For Chinese-American director Wen Ziren, China can be described as a blessed land.
In 2015, he directed "Fast and Furious 7" and gained 24 in the mainlandThe box office of 2.3 billion also helped the film become the global box office champion that year. In 2018, "Aquaman" directed by him became popular again in the mainland, gaining 201.3 billion box office. Five years later, "Aquaman 2: The Lost Kingdom" was set for December 20 in the mainland, and Wen Ziren came to China again to start an intensive urban roadshow. A few days ago, he said in an interview that what superhero movies need most is emotion, and in the new film, in addition to creating explosive audio-visual pictures as always, he also focuses on the portrayal of emotional parts such as family and brotherhood.
Aquaman 2: The Lost Kingdom tells the story of the last unsuccessful attempt to defeat Aquaman, and the black manta ray is still unwilling to give up avenging his father and vows to destroy Aquaman. This time, he found the legendary black trident and unleashed the ancient ** power, which was more menacing than ever. To contend with this, Aquaman turns to his imprisoned brother Orm (also the former king of Atlantis) for help and forms an unexpected alliance. They must put aside old enmities and fight together to defend the kingdom, save their families, and save the world from the impending disaster.
Every time I make a film, no matter what the subject is, it always comes back to the human side of the character. Wen Ziren said that the story of "Aquaman 2: The Lost Kingdom" had been thought of as early as the filming of "Aquaman", and the black manta ray in "Aquaman" was only a small role, but in the new film, he became Aquaman's most powerful opponent, "This determines the direction of the story, because attributing his father's death to Aquaman, Black Manta vows revenge, bent on destroying Aquaman and everything he cherishes, which is the focus of the story." ”
The story related to the black manta ray was mainly inspired by the 1965 sci-fi horror film "Vampire Planet" directed by Mario Beva, and Wen Ziren is very good at drawing inspiration from classic movies and comic books such as "Sinbad" and "Sailor", "I used some old-school stuff in the film, and didn't put more modern things in it. ”
In the case of Aquaman Arthur, the state in the two films is completely different. Wen Ziren explained that the theme of "Aquaman" is about a man trying to find his place in the world, "because Arthur feels that he belongs neither to the land nor to the sea." But in the end, he discovers that he can live in two worlds. In Aquaman 2: The Lost Kingdom, Arthur's identity changed, "He is now the king of Atlantis and a father, and that's a big message from the film: sometimes you have to do something hard, even if you don't want to." For Arthur, he didn't like being king, but it was what he should do. Eventually, at the end of the movie, he realizes that he has what it takes to become a king. ”
In addition to the villain Black Manta Ray, Arthur and his younger brother Orm's reunion in the new film is undoubtedly one of the biggest highlights of the film, "The emotional element is very important to us. Wen Ziren said that the idea of "brotherly reconciliation" in the film had been decided before the filming of "Aquaman" began, "The family elements in this new film have been strengthened." ”
The 46-year-old was born in Malaysia and grew up in Australia. He started by shooting thriller horror films, and became a blockbuster in the world film industry with "Chainsaw" directed at the age of 27, which is currently in its tenth installment and has become a classic in the hearts of many audiences. But in "Aquaman 2: The Lost Kingdom", he began to try to add more comedic elements, especially the noisy behavior between Arthur and his half-brother Orm, which added a lot of laughter to the film. "He's very good at making thrillers, but this should be his first comedy. The film's star Jason Momoa laughed.
Compared with "Aquaman", the story of "Aquaman 2: The Lost Kingdom" is more **, it even involves some dark themes, and there are many monsters in the new film, Wen Ziren has his own thoughts on this, "Monsters are a metaphor in many ways, if we go too far and don't respect the earth enough, we will release these monsters." I think it's a good excuse for me to have fun with it."
Wen Wang Jinyue.
* Beijing ** client.