Chapter 477 - Various Film Reviews

"'Fast & Furious' is a dark horse," Laila, with memories from the future, could confidently assert. It's worth noting that this film series would go on to earn over $3 billion, making it a significant success in the realm of film franchises.

Even though Louise had her doubts, she kept them to herself. She believed in Laila's judgment, and it was this ability that had brought the company to its current position, wasn't it?

One of the charms of Hollywood movies is that you never know what type of film will suddenly capture the audience's interest, and you can never predict why a type of film that was popular not long ago is now out of favor. So, dark horses in the history of Hollywood have appeared more than a few times. Just take Laila's "Witch Blair," for example, wasn't it a shining dark horse?

Since she regarded it as a dark horse, she would sit back and enjoy the show, watching to see if this dark horse could shine under the pressure from "Pearl Harbor."

"Pearl Harbor" was released on the 15th of Friday and managed to secure over $59 million in box office revenue in three days, which was quite impressive. However, when considering its production cost and the achievements of "Pirates of the Caribbean," it paled in comparison. Well, it paled in comparison by a lot. After all, the latter's three-day earnings were a staggering $93 million!

This performance fell far short of the calculations of the producers and the studio executives. In their eyes, "Pirates of the Caribbean" was a film about the sea and big ships, much like their attempt to ride the wave of "Titanic" fever, and it had achieved impressive results. So why did their box office results drop so drastically?

When the weekly box office statistics were released, people were surprised to find that "Pirates of the Caribbean" still held the top spot, with a difference of $1 million, surpassing "Pearl Harbor."

To hold the box office championship for three weeks straight in the fiercely competitive summer season was definitely a remarkable feat. Anyone who had doubts about Laila's age and the recent establishment of her company as a possible cause for her failure could only keep their mouths shut after seeing such compelling results. 

As for those who criticized her for making only money-grabbing commercial films and R-rated movies without substance, Laila didn't let it bother her. Her goal was to make money. How else could she support a growing company? How else could she secure a foothold in Hollywood if not by making money? It wasn't that she had no interest in making award-winning films; would anyone in the film industry, especially the Oscars circle, not want to win awards? She knew her age was a disadvantage, so she didn't believe that at her current age, she could win awards from the aging Oscar jurors. Before that happened, she would focus on making money with commercial films and expanding her company's influence.

Her attitude, while not earning her any goodwill from film critics, made investors and film studios like her immensely. She had previously helped Jackie Chan and New Line Cinema with "Rush Hour," which showed that she wasn't someone who only made her own films; They just needed to find the right way to connect with her. After the box office performance of "Rush Hour," many people recognized the charm and money-making ability of Eastern martial arts, as well as Laila's ability to direct action films. Originally, New Line also wanted to hand the sequel to Laila, but she refused because she was already working on her own film. However, she wasn't interested in making sequels. Didn't she just nonchalantly throw out sequels of popular films like "SAW"?

Seeing the astonishing daily box office performance of "Pirates of the Caribbean," she believed that film studios would soon be submitting scripts to her.

And that was indeed the case. Laila repeatedly demonstrated her talent in film, especially in money-making, attracting the interest of major film production companies. Some companies with production plans that hadn't found the right director had their eyes on her, just waiting for the right opportunity to send her a script.

"Pearl Harbor's" box office was suppressed by the pirates, and some film critics made their reviews, stating that the film had good technical aspects but fell short in all other areas, particularly in its storyline.

"After watching the movie, I don't know what I watched. Is it a war film or a love story? I only saw a stiff love story amidst the raging war. No, it didn't move me at all. It's like a fly sauce mixed into ice cream, which is nauseating." — "Entertainer."

"Entrance viewers, please choose seats next to the aisle; you'll need to go to the restroom at least twice, maybe this film should be called 'Boring, Boring, Boring'." — "The Washington Post."

"Forty minutes of spectacular explosion scenes followed by hours of predictable and stale romance. Top-tier actors, first-rate directors, third-rate screenplay – it all adds up to a movie that's a terrible mess." — "The New York Post."

The overwhelmingly negative reviews from film critics left both the production team and the director quite shocked. This was something they hadn't anticipated before the film's release. They couldn't fathom why the movie had garnered such harsh criticism from the reviewers, using strong language to berate "Pearl Harbor" as if it had caused harm to their family members. The critics seemed to be criticizing the film intensely.

This shouldn't be the case. "Titanic" has moved people worldwide with a love story woven into tragedy. How could it be that with "Pearl Harbor," they had a massive ship, the same ocean, a tragic story, and a love story, yet it was so despised?

It couldn't be denied that the script had been reworked by Faiza to include more elements of love. Even Faaris had reviewed the final script and believed that it should make a decent film. That's why they invested so much money in it. But looking at the current situation, what had they achieved? It was filled with various critiques:

"The film is unremarkable, so dull that even the Warner Television Network has refused to broadcast it due to its lackluster content." — Los Angeles Times

"Pearl Harbor is like a comic book, lacking depth. Its loose storyline turns World War II into a foolish symphony. Besides the effects that were created with money, there's nothing else to see." — The Wall Street Journal

"Pearl Harbor is visually stunning, but its script and cast are equally superficial." — Variety

"Pearl Harbor tells an uninteresting and outdated love story. Even the handling of war scenes lacks depth. The over half-hour of planes bombing ships, explosions, flying corpses, and people fleeing attacks is devoid of meaning. It's merely a horrifying massacre, incapable of moving or entertaining the audience." — Chicago Sun-Times