With the arrival of March, all kinds of freshly released movies and series have begun to appear one by one. Unsurprisingly, the sci-fi genre will shine this month and become a hot topic.
On the big screen of theaters, the high-profile Hollywood blockbuster "Dune 2" has received a high reputation after its overseas opening, and this highly anticipated blockbuster will finally unveil its mystery this month.
And in the world of small screens, there is also a heavyweight sci-fi IP that is about to meet the audience. The live-action drama "Three-Body Problem" adapted by the American streaming giant Netflix based on Liu Cixin's name of the same name is confirmed to be officially launched on March 21.
Although it has not yet been broadcast, the Netflix version of "The Three-Body Problem" has attracted thousands of comments in the Douban short comment area, which can be described as unprecedentedly popular. The audience response is roughly divided into three camps:
One type of audience adheres to a rational attitude and takes it calmly. "The local characteristics of the original work of "The Three-Body Problem" determine that this adaptation is likely to deviate from the original flavor and target a more international audience. Since most domestic audiences can't directly ** the Netflix version, then we don't have to be too excited. ”
The other group of viewers appeared to be emotionally intense and criticized mercilessly. "Look at this cast, it's terrible! Oh, those two screenwriters actually came to mix with "The Three-Body Problem"? We still have to shoot our own stories, we must be confident, don't blindly cater to them, we have to stand up and speak! ”
There is also a category of voices that are relatively small but full of praise. "I have to thank Netflix for doing its best to restore the historical background and deep connotation of "The Three-Body Problem", so that it can show the depth and depth it deserves. ”
Such a noisy discussion is really the charm of "The Three-Body Problem". Today, let's take a look at the various controversies before the launch of the Netflix version of "The Three-Body Problem" based on the existing **materials.
Just like Jin Yong's martial arts drama is always picky about casting every remake, "The Three-Body Problem", an IP with significant influence on the world and a large number of book fans, is also facing the problem of difficult to reconcile.
Even our recognized domestic version of "The Three-Body Problem", when the list of actors was announced for the first time, doubts and dissatisfied voices occupied the mainstream.
This time, the Netflix version of "Three-Body Problem" has caused an uproar in the casting. Judging from the information revealed in the trailer, Asian faces are scarce, except for Ye Wenjie, Shi Qiang and Cheng Xin, the core roles are played by Chinese actors, and most of the roles are played by European and American actors.
Let's talk about the crucial role of Ye Wenjie first. Ye Wenjie, as the soul of the earth's three-body rebels, is the main soul in the first work of the entire series, and without her promotion, the three-body civilization would not be able to find the earth's coordinates. In the context of that turbulent era, after experiencing all kinds of betrayal and sinister human nature, she was completely disappointed in human civilization and resolutely pressed the button that decided the fate of mankind.
So far, the actors who are recognized as the closest to the image of the characters are Wang Ziwen and Chen Jin, who play the young and elderly Ye Wenjie respectively in the domestic version of "The Three-Body Problem". Wang Ziwen left a deep impression on the audience with his young Ye Wenjie's fragile temperament and emotional explosiveness, especially the crying scene that is deeply rooted in the hearts of the people.
And Chen Jin's position in the hearts of fans of the original book is more stable, almost unanimously thinking that she seems to be a character who came out of the book, at first glance it feels kind and gentle, but then it reveals a breathtaking power, her excellent acting skills and strong aura give Ye Wenjie the role of fresh vitality and unique charm.
The middle-aged and elderly Ye Wenjie in the Netflix version is not played by the previously rumored Zhou Caiqin, but replaced by Zhao Jialing. Zhou Caiqin is widely known for her role as Jia's mother in the new version of "Dream of Red Mansions", and the 87-year-old is obviously much older than the elderly Ye Wenjie in the original book, perhaps because of the problem of age matching, Netflix finally chose the 66-year-old Chinese-American actor Zhao Jialing.
Zhao Jialing has had wonderful performances in many films such as "Mulan", "The Joy Luck Club", "Dream of Jinshan" and "** Strange Heroes".
In the official trailer, the actor who has been hidden for a long time finally surfaced. However, her sharp eyes did not show Ye Wenjie's temperament as a leader, but was more like an old lady hiding intrigues, lacking the arrogance and extraordinariness of Ye Wenjie's intellectuals.
Judging from the shape, Zhao Jialing's version of Ye Wenjie's loose medium and long hair is far less neat than Chen Jin's short hair, and it is more like a hidden dark mage image. In terms of clothing design, the clothes she wears are also more casual and casual than the domestic version.
Netizens' evaluation of this version of the elderly Ye Wenjie is generally not high, and it can even be described as sharp criticism. Some people think that her face is too fierce, while others think that Ye Wenjie should have a kind of compassion due to disillusionment, rather than the hateful expression shown by Zhao Jialing.
As for the young Ye Wenjie, the Netflix version chose newcomer Qi En Zeng to play, and she has many important scenes in the trailer, such as witnessing her father's criticism, and the key plot that sends a signal to the three-body civilization. However, this version of the young Ye Wenjie was also ridiculed by netizens, some people thought she was dull, and some people felt that her eyes were full of resentment and anger.
* This role is played by Asian actor Huang Kaixuan, who is probably the most well-known to the audience, especially because his role as Wang in "Doctor Strange" is deeply rooted in the hearts of the people.
Judging from the appearance, Huang Kaixuan's image does conform to the description of**"burly and strong, full of meat", but whether he can truly restore** the rough and bold character, enthusiastic spirit, humorous personality and nuanced insight still needs to be verified through actual performances.
Another hotly debated Asian-American actor, Jerry Hung, challenged the controversial character Cheng Xin, who was originally a character who appeared in the third installment, but appeared frequently in the trailer. Hong Jieqian in the stills looks shrewd and capable, with a hint of corporate HR temperament, which does not seem to meet people's expectations of Cheng Xin, the "Holy Mother" who is easy to attract criticism.
Next, I have to mention the issue of the selection of the Netflix version of Luo Ji, it can be said that this choice has caused greater repercussions, and two words are enough to sum it up: no match. Obviously, it is clear in the original book that Luo Ji is Chinese, but Netflix boldly subverts tradition and chooses black actor John Edward Poe to play it.
The trailer **appeared** the scene of escorting Luo Ji to the United Nations, according to netizens, the scene was filmed near the United Nations. This kind of image reversal makes many viewers feel unacceptable, which also happens to expose a problem that often exists in Hollywood adaptations.
In addition to the casting controversy, the Netflix version of "The Three-Body Problem" has attracted a lot of discussion in terms of adaptation. For example, the identity of Wang Miao, the protagonist of the original book, was cleverly dismantled and turned into a group of "Oxford Five Heroes", that is, five young scientists from Oxford University who originally worked together. They replaced Wang Miao and took on the task of solving the greatest crisis in human history. Many netizens laughed and called this "Wang Miao's Five Fissions" or "Wang Miao's Avengers".
The Netflix version originally featured four characters, namely Saul Durand played by John Edpoe, Will Downing played by Alex Sharp, Augie Salazar played by Aisha Gonzalez, and Jack Rooney played by "Sam" John Bradley in "Game of Thrones". According to fans' speculation based on the official information released by Netflix, these characters are respectively Luo Ji, Yun Tianming and Wang Miao in the original book.
In addition to the main character changes, Netflix has also made significant adjustments to the plot threads. Judging from the announced episode titles, many plots and characters belonging to the follow-up parts appeared in advance, such as the content of the Star Project. Even the third part, Tomoko, who has a human bionic body, appears early in the Netflix version, where she incarnates as a mysterious female assassin, carrying a katana, wearing a high-slit modified cheongsam, and walking barefoot on the lava.
In addition, the Netflix version also added an emotional line that did not exist in the original book, allowing the Indian version of Zhang Beihai and Cheng Xin to develop an emotional relationship. In the play, Raj, a naval officer played by Indian-American actor Shamo Asmani, is set as Cheng Xin's boyfriend, which can't help but surprise the original party, after all, Zhang Beihai in the original book is also a naval background.
Moderate innovation is necessary in the adaptation process, but what I am most afraid of is deviating from the original work and going to magic reform and impetuousness. The previous animated version of "The Three-Body Problem" was a failed case, due to shoddy production and excessive magic changes, which led to a very poor reputation, and the Douban score was only 38 points. In contrast, the success of the animation "My Three-Body Problem" and the domestic version of "Three-Body Problem" lies in the faithful adherence to the original work.
Judging from the information currently available, the Netflix version of "The Three-Body Problem" seems to show certain signs of "magic change". The script was given to Game of Thrones screenwriters David Benioff and Db.Weiss, this undoubtedly worries the audience, after all, the collapse of the plot in the later stages of "Game of Thrones" is still distressing to this day. Fortunately, given that the original work of "The Three-Body Problem" has been fully presented, the screenwriters will not at least fall into the bottomless pit of magic reform dilemma in the ending.
When it comes to production, the investment in this 8-episode Netflix version of "The Three-Body Problem" is as high as 11500 million, people expect it to be able to reproduce those classic scenes in the original book with the help of an international team and Hollywood-level special effects technology. After all, for any good sci-fi adaptation, visual effects must not be a shortcoming. For a platform like Netflix, it should be easy to reproduce the spectacular scene of "The Three-Body Problem".
It is said that the first season of this drama smashed an eye-popping 1 in 8 episodesThe production cost of 600 million US dollars is about 11500 million, which can be called the most expensive film and television adaptation of "The Three-Body Problem" so far.
Despite this, judging from the trailer alone, the work given by Netflix this time did not make everyone applaud. Although some scenes do create a strong sci-fi atmosphere, especially in the art design and special effects, there are indeed a few quite eye-catching highlights.
For example, the unique dehydration and immersion process of the Three-Body Problem, as well as the shocking "Three-day Volley" scene, all show the Three-Body Civilization and its harsh living environment from a grand perspective, which is deeply impressive.
However, there are also some scenes that have caused some dissatisfaction. For example, the "cosmic flickering" depicted in the book, which is compared to "a broken fluorescent tube flickering on and off" in the original book, has become a real star twinkle visible to ordinary people in the Netflix version, which is obviously a deviation from the original artistic conception.
Moreover, the treatment of the "ghost countdown" is also different, **This countdown only exists in Wang Miao's field of vision, no matter how the gaze shifts, it is always fixed in the center.
But in the Netflix version, the ghost countdown has become a blood-red countdown digital wall that everyone can see, like a horror movie, full of numbers and eye-catching English"i still see it"At first glance, it looks like you are on the set of an American horror movie.
We can only hope that the feature film can maintain a stable level and truly show a three-body world worthy of the spirit of the original work. The big names who directed the Netflix version of "The Three-Body Problem" include Zeng Guoxiang and BenQ Spiro, the first episode of which was directed by Zeng Guoxiang himself.
When it comes to Director Zeng, everyone may think of his masterpieces in the Hong Kong film industry such as "July and Ansheng" and "Young You", which are deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, but there are some apprehensions inside and outside the industry about whether he can successfully control this sci-fi masterpiece.
The female director Benki Spiro has rich experience in participating in the creation of the classic American drama "Breaking Bad" series. It is worth noting that Liu Cixin, the author of the original book, was also deeply involved in the production process of Netflix's version of "The Three-Body Problem" as a consultant producer this time, and he hoped that Netflix could give new vitality to the work from its own unique perspective, and looked forward to seeing a broader sci-fi picture from it.
The Netflix version of "The Three-Body Problem" may be slightly inferior to the domestic version in terms of casting, and as for other performances such as plot arrangement, visual effects, etc., we still need to wait for the feature film to be launched.
After the animated version and the domestic version, audiences around the world are looking forward to seeing how Netflix interprets this top sci-fi IP, and we will wait for the good news on the day the answer is revealed.