"This Jiangnan really knows how to keep us in suspense..." Zhao Yan pouted.
She hadn't had enough of it, and it was already over!
"Heh, the second part is set to release mid-year, that's good," Mo Yan watched with great enjoyment.
As an older generation music producer, his thinking was relatively conservative. He had also read "Journey to the West," and not just once.
This "A Chinese Odyssey" could be described as a subversion of "Journey to the West."
When he first started watching the movie, he felt a bit unaccustomed to it.
But as he watched further, he felt it was a good comedy film, with nonsensical plot and solid acting from the cast.
However, it was just decent, not as dazzling as he had imagined.
The movie ended.
The audience's reaction was not as enthusiastic as when they watched Jiangnan's previous films.
Because, just watching the first part, apart from the abundant humor, it wasn't as stunning as expected.
At most, the relationship between Supreme Treasure and Bai Jingjing could be savored for a while.
"After watching this movie, my stomach really hurt from laughing, especially the scenes between Zhang Yang and Brother Ma. I really didn't expect Zhang Qingyun to have this side to him. I didn't like him before, but now I suddenly realize his acting is really good."
"The role of Bai Jingjing is excellent, and newcomer Li Wen's acting is on point. Zhang Yang almost pulled off another 'Undead Knight' meme. Overall, I'd rate this movie around seven points."
"The jokes are indeed plentiful, the nonsensical performance is refreshing, but the plot is a bit thin. Perhaps my expectations were too high."
"Enough of this idle talk, are you guys going to watch the second part or not!"
"Of course, we have to watch it! This old scoundrel cuts chapters when he writes, and now he's learned to end movies at crucial plot points. I really want to stab him!!"
Outside the cinema.
The audience who watched the premiere shared their post-viewing impressions.
Overall, if "A Chinese Odyssey" were viewed as a comedy, it was undoubtedly successful.
But since this film was by the popular screenwriter Jiangnan, it couldn't be judged by normal standards. Seven points is a high score for an average movie, but for Jiangnan, it was still somewhat unsatisfactory.
...
Guangnian Entertainment.
Li Hongyi was quietly smoking in his office.
Suddenly, his office door was knocked upon, with a sense of urgency.
"Come in," he called out.
The door opened, and it was Chen Hua, the Director of Marketing.
"You still have the nerve to see me?" Li Hongyi glanced at him and said in a muffled voice.
Just now, Qi Shenghua from Dingsheng Entertainment had called him. They had hoped to make a comeback with "Shen Mo Ji," but unexpectedly, because Chen Hua offended Ting Yu, they were targeted by the "A Chinese Odyssey" crew. Qi Shenghua had directly told him to fire Chen Hua, or they would stop their cooperation.
Therefore, Chen Hua packing his things and leaving was a done deal.
"Director Li, good news!" Chen Hua said, panting, with large beads of sweat on his forehead.
It was evident he had run all the way here.
"You still have good news?" Li Hongyi said indifferently.
"The premiere reviews for 'A Chinese Odyssey' are polarized; we still have a chance!" Chen Hua stated directly, without beating around the bush.
As he spoke, he took out his phone and showed Li Hongyi the comments on the movie review website.
Li Hongyi, who had intended to get angry, accepted the phone with skepticism after hearing him.
# "A Chinese Odyssey" Premiere Fails to Meet Expectations, Romantic Subplot Too Hasty, Lacks Depth Compared to Previous Films! #
# A Preliminary Discussion of Jiangnan's New Film: As a Comedy, "A Chinese Odyssey" is Undoubtedly Not Bad. The low reception is due to audiences having overly high expectations for Jiangnan's films. #
# Ridiculous, the female lead only appears at the end of this movie! #
# Zhang Qingyun's Comeback: Abandoning his Idol Image, His Progress is Very Obvious! #
"A Chinese Odyssey" stabilized its rating at seven points.
Many film critics offered their analyses.
Some of them analyzed the plot structure of "A Chinese Odyssey," but after analyzing the first part, their conclusion was that the nonsensical element outweighed the plot.
"The romance between Bai Jingjing and Supreme Treasure in the entire film lacks buildup and is too abrupt. I think Jiangnan has fallen short of his usual standard."
"I don't think so. In my opinion, Bai Jingjing is at best a second female lead. The main female lead is undoubtedly Zixia, who appears later. Looking at the first part alone, the plot structure is indeed not very rigorous. We'll have to see how the old scoundrel fills in the gaps in the second part."
"Some fans are really blindly praising. This movie is just a comedy, nothing more. Don't over-interpret it."
"When Bai Jingjing died at the end, I didn't feel much sadness, which means the buildup for the female lead was insufficient, and the plot progression was minimal. Apart from the mountain bandits, the rest is the Spider Cave."
Online film critics were already arguing fiercely.
In everyone's opinion, Jiangnan was now a golden signboard, and the movies he produced should be judged by the highest standards.
Therefore, in this situation, the standard for evaluation was implicitly raised.
For a time, many people were nitpicking logical flaws in the first part, arguing heatedly.
"Hahaha, heaven is helping me!!" Li Hongyi laughed.
He laughed heartily, feeling a sense of exhilaration as if resurrected from the brink of death.
He ignored Chen Hua beside him and picked up his phone to call Qi Shenghua.
"President Qi, the situation has taken a turn. The next step is up to you."
Dingsheng Entertainment's internet trolls were well-known.
The most important thing now was for the reputation of "Shen Mo Ji" to reverse. That way, even if "A Chinese Odyssey" captured the market, they would at least not incur losses.
...
In the following days.
With the promotion by many internet trolls, "Shen Mo Ji" began to show signs of a reputation turnaround. Da Feng Novel Network.
"Su Su, what should we do? In the first few days, some people were defending our movie, but now there are all negative reviews. The problem is that seven points is definitely a high score for other movies, and they just want to smear you."
Lin Yanyu was indignant.
Why should Jiangnan be held to the highest standard? Why should Jiangnan's starting point be the endpoint for other movies?
Such remarks made Lin Yanyu very unhappy.
"It's alright. Once the second part is released, these issues will disappear," Su Yu waved his hand.
The first part of "A Chinese Odyssey" was actually a setup; the truly exciting plot was in the second part.
This was also why he had decided to release the two parts together.
In the first part, there wasn't much romantic interaction between Bai Jingjing and Supreme Treasure. Bai Jingjing loved Sun Wukong during his rebellious phase. Supreme Treasure did later fall for Bai Jingjing, but after Zixia, who was "destined by heaven," entered the picture, it formed a perfect closure.
When the second part is released, those online nitpickers will look like clowns.
Those who claimed the movie lacked depth will also be silenced.
Therefore, Su Yu was not in a hurry.
In fact, the entire crew was not in a hurry this time.
Because they knew the subsequent plot, they knew how impactful "A Chinese Odyssey" Part Two would be to the audience. Of course, they also didn't have time to pay attention to these things.
This was because "Initial D" was still in tense production. After the premiere, Gu Qianqian and Zhang Yang, among others, flew back to Japan for filming without even eating.
After all, "Initial D" was participating in an overseas film festival, marking their first venture onto the world stage in terms of film, so they naturally had to seize the opportunity!
...