director of the millennium

After a gathering with the main creators of "Time Raiders", this movie directed by Su Lun and starring Liu Yifei and Lei Jiayin has also entered a busy release period.

On December 12st, "Time Raiders" held a fairly grand premiere in Beijing. Although there were not many guests from the industry present, the premiere hall was packed with media reporters and specially invited film critics.

There were not many people in the circle because the main creators of this movie, except Liu Yifei, had average popularity and status in the circle. Liu Yifei was a homebody and she didn't have many friends in the circle, so naturally she didn't invite many people.

However, Guangying Times has invited a full list of guests, especially film critics.

To be precise, they are no longer film critics in the pure sense. The film critics who were active in newspaper media a dozen or twenty years ago have basically been eliminated now.

The profession of film critic first appeared in North America, Japan and other countries. The reason for its emergence is very simple. In the first few decades after the birth of film, because social technology was not developed enough and there was no Internet as developed as it is today, after the movie was released, most ordinary people could only rely on newspapers and magazines to understand the specific situation of the movie.

The authors who write film review columns in newspapers and magazines are naturally called film critics. Even in that era when the newspaper and magazine industry was well developed, every country had a large number of film magazines that specifically invited film critics to write review articles on various films.

During the most glorious era of Hollywood, each issue of a film magazine would even bring together reviews of dozens of films released at the same time, allowing readers who bought the magazine to clearly know what each film recently released in theaters was like.

Of course, this also leads to these film critics having the "influence of public opinion". If they say a movie is good, even if most people who go to the cinema don't think it is good, the public opinion on the movie will still be full of praise.

If they say a movie is not good, it is useless even if the audiences who actually go to the cinema love it, because the newspapers will also be full of critical voices about the movie.

Because ordinary movie fans had no say and no channels to express themselves in that era. At most, they would occasionally be selected to be interviewed by TV reporters, and the content of their interviews would be screened before being broadcast on TV.

Therefore, after experiencing various developments, the film critic industry has gradually lost its reputation from being an opinion leader among movie fans at the beginning. There are more and more film critics who have accepted bad money from film companies and have gone against their conscience to write press releases to brag about the film companies' films, making the public increasingly disgusted with the so-called film critics.

By around 2010, the reputation of film critics in China had basically reached the same level as that of "experts" and they were no longer well-liked by movie fans.

It was also at this time that the Internet finally developed and matured. Websites like Douban, which allow every movie fan to speak out and rate movies, became increasingly popular, and social platforms like Weibo, where everyone can be their own media, also became increasingly influential.

As a result, professional film critics finally became the garbage of the era, and movie bloggers and UP hosts who were transformed from movie fans began to become the new generation of opinion leaders.

Although it is inevitable that these people will be paid by film companies for public relations after their influence grows and their fans increase, compared to the era when ordinary people had no way to express their opinions in newspapers, the Internet now allows every fan to express their opinions online. No matter how strong the public relations efforts of film companies are, it is impossible to block the social media accounts of every fan.

A bad movie is still a bad movie no matter how many movie bloggers recommend it.

Even if many movie bloggers criticize a good movie, its box office will still continue to rise.

In general, the current film review environment is better than before. Most of the film reviews on the Internet come from the sincerity of movie fans. Although they may not be "professional" enough, they definitely suit the tastes of most people.

The so-called "film critics" invited to the premiere of "Time Raiders" are actually some influential movie celebrities on the Internet, and even Tik Tok bloggers. It is hoped that they can give some objective evaluations and support on the Internet after the premiere.

Well, Guangying Times still stuffed the money. After all, they could still trick the first wave of audiences into the cinema for the premiere, so they would give it as much as they could.

As for the reviews given by moviegoers after they enter the cinema in large numbers on the day of the release, that is no longer something Light and Shadow Times can control.

The only thing we can do now is to ask the guests attending the premiere to help promote the movie more and attract more fans to enter the cinema in the first wave.

This is also the reason why many movies have very good online public opinion and reputation during their previews and premieres, but their reputation collapses completely after they are released. You can fool people for a while, but you can’t fool people forever!

However, most of the big Vs who attended the premiere of "Time Raiders" breathed a sigh of relief after watching the movie with trepidation.

Fortunately, there is no need to praise this movie on the Internet against one's conscience. Although everyone has been paid, if you really praise a bad movie, it will still damage the reputation and fairness of your account.

"Time Travel" is not a bad movie. It can even be considered an excellent work among romantic comedies.

Putting aside the fantasy logic structure that should not be taken too seriously, the love part is quite good. The two actors are likable and comfortable, and the story is naturally sweet, but it is not a pure comedy.

A comedy should have a tragic core, and "Time Raiders" is indeed a tragic story hidden under its comedic appearance.

Any work that involves the revision of history can hardly avoid the "grandmother paradox" or similar ethical confusions. If you go back in time and kill your grandmother, how did you, who no longer exists, go back in time in the first place?
In this film, the director's answer to this question is: You can't get close to your past or future self, and you can't even get rich from lottery.

Originally, the male protagonist Lu Ming was in the 1999 universe, and the female protagonist Gu Xiaojiao was in the 2018 universe.

For Lu Ming, there was only one universe before 1999, and that was the universe he was in now, because all observations had already taken place and the dust had settled. What was uncertain was the future that had not yet been experienced, and that was the countless universes in front of him.

But now, because in the universe where Gu Xiaojiao is located, Lu Ming in 2018 accidentally opened the channel between the two universes. Lu Ming in 1999 was able to enter this future universe and find out before experiencing the future.

However, this universe is just one of the countless universes he may fall into in the future.

None of this he saw was bound to happen.

In 1999, any action taken by Lu Ming in his own determined universe would easily destroy half of the future universes, and perhaps the universe where Gu Xiaojiao, whom he knew, existed was one of the destroyed half.

Tragedy has taken root here. The audience witnessed the confusion that the parallel universe brought to both Lu Ming and Gu Xiaojiao.

Because they really loved each other, it was a love that transcended time and space, a love that was almost impossible to achieve.

In the movie, their love process is very interesting, full of laughter and very sweet, but after the sweetness, they have to face reality.

Lu Ming's universe in 1999 is in the vast parallel space-time. How can we guarantee that the space-time 19 years later will be the space-time of 2018 where Gu Xiaojiao is at this moment!
Then the world began to fall into chaos.

Under the butterfly effect, the space-time of 1999 has inevitably had an impact on the space-time of 2018.

Lu Ming in the universe of 2018 has new memories, and he also knows the memories of Gu Xiaojiao. If Lu Ming in 1999 does not live according to the life trajectory in his memory and makes any different choices, then this time and space in 2018 will be changed and disappear.

Moreover, he himself had not actually experienced the relationship between Lu Ming and Gu Xiaojiao in 1999. To him, it was just that a memory of "another self" suddenly appeared in his mind.

Because in his own memory, he had never met Gu Xiaojiao in 1999 in 2018, so he was at a loss when facing Gu Xiaojiao in 2018. He had love for Gu Xiaojiao in his memory, but this love did not come from him, but from himself in another parallel world.

He also has to "clean up the mess" for himself who lives in the past, trying to make everything go back to the way it was before the two time and space met, in order to preserve the time and space of 2018.

For Gu Xiaojiao in 2018, the person she fell in love with was Lu Ming in 1999 in another parallel world, not the Lu Ming in 2018 in front of her.

For Lu Ming in 1999, when he chose to change what would happen in the future, saved Gu Xiaojiao's father, and changed Gu Xiaojiao's life, it was equivalent to creating a brand new timeline, a brand new parallel space-time. The space-time he was in was destined to not go to the space-time that Gu Xiaojiao was in in 2018.

The Lu Ming and Gu Xiaojiao in 2018 no longer exist because Lu Ming rescued Xiaojiao's father in 1999.

This non-existence means that everyone will start over again from the history between 1999 and 2018.

For Lu Ming in 1999, he fell in love with Gu Xiaojiao who lost his father in 2018 in another time and space, rather than Gu Xiaojiao whose father was rescued in his own time and space. And that time and space in 2018 no longer exists because he "changed history".

So at the end of the movie, Lu Ming in the 1999 time and space lived to 2018 and met Gu Xiaojiao in this time and space. Gu Xiaojiao’s last words were: Why are you, a pervert, here again?

Because she had no memory of being in love with Lu Ming, nor had she experienced that encounter at the intersection of time and space.

For Lu Ming, for the Lu Ming who once fell in love with Gu Xiaojiao from the 2018 time and space, even if he found Gu Xiaojiao in his own time and space, she would not recognize him.

The only way for Gu Xiaojiao in the 1999 time and space to know Lu Ming was through Lu Ming's abnormal pursuit of him.

Gu Xiaojiao didn't know the emotions Lu Ming was carrying.

So many years have passed, and the universe where you and I met has completely disappeared because I saved your father. The you who once loved me and lived in the future no longer exists. All that is left is me, a pervert, trying to capture your figure in the new world line that I chose to create.

Memory is so fragile, so fragile that I am the only one who has these memories.

Beneath the surface of the seemingly comedic movie, there is actually an extremely sad love story. Two lovers who met and fell in love across time and space are destined to be unable to be together. Even Gu Xiaojiao in the 2018 time and space completely disappeared along with this time and space.

This is even sadder than ordinary unrequited love.

After Su Lun introduced the concept of "parallel time and space" into the movie, he raised the upper limit of this romance film, making it more "interesting to watch". It is not just a comedy, nor is it just love.

Of course, this is also thanks to the fact that both Hollywood and China have been playing around with the theme of "parallel worlds" in recent years. Audiences and fans have long been familiar with this concept, which makes this movie interesting.

If such a movie had been released 20 years ago, when most Chinese audiences had no idea about concepts like "parallel universes" and "time travel", it would have definitely left most moviegoers confused after watching it, unable to understand the sad core beneath the comedy shell of the movie.

But fortunately, today's movie fans have experienced the influence of the era of the movie boom. Not to mention anything else, Hollywood alone has produced countless excellent love films involving time travel in recent years, such as "The Time Traveler", "The Time Traveler's Lover", and "The Invisible Lover".

So even though it was their first time watching it, most of the invited guests understood the sadness behind this comedy story right away and gave it high praise!

A pure romance film is boring, a pure comedy film is boring, and a pure time-travel film is no longer special. But when these three elements are combined together and the final performance is good, it can be considered a breakthrough work in the field of Chinese-language films.

Because before this, there had never been such a movie in Chinese-language films, only Hollywood had such movies in the past!
Although Wu Yuan had previously filmed a love movie called "Love Letter", which was a love movie involving time travel, he did not incorporate any comedy elements into it, nor was it a science fiction tragedy with a comedy core. It was just a pure romantic love movie.

Moreover, as a female director, Su Lun is more delicate than male directors in capturing the language of the camera and interpreting the scenes of love. The whole movie is extremely smooth to watch, with both laughter and tears.

"When we were in love, you probably didn't know me yet."

A movie celebrity with the online name [小片片看大片] wrote this sentence in the notebook he carried with him. He planned to use this sentence as the title of the movie review he would post in the evening.

Not only him, most of the self-media who were invited to watch the premiere, all recorded their thoughts on the film as soon as possible, and planned to make a video immediately after returning to the hotel to take advantage of this first wave of traffic!

As film self-media who have watched countless films and are quite experienced, after watching this movie, they keenly felt that "Time Raiders" would definitely be a successful work!
To say that it will become a classic is certainly impossible, but as the biggest dark horse of this December, there is absolutely no problem!
Maybe it will even win the title of the best romance film of 2018 by the end of this year! (End of this chapter)