With its exposé of digital scammers, fraud farms and gangmasters, Ao Shen’s thriller is inventive and snappily directed. A shame, then, that it morphs into a public health warning
It is a shame that either Chinese authorities had a word, or producers decided to aim for brownie points by fitting No More Bets out as an anti-fraud public-messaging spot – because Ao Shen’s thriller is otherwise a snappily directed and intriguing entrée to the industry of online deception. Compared with the unrepentant and far more effective dramatic irony of The Wolf of Wall Street, a film this one often resembles, we get unnecessary scenes of government officials reading the riot act to digital scammers, and a patriotic after-credits montage of fraud and trafficking victims saying how much safer they feel back on Chinese soil.
An unnamed south-east Asian country is the promised land for cheesed-off programmer Pan (Yixing Zhang), who,...
It is a shame that either Chinese authorities had a word, or producers decided to aim for brownie points by fitting No More Bets out as an anti-fraud public-messaging spot – because Ao Shen’s thriller is otherwise a snappily directed and intriguing entrée to the industry of online deception. Compared with the unrepentant and far more effective dramatic irony of The Wolf of Wall Street, a film this one often resembles, we get unnecessary scenes of government officials reading the riot act to digital scammers, and a patriotic after-credits montage of fraud and trafficking victims saying how much safer they feel back on Chinese soil.
An unnamed south-east Asian country is the promised land for cheesed-off programmer Pan (Yixing Zhang), who,...
- 9/4/2023
- by Phil Hoad
- The Guardian - Film News
The top-earning film at the box office this weekend wasn’t “Barbie,” but rather “The Meg 2: The Trench.” The Warner Bros. Discovery/Cmc Pictures shark tale earned $142 million worldwide in its global debut, including a robust $53.3 million in China.
That opening weekend was already 11% higher than “Jurassic World Dominion,” 41% above “Transformers: Rise of the Beasts” and more than double “Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One.” It is also higher than the $50 million first weekend posted by “The Meg” in China back in August 2018.
It’s a big deal that “The Meg 2: The Trench” is performing anything like a pre-covid business-as-usual Hollywood tentpole. The key advantage might be old-fashioned star power.
The earlier Jason Statham/Li Bingbing-led actioner eventually earned $153 million of its $530 million total in the Middle Kingdom. If the sequel, which swaps Li for Wu Jing, legs out accordingly, we could see a $162 million Chinese total.
That opening weekend was already 11% higher than “Jurassic World Dominion,” 41% above “Transformers: Rise of the Beasts” and more than double “Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One.” It is also higher than the $50 million first weekend posted by “The Meg” in China back in August 2018.
It’s a big deal that “The Meg 2: The Trench” is performing anything like a pre-covid business-as-usual Hollywood tentpole. The key advantage might be old-fashioned star power.
The earlier Jason Statham/Li Bingbing-led actioner eventually earned $153 million of its $530 million total in the Middle Kingdom. If the sequel, which swaps Li for Wu Jing, legs out accordingly, we could see a $162 million Chinese total.
- 8/8/2023
- by Scott Mendelson
- The Wrap
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