to emerge, the group company reminded its artists, directors, and behind-the-scenes staff to conduct self-examination and rectification in advance, so the incident did not affect them.

However, this only applies to employees related to Xinghe Group. Under the current tax supervision environment in China, other celebrities in the entertainment industry, including singers, have more or less some tax issues. This is just a concentrated outbreak of problems accumulated over many years.

According to subsequent announcements from relevant national departments, since the launch of the campaign to regulate the tax order in the film and television industry in October 2018, the State Taxation Administration has self-reported and declared taxes totaling 117.47 billion yuan, of which 115.53 billion yuan has been deposited into the treasury.

These figures are truly shocking, and they have also ignited public outrage and resistance online against the exorbitant salaries of celebrities.

For a time, the entire mainland entertainment industry quieted down considerably, and celebrities of all sizes dared not show their faces during this special time.

However, not everyone in the entertainment industry is problematic. At least Wang Hao is upright and has nothing to fear. At this time, he still stood up openly and began to promote his movie "The Martian" for the Spring Festival.

(End of this chapter)