Chapter 213 - The Suspense Is Finally Revealed

In addition to the long whip in her hand, Lin Qingxia's long white hair that reaches her calves also becomes a deadly weapon in the movie. Viper like a long whip dead block Jackie Chan all the attack, a head of white hair will Jet Li forced to scramble, this section of the 10-minute-long fight scene, Lin Qingxia played the white-haired witch moves ruthless, and Jackie Chan and Jet Li are completely reduced to a supporting role, only "beaten" part.

In the film Lin Qingxia scenery unlimited, but the actual shooting she is the hardest one, due to the hair is too long, each time make-up have to 2 to 3 hours, by at least ten staff members at the same time for her services. Because her hair is so heavy, she needs a special person to hold it behind her in order to successfully style it.

This inn fight a lot of use of computer special effects, martial arts action like the sky, and the previous Jackie Chan, Jet Li duel when the kind of steady style is now a stark contrast. For kung fu fans, it is obvious that Jackie Chan and Jet Li's duel is more interesting; and on the basis of visual splendor alone, the white-haired witch and the drunken fairy, the silent monks of the fight to be better, compared to the final battle at the end of the film seems a bit bland and uninteresting.

After the filming in China, the crew moved to Boston, USA, where the realistic part of the plot was shot. While the film was still in post-production, Lionsgate held an advance screening at the Winnertka Cinema in Los Angeles, where one-third of the audience were media reporters from around the world, one-third were filmmakers, and still one-third were general audience members.

Although some of the film's special effects are not yet completed, but this does not prevent people from paying attention to this early test screening. Originally, the number of places for the media at the preview screening was limited, with Hollywood media taking up most of the places, and in the end, there were only three places left for the Chinese media, just one each in mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan.

Hong Kong reporter Ma Tianhua has a wide range of friends in this circle, Fan Yun from the mainland and Li Haobo from Taiwan, both of whom he knows, and before the preview screening began, they found a cafe near the cinema and sat down, and naturally, the topic of small talk revolved around "King of Kung Fu".

"You guys saw the trailers for the first two episodes of the movie, right?" The entire shooting schedule of "King of Kung Fu" in China was kept secret, and the post-production was completed in the United States, although the media paid high attention to this movie, but the news was still limited. Before the movie was released, all the speculations about the movie were triggered by the two trailers, so Ma Tianhua had this question.

"The second trailer?" Fan Yun, who was sitting on his left, froze, because there was only one trailer that could be seen on the internet and media in the mainland.

Li Haobo from Taiwan had seen the trailer that Ma Tianhua was talking about, so his face didn't look as surprised as Fan Yun's, he nodded his head and said, "That trailer is only available in English right now, the mainland shouldn't be able to see it yet!"

As he explained, Fan Yun came to his senses, and he eagerly asked, "Then you guys quickly say, is there any new information revealed in the second trailer?"

"Very limited!" Ma Tianhua shook his head regretfully, "Hao Bo, I don't know if you've noticed, in these two trailers, all the characters in the movie have made an appearance, only one person is missing."

When he asked this, Li Haobo immediately responded, "You're talking about the 'White-Haired Witch'?"

This question also attracted Fan Yun's great attention as he asked in surprise, "In the second trailer, that character hasn't made an appearance yet?"

"There was a back view of her in the second trailer, but you couldn't see her face at all!" Ma Tianhua helplessly explained, "There's no information about this character until now, and those crew members who know the inside information have all signed a confidentiality agreement with the producers, so there's no way to get anything out of them!"

"Do you think it could be that the producers are playing a trick?" Li Haobo majored in advertising in college, and spent some time in the advertising department after joining the industry, he was more familiar with the means of publicity and hype in the industry, that's why he had such a question.

Ma Tianhua shook his head, "The biggest attraction of this movie should be Jackie Chan and Jet Li, I can't see any reason why the producers would go and hype up a character that has little to do with the theme of the movie."

Fan Yun interjected at this time, "Could it be that the character is even bigger than Jackie Chan and Jet Li, so the producers are purposely hiding it, wanting to give the audience a surprise at the last minute?"

A thoughtful expression appeared on Ma Tianhua's face, "The only thing we can be sure of now is that the 'White-haired Witch' is a female character, but when it comes to fame and influence in the Chinese movie industry, going out to Teresa Teng who has passed away for many years and Lin Qingxia who has long since retired from filming, it seems that there is no one who can surpass Jackie Chan and Jet Li, the two international kung fu superstars. international kung fu superstars."

Li Haobo suddenly thought of someone, "Do you think it could be Michelle Yeoh?"

Ma Tianhua didn't open his mouth, but Fan Yun shook his head and jumped the gun, "I don't think it's very likely, Michelle Yeoh's reputation overseas is indeed very big, but Jackie Chan and Jet Li are superstars who get paid as first-tier movie stars in Hollywood, and the gap between her and these two is still very obvious."

"This Felix Lin has always been a bit impenetrable, I really don't know what kind of surprise he will give us this time?" Ma Tianhua looked at his watch, it was almost time for the entrance, "We don't need to guess, the answer will be revealed soon!"

----

The movie theater was pitch black, although there were reflections from the screen, the dappled light could only allow one to distinguish the blurred facial outlines of the people around them. Although he couldn't see the expressions of the people around him, Fan Yun guessed the state of most of the people's expressions in the movie theater at this time from the faces of the two colleagues beside him.

Li Haobo was very excited from the beginning, because the plot of the movie had been very tight until now, and the alternating editing of reality and dreams was not only not messy, but also gave people a very novel visual presentation. The much-anticipated "superstar showdown" that was fantasized about by the media did not disappoint. Jackie Chan is using the authentic drunken fist, and the action is so powerful that you can vaguely see it in the "Drunken Fist" series.

Have to say, the film Jackie Chan is really old, no more flexible when young, but the integrity of the film even moves or get full respect, those many difficult waist horse action and not because of the care of Jackie Chan's physical exertion and canceled, no wonder Jackie Chan himself said, "the king of kung fu" is the hardest one he shot in recent years.

Jackie Chan "suffering", Jet Li has not been less "suffer". His moves in martial arts movies have always been known for their dashing grace. But in the past few years, he made a few movies in Hollywood, can not see the embodiment of this style, the audience saw him in the movie only a fight in the fierce attack, in addition to fight and be hit, there is no amazing moves.

In this movie, everyone is familiar with the Jet Li is back on the screen, the kung fu duel, Yuan Woo-ping full of Jet Li's personal style into his movements, and then Fan Yun, a few of them to see is Jet Li in the air to move around and dodge, landed on the ground as healthy as a dragon's dashing posture, especially that a pass of the form of boxing, distinctive will be a variety of animal gestures into which, so that Fan Yun, surrounded by the foreigners to look at the wonder The foreigners around Fan Yun were amazed.

If Li Haobo's excitement represented the viewing state of most of the people in the theater, then there was still a small group of moviegoers who, like Ma Tianhua, were wrinkling their brows and pondering over something while watching. This group of people were either professional movie critics or senior reporters from some major newspapers.

Interesting imitations and homages were everywhere in this movie, and at first glance it looked like reckless east-meets-west, but it was often in the details that kung-fu fans could find the imprints of days gone by. Only wonderful details can reflect the ingenuity of the creation and stand up to the audience's expectations.

The King of Kung Fu pays good attention to this aspect, as Jackie Chan and Jason have their first in-depth exchange in a wine shop. Both the sets and the costumes reflect the Tang Dynasty style. The identities of Jet Li, Jackie Chan and Faye Liu, the key characters of the movie, are respectively a monk, a downtrodden scholar and a singer, which are precisely the most common and storytelling people in the ancient Chinese legends. It's very symbolic and embedded, and it's a knockout. Whether it's the gorgeous robes of the Jade Emperor's inspector or the swords in the hands of the lackey's soldiers, it all reflects the strength of a first-rate Hollywood production as it should be.

The details of this movie reflect something that gives Ma Tianhua, a media reporter who has witnessed the rise and fall of Hong Kong's kung fu movies, a feeling of awe more than surprise. Whether in kung fu or Chinese elements, the film gives a very authentic feeling, even completely unlike a foreign director's work, if not Jet Li in the desert that "piss into rain" cold humor with a very obvious Hollywood style, Ma Tianhua should really think that this is an authentic Hong Kong kung fu film.

For "Chinese Kung Fu", there is no more representative "symbol" than Jet Li and Jackie Chan in the world except for Bruce Lee, but how to put these two symbols into a movie is quite difficult to think about. But how to put these two symbols into a movie is a lot to think about. The characters of good and evil, the era of the story, the representativeness of "Chinese Kung Fu", the timing of the fight, the occasion, the moves and so on, all have to be considered clearly. Obviously, the director of this movie has a very deep understanding of Hong Kong Kung Fu movies, otherwise he would not have been able to produce such a feeling.

Despite the fact that "King of Kung Fu" brings together two of the biggest kung fu stars in Chinese cinema, Ma Tianhua initially didn't think much of the movie because the investors were Hollywood filmmakers, and frankly speaking, the movie was meant to be an entertainment film for overseas kung fu enthusiasts.

These self-proclaimed fans of Chinese kung fu movies basically do not differentiate between wuxia and kung fu, nor do they differentiate between flying over the walls and punching to the bone, "Foshan shadowless feet" and "Rulai Palm" are just as magical to them... They are interested in They are so fond of Chinese movies with "fight" in them, and this fondness is so superficial that they can applaud them as long as they put all the elements of Chinese "fight" movies together.

The spectacular fights between Jackie Chan and Jet Li in this screening did win the applause of the audience, but as the saying goes, "insiders look at the doorway, outsiders look at the scene". In Ma Tianhua's opinion, these applauds are basically following the "blindly", that is, those senior critics, they do not know these actions really good in what place.

These foreigners are confused, but Ma Tianhua heart is like a mirror, the film's fighting scenes, although it can not be compared with Jackie Chan, Jet Li's peak performance, but it can be seen from the actors themselves, to the design of the action of the Yuan Woo-ping, and then the director of the overarching situation, the problem are very dedicated.

This level of action design, even if it is put into Hong Kong, although it can not be called the top, but it can be considered first-class, and even more valuable is that this is a complete Hollywood movie. Judging from the reaction of these foreigners around the audience, there is no need for the film to be so lean, because overseas fans can hardly recognize the depth of Chinese kung fu, but also can't distinguish between the gimmicky and perfunctory punches and kicks on the screen.

The fact that the movie is made at this level has a lot to do with Jackie Chan, Jet Li and Yuen Woo-ping, but it's not them who really decide the direction of the movie's style, it's the director who is hidden behind the scenes. While watching the preview, Ma Tianhua suddenly became very interested in Lin Mingyang, the director of the movie.

Just as Ma Tianhua was considering whether to find an opportunity to interview the Chinese superstar who was making a name for himself in Hollywood after the preview, a thunderous sound of horses' hooves in the movie brought Ma Tianhua's attention back to the screen, and while the tealights and wine cups on the table in front of the protagonists in the picture were trembling slightly, the hearts of Ma Tianhua, Fan Yun, and Li Haobo were lifted up because the ultimate suspenseful mystery of the movie was going to be revealed in a moment. The ultimate suspenseful mystery will soon be revealed.

The screen turned, and the camera slowly moved up from the clutter of horses' hooves, and the audience saw a knight dressed in red beating a group of black-armored guards furiously coming from the end of the horizon of the vast Gobi. Unfortunately the face of that knight in red did not appear in this set of images, and then the camera shifted to a distant view as the knight in red with hundreds of iron horsemen behind him swept over like a black cloud in the sky.

Finally, the three people who had been waiting for a long time finally saw the face of that red-robed knight.

That is a heroic and cool face, most of the audience in the theater for the owner of this face, evaluation is a "cool" word, the most shocking in the whole picture is the red knight's appearance, they do not care who this person is, because they simply do not know her.

No one noticed that there were also three dumbfounded Chinese sitting in the audience, although the same surprise, Fan Yun, Ma Tianhua and Li Haobo have different expressions on their faces.

Fan Yun's astonishment was mixed with disbelief, he blinked hard to make sure that he hadn't read too much, the knight in red in the picture was none other than that Lin Qingxia who had already married a woman and disappeared from the Chinese movie world for more than ten years.

Thinking of all the mysterious speculations surrounding this character, Fan Yun suddenly had a feeling of sudden realization. Lin Qingxia's appearance let Fan Yun heart all the doubts are solved, Jackie Chan in the film before the start of shooting implicit hints, the film during the shooting of the heavy secrecy ... only Lin Qingxia, only qualified to enjoy such treatment.

And Li Haobo's face at this time is completely excited to the point of almost frenzied euphoria, that once let a whole few generations of Taiwanese crazy obsessed with the goddess is back. If this news were to reach Taiwan, it would definitely stir up the entire treasure island.

Lin Mingyang for the audience to prepare this "big gift" is really surprising, Li Haobo can even imagine, this film in Taiwan when the release will be what a crazy scene. Lin Qingxia's huge appeal alone will make most Taiwanese scramble to buy tickets to see their former idol.

At this time, the only one who could still basically keep his head cool was Ma Tianhua from Hong Kong. When Lin Qingxia's face, which had once turned the world upside down, appeared in the screen image, Ma Tianhua's first reaction was that this Lin Mingyang's face was so big!

Over the past ten years, the Chinese film industry, new and old directors competing to invite Lin Qingxia, but none of them succeeded, Lin Qingxia is like a retired martial arts master, a smile, continue to teach their children, and let a thousand calls, never again ask the right and wrong of the jianghu. This turn of the eye, is thirteen years. How many big directors had worn out their teeth and had not been able to do anything, but it was actually done by a Hollywood director in his early twenties, Ma Tianhua was curious as to what exactly Lin Mingyang had relied on to convince Lin Qingxia?

The excitement of the ensuing battle at the inn could be said to be overwhelming, but Ma Tianhua, who had all sorts of doubts in his heart, had no time to care about these wonderful fights, and in the midst of the surrounding shouts of amazement from the foreigners, he was already brewing up how he should send out his articles when he got back.

Lin Qingxia's comeback was definitely an explosive news, how to write about it was yet agonizing. According to legend, a big star like Lin Qingxia should not be so "sneaky" in her comeback, and there is no reason for the producer to easily miss such a great opportunity to publicize the movie, which is not in line with common sense.

In order to understand this problem, Ma Tianhua did not even pay serious attention to the final ending of the movie. Based on previous indications and his personal judgment, Ma Tianhua thought that Lin Qingxia's appearance in the movie was "purely coincidental", and that she should have no intention to make a comeback through this movie.

After watching the preview screening, Ma Tianhua, Fan Yun and Li Haobo all rushed out the manuscript overnight and sent it back to China. The news of Lin Qingxia's role as the "White-Haired Witch" in "The King of Kung Fu" caused a huge sensation in the entire Chinese movie industry.

Lin Qingxia's response to the matter finally confirmed Ma Tianhua's judgment, she told the media flatly, the film's "White-haired Witch" this role is a combination of her previous portrayal of many classic film images, the role is just a reminiscence of the past, and she did not have the idea of a comeback.