Didn't you say that we would lose money after filming?

Time flies, filming continued day by day, and the scene of accidentally entering the tavern was quickly filmed.

This film can be said to have been a labor of love for Xia Yuan.

In fact, he has always been quite serious when making comedies.

On the surface, this may seem like just a road comedy full of crazy chases and exaggerated jokes, but in reality, it is a modern allegory about greed, morality, and social alienation.

Xia Yuan is now very skilled at using dark humor.

If he were to evaluate this film based on his own understanding, it would be that it deconstructs humanity's primal desire for wealth and embeds social critique within its absurd plot.

The script's storyline follows 11 contestants on a crazy journey to win $200 million, showing how money can corrupt human nature and cleverly transforming this farce into a microcosm reflecting contemporary society.

These hangers-on schemed and plotted to win the $200 million, using all sorts of underhanded tactics, even targeting their most trusted family and friends.

This is what is known as the rule-based trap: cognitive manipulation in game design.

A treasure hunt competition on a "first come, first served" basis.

It is an elaborate cognitive trap, or in modern economic terms, exploiting information asymmetry.

Those capitalists deliberately provide incomplete clue cards, taking advantage of the psychological weakness that humans' judgment decreases by 40% under pressure.

This design aligns with the "decoy effect" in behavioral economics, where participants often make irrational decisions when they lack complete information.

Each level is like a meticulously planned social experiment: in the "free-rider problem," cooperation among multiple participants leads to the elimination of all; the "prisoner's dilemma"-style mutual harm mode plunges participants into a zero-sum game.

Xia Yuan also uses specific techniques and script highlights to reveal a detail: in a social game dominated by the logic of capital, the rules themselves are traps set to manipulate the participants.

Then, the real players in this game are not the contestants on stage, but the white-hat billionaires who place bets behind the scenes.

Every move of the contestants is monitored, bet on, and consumed, becoming a form of entertainment for the wealthy during their leisure time. A door separates the inside from the outside of the Heavenly Palace.

This "human zoo" setting is something even Xia Yuan himself has to admit is not bad.

It's really not bad. This design is actually a satire of the reality in contemporary society where ordinary people are alienated by capital and turned into entertainment commodities.

It's actually quite spicy.

When the contestants finally discover that they are nothing more than dice in someone else's game, the film delivers a fatal blow to the logic of capitalist consumerism.

The character map represents 11 syndromes of modernity.

Each character represents a modern personality alienated by capitalism.

The rugby referee is the most tragic figure among them.

He insisted on the principle of "fair competition," but was the first to be eliminated in the game.

Lawyer Xiao revealed the terrifying face of "legitimate greed"—his use of legal provisions to defend his despicable behavior is a textbook example of Machiavellian tactics in the workplace.

Other characters, such as gold diggers and opportunists, correspond to different variations of the seven deadly sins, collectively painting a "modern portrait of greed."

Especially the stereotypical gold digger.

What are the moments of Fu Shou'er's charming face? In the process of pursuing money, these characters gradually expose the ugliest side of human nature: a mother can hang her daughter out of the car window to relieve herself in order to get somewhere; two brothers do not hesitate to destroy the airport radar to ground all flights; a lawyer is sanctimonious one second, and the next second he picks up the competition key from the trash can.

Through this extreme approach, the film reveals how money can become a "touchstone" for testing human nature, and how easily the moral facade of civilized society can crumble in the face of self-interest.

It also aligns quite well with "Das Kapital".

Furthermore, Xia Yuan also wrapped social criticism under the guise of comedy, which is to say, he inserted his own agenda into the film, a fine tradition.

This is a common technique in dark humor.

The seemingly exaggerated scenes in the film are actually subtle metaphors for reality:
The casino scene is a metaphor for the randomness and irrationality of the financial market; the "train ticket grabbing" scene corresponds to the resource competition in modern society; and the "life restart coupon" in the locker at the end directly deconstructs the myth of wealth itself.

This is a critique of the so-called "quick money mentality".

Then there's involution.

Unlike typical comedies, its humor seems to always revolve around toilet humor.

The humor in "The Outlaws" is built on a foundation of rigorous logical exaggeration: a hot air balloon accidentally takes away a cow and milks it in mid-air; a helicopter chasing a car accidentally crashes into a swimming pool; a radar lifts an entire car into the air. These seemingly impossible scenes are "absurdly reasonable" because they fit the characters' personalities and the logic of the situation.

This "parody without being deliberate" humor style allows the film to elicit laughter while also prompting viewers to reflect deeply on the weaknesses of human nature.

The twist, however, lies in the most unexpected turn of events: the moral redemption at the end.

When the contestants finally won $200 million after going through all sorts of hardships, they were surprised to find that the money would be used for a charity concert.

To the tune of Smash Mouth's "All Star," these "money-grubbing rats" suddenly regained their humanity and donated the money to charity.

Ironically, the wealthy individuals who had been manipulating the game behind the scenes were ultimately forced to foot the bill for this charity event.

Put yourself in the audience's shoes: if you were one of these 11 scoundrels, would you be considered a shrew?
It's a red envelope.

This design achieves a perfect counterattack against the logic of capital: when ordinary people awaken and unite, the exploiters become the ones being used.

The empty lockers become the film's final metaphor: in this game of money, no one is a true winner, the only one...

During the filming of "Desperate Treasure Hunt," the news that Xia Yuan was filming this comedy movie was no secret and quickly spread.

After all, Xia Yuan's production of this movie was on a massive scale.

This film brings together more than half of the world's comedy masters.

Many of these master figures have been a part of the childhood memories of people all over the world. For example, James Carey and Mr. Abin are childhood memories for a generation.

In addition, Xia Yuan himself has box office appeal and the reputation he has built up.

A top Hollywood director, a world-class director—this title is well-deserved.

He is now only one achievement away from becoming a master director who has entered the halls of fame and reached the pinnacle of his field: a lifetime achievement.

However, the Oscars have almost faded in popularity, so the gap is actually narrowing and is not as large as people imagined or expected.

Therefore, this film naturally attracted the attention of fans and moviegoers, not to mention that it was a comedy, Xia Yuan's forte. (End of Chapter)