The Spring Festival of 2024 is coming as scheduled, and with the arrival of the Spring Festival, the cinema is once again lively. However, in this moment of renewed enthusiasm, one film stands out for its unusual attitude.
Can you believe that on the screen where female stars compete for beauty, this movie doesn't even have a heroine? What's even more incredible is that there is not even a supporting actress. On the list of the main actors of the film, all of them are male stars, and this unique movie is the new work "Flying Life 2" directed by Han Han.
Looking back at director Han Han's film works, we can find that he is good at capturing the charm of actresses. In his works, the heroine is often more dazzling than the male protagonist. In the road movie "The Future", the mysterious woman Sumi played by Wang Luodan showed an unforgettable cold beauty and became an absolute goddess of literature and art. In the comedy "Riding the Wind and Waves", the heroine played by Zhao Liying appeared with a gentle and beautiful image, which became the main theme of the whole film as sweet as white moonlight.
Even in the first part of "Flying Life", Han Han also invited supermodel He Sui, nine-ball diva Pan Xiaoting and others to make cameos, and filmed them very distinctively. Therefore, Han Han's reputation as a director who is "good at shooting actresses" is worthy of his name. In stark contrast, "Flying Life 2" does not have the blessing of the heroine. The outside world may feel regretful, but without the aura of the heroine, "Flying Life 2" is still a great success.
Judging from the box office data on the first day of the Spring Festival, this movie with the theme of racing performed quite well. The box office on the first day reached a staggering 4300 million, won the box office championship on the first day of the Spring Festival in 2024. What's even more surprising is that the box office of the film on the first day even ranked second in the same period in the Spring Festival film history, second only to last year's "Watergate Bridge". In terms of word-of-mouth, the film ended with 8The score of 2 became the most acclaimed film in the same period of the Spring Festival at that time. So, how exactly can a film without a heroine be so strong?
Before the highlights of the film, we must first understand the main plot of the series. "Flying Life 2" tells the story of the out-of-gas racing driver Zhang Chi (played by Shen Teng) who teams up to participate in the rally. Five years ago, Zhang Chi set the highest record at the Bayingbrook Championship, but after the extreme sprint, he accidentally rushed off the track and flew off the cliff.
The second part of the story is set in the timeline 5 years after the accident. Although Zhang Chi was lucky to save his life in the accident, he had to give up his professional racing career and become a driving school instructor due to multiple fractures. However, it was a chance encounter that gave him the opportunity to return to racing.
Although Zhang Chi's team has very limited funds, his two old partners, Sun Yuqiang (Yin Zheng) and Ji Xing (Zhang Benyu), still join him without hesitation. At the same time, talented newcomer Li Xiaohai (played by Fan Chengcheng) and driving school student Liu Xiande (played by Sun Yizhou) also joined the team for their dreams. So, Zhang Chi led the five-person team on the journey back to Bayingbrook.
Although "Flying Life 2" tells the story of a down-and-out driver's comeback, the film's initial tone is not as depressed as imagined. On the contrary, in the first hour of the film, the comedic elements pile up and the jokes are frequent. This is not only due to the performances of comedians such as Shen Teng and Jia Bing, but also because of the ingenious arrangement of director and screenwriter Han Han. Similar to his previous works, Han Han used a variety of comedy techniques in "Flying Life 2". There are various styles of laughter, including daily funny scenes of the main characters, humorous dialogues between characters, and various cold humor quotes.
Comedy is only a superficial feature of the film. The most attractive part of the whole film is the profound portrayal of a group of dreamers under the appearance of comedy. Zhang Chi, as the protagonist, is played by Shen Teng, and his performance in the film is remarkable. Shen Teng tends to be mainly funny, but this time his performance is more of a serious role-playing. Despite the difficulties faced by Zhang Chi, he still insisted on his dream, and this inner firmness and longing were vividly demonstrated under Shen Teng's interpretation.
Shen Teng's two excellent crying scenes in the film are particularly eye-catching. The first scene appears in the plot where Zhang Chi suffers a car accident. After the car overturned, Zhang Chi was trapped in the overturned body, a scene that was both painful and heartbreaking. Shen Teng expresses the character's inner struggle and despair by howling and crying. The second crying scene occurred when Zhang Chi refound the lead seal of the car. Seeing the items that had wronged him, Zhang Chi couldn't help but shed tears. These crying scenes show the complex emotions in the hearts of Zhang Chi's characters, which makes people empathize.
The other characters in the film also show youthful courage and perseverance. Despite the difficulties they faced in real life, they persisted in pursuing their dreams. This spirit of perseverance infects the audience and makes the film even more infectious.
Overall, although "Flying Life 2" does not have a heroine, the film successfully attracts the audience's attention through colorful comedy elements and profound character portrayals. Han Han's gamble was ultimately a success, and the film achieved good results at the box office and word of mouth. In the context of the box office reputation of the movie "Four Seas", the success of "Flying Life 2" can be described as a victory for Han Han. In the Spring Festival of 2024, Han Han will continue to gallop forward with "Flying Life 2", showing his unique charm.